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Ever wonder what the letters stand for behind some nurses’ names?

Let’s see how many nursing credentials you know!

moodboard Photography | Veer

As nurses we are confronted with infectious diseases from MRSA to serious illnesses like AIDS.

How much do you remember about immunology and infections?

Let’s see how you do with these infection-related NCLEX questions.

Study material provided by NCLEX-RN Exam Prep:

Pearson IT Certification is a publishing imprint born of a tradition of proven learning tools and educational training materials such as NCLEX-RN Exam Prep (now in its second edition) that have helped generations of certification exam candidates succeed. Tapping into the exciting new opportunities provided by the technology advances of online learning and web-based services, Pearson has created a suite of products and solutions that address the learning, preparation and practice needs of a new generation of certification candidates. Pearson IT Certification delivers learning formats ranging from books to online learning and practice services, network simulators and video training.

Zazzle.com

Bumper stickers. Whether you notice them because you’re stuck in traffic or you go out of your way to find great ones, you have to admit some of them are pretty darned funny or right on the mark.

Have you seen any great nurse bumper stickers? Here are our top 10 favorite decals found on zazzle.com.


1. Working in an emergency room, you see all sorts of stuff you want to place in the “What on EARTH were they thinking?” file. Now there’s a bumper sticker just for you: Trauma Nurse: Your stupidity is my job security!

Click to purchase via zazzle.com

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Celebrities have them, neighbors have them, family and friends have them. But should nurses?

Yes, tattoos have become so mainstream they can be found just about everywhere. There are television shows about tattoo artists and tattoo conventions held all over the world. But the ubiquity of tattoos doesn’t mean they’re okay for everyone, and hospitals and other healthcare settings often have different guidelines about whether they’re acceptable.

Nursing School and Tattoos

Students who enter nursing school may very likely be told they can’t have visible tattoos. For instance, in most schools it’s standard policy that tattoos on the forearm must be covered with sleeves, and those on the hand, wrist, neck or face must be covered in some way.

The nursing student dress code at Missouri Southern State University stipulates as of November 2009 that tattoos are only permitted if they cannot be seen while the students are in uniform. Students may not cover up their tattoos with bandages, nor should tattoos be visible under short-sleeve scrubs. The administration’s position is that they are preparing student nurses for what they may face when looking for work as graduate nurses.

But tatted nursing students, don’t despair. While MSSU’s policy isn’t out of line with other universities, it does seem to be stricter. Student nurses at Pittsburg State University (Kansas), Crowder College and St. John’s Regional Medical Center must cover their tattoos, but they are not restricted to only covering with their short-sleeved scrubs. Bandages are permitted.

A final note about tattoos and nursing schools: Not only should you check the policies from school to school, but also be wary of policies that can vary between the nursing school and the clinical facilities the school uses. For instance, a student may be in accordance with the dress code at her nursing school, but may find that the facility for her clinical experience has its own set of policies that are completely different.

Hospitals and Tattoos

The acceptance of tattoos on a hospital nursing staff varies by facility. A short stroll through online nursing forums will show stories of nurses with visible full sleeves (tattoos covering a whole arm) or just a few visible tattoos treating patients. But in other facilities, visible tattoos are never seen on the nurses.

A facility’s stand on visible tattoos can usually be found in its dress code policy. Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s dress code for nurses clearly prohibits the following: “Visible or gross tattooing on face, neck, arms or hands; tattoos 1 inch in size—graphic/disturbing, e.g., displaying violence, drugs, sex, alcohol, tobacco products.” However, there is also a note stating that some departments may have stricter dress code requirements. Bottom line: The best thing to do when you arrive at a new job or have acquired a new tattoo is to ask your department about its specific policy regarding your body art.

Armed Services and Tattoos

Think that becoming a nurse in the armed forces will get you off the hook? Not necessarily. The words “Navy” and “tattoo” used to go hand in hand, but the face of the armed forces is changing, as is the art of tattooing. Not surprisingly, the armed services have their own rules about what is acceptable. An inside source in the Navy explained to me that visible tattoos can have a strong impact on your movement up the Navy ranks. In fact, in some, if you have tattoos on certain parts of the body, you’ll need a waiver to be promoted.

These include:

• Above a crewneck collar
• On the throat or neck
• On the face or scalp

Any tattoos on the visible part of your arm are subject to certain conditions. They cannot be:

• Bigger than the width of your hand, and the length from fingertip to base of the palm
• Racist or sexually explicit
• Encourage or advocate discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, ethnicity or national origin
• Symbols of gangs or supremacist or extremist groups

And finally, any tattoos elsewhere on the body must not be visible through the fabric of white uniforms.

What do you think about tattoos? Do you have any? There are still administrators who don’t like the idea of tattoos as they feel body art doesn’t look professional. Also, keep in mind that not all cultures are accepting of tattoos, particularly on women. If you’re working in a very conservative area or in a multicultural one where tattoos may be an issue, does this change your opinion on whether a facility may dictate if you have tattoos?

Sources:

http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?site=vanderbiltnursing&doc=13152

http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2009/11/08/news_state/053state21tat09.txt

Image: Stockbyte | Thinkstock

Have you ever wondered how many nurses make up the entire country’s population? Or which country provides the U.S. with the most nurses? We’ve rounded up the answers below.


1. Nurses could take over a country…hypothetically. Nurses who actively work in nursing in the United States make up 0.76 percent of the U.S. population. That’s about the entire population of the country of Latvia.

2. Nurses go northeast. The highest concentration of RNs in the United States is in New England, with approximately 1,107 RNs per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the Pacific region has the lowest ration, with only 645 RNs per 100,000 people. Obviously, it’s not the weather calling to the nurses.

3. Nurses come from all over. About 3.5 percent of RNs who are licensed to work in the United States were educated outside of the U.S. The country that provides the U.S. with the most nurses? The Philippines.

4. Nurses find other uses for their expertise. Almost 17 percent of RNs in the United States are not working in nursing. One possibility is that they left nursing to work in less stressful occupations (Bomb squad? Air traffic controller?) where burnout is less common.

5. The profession is strong. National statistics claim that the unemployment rate for RNs is lower than 2 percent. If so, then why are so many nurses looking for work? Tell us your theory.

Sources:
www.nursingadvocacy.org
www.georgianurses.org
www.hrsa.gov
www.bls.gove

Image: Melinda Fawver | © Veer Incorporated

Perhaps the following scenario sounds familiar: You’ve graduated from nursing school and landed your first job as a nurse. The salary isn’t quite what you were hoping for, but with some extra shifts or overtime—or maybe by furthering your education—your financial future looks pretty good.

Or…

Let’s say you’ve just gotten a promotion and with seniority you have that nice salary increase to boot. You’re feeling pretty comfortable and heck…what with the nursing shortage you’ve got some job security, right?

It’s tempting to spend your money as you get it—after all, you’ve worked hard to get to where you are, and if you’re like many nurses, you probably scrimped and did without a lot of things while in nursing school and while working your way up the ladder. Plus, you may have student loans to pay off and your salary may not leave you with that much of a monthly cushion.

So why are financial advisers telling you that you should start paying yourself (i.e., saving) right away?

Why you should save

• Good habits die hard. We all know that bad habits are difficult to break, whether it’s chewing your nails or snapping gum. So the best way to avoid a bad habit is not to begin it at all. In fact, why not start good habits? Unlike bad habits, you won’t want to break these! Amy Buttell, coauthor of Personal Finance: The Missing Manual, explains that saving money for yourself and for your future is a way of taking care of yourself—something nurses do well for other people, but not always for themselves. “Saving money can help you feel psychologically secure, even feel more empowered,” she says. Knowing that you have money to fall back on can take a lot of stress out of your life.

• Rainy days will come. When you start putting money aside into an emergency savings account, you’re preparing for anything that may pop up, such as a car accident, where you may have to pay a $500 deductible. Having some savings means you don’t need to use your credit card or take out yet another loan. “Saving money is a bulwark against catastrophe,” says Buttell. “Something always happens. Spending every dime means you’re always on the financial edge when something bad happens.”

Once the emergency fund reaches a certain point, you’ll see that saving works, and because you’re now in the habit, you can continue saving for something fun, such as a vacation, a wedding or even a new home.

Three tips for saving

1. Save even when you don’t have much to spare.

Buttell says that it doesn’t matter how much money you start putting aside—it’s the act of putting something aside that helps you get into the savings habit. Whether you call it an emergency fund or just a savings account, the whole idea is to help you get used to setting aside $10 or $20 a week, if you can. If even that is too much, $20 or $30 a month is better than nothing.

2. Have the money automatically rerouted into a separate account.

Instead of physically moving the money into a savings account, Buttell suggests that you “set up a payroll savings account, if that’s possible, to have the money deducted from your paycheck. If that’s not possible, have your bank or credit union do it.” Just as we arrange to have bills automatically paid from an account, we can arrange for automatic savings withdrawals. “Sitting in the checking account, [the money is] going to be spent,” Buttell says. Also, she points out, if the money is automatically rerouted, “it gets a little rewarding when you check your [savings] account online or you check your bank statement and you can see, gradually, over time, that account accumulate into something.”

3. Don’t try too much too fast.

When starting a new phase in life, it’s easy to get overly enthusiastic and maybe try a bit too hard. Just like joining a gym and burning out because you go too often and do too much, trying to do too much with your money too quickly may get discouraging. “When people are on very tight budgets and try to do too much, they’re going to end up giving up and it’s not going to work,” Buttell explains. So, set a realistic goal of how much you will save. You can always increase the amount of money you set aside, but it’s harder to decrease it without being left with the feeling that you’ve gone backwards.

What about paying off loans?

Paying off your student loans and other debts is important, but there isn’t a lot that is satisfying about paying off loans while you’re doing it. By setting up a small savings account on the side, you can see what you’re saving, and this can be very satisfying. If you save $100 a month for two years, that’s almost $2,500. Not too shabby for money you’re not touching.

Bite-size tips for saving money

• When you’ve saved enough to open a certificate of deposit (CD), get one. The money stays yours, but you can’t spend it on the spur of the moment. It also gains a bit of interest while it’s in the CD.

• Consider using an online bank, like ING, for your savings. When your money goes into an online bank, it takes a few days to get it back into your brick-and-mortar bank. Therefore, you may think twice before withdrawing the money.

• If you’re using your regular bank for the savings, don’t allow the staff to connect that account with your bank card or allow checking privileges. You need to make the money as inaccessible as possible.

• Set goals. If you’ve already built an emergency fund, set goals for your money. When your bank account gets to your first goal, treat yourself to something as a reward.

• Play mind games with yourself. I know of one nurse who would take an extra $20 from the ATM whenever she withdrew money. That extra cash would go into an envelope in her filing cabinet, and by December, she had plenty of money to do her Christmas shopping and pay for everything in cash.

Do you have any special saving tricks?

Hemera | Thinkstock + Scrubs

The message is all around us: To maintain a healthy heart, we need to maintain a healthy weight. As nurses, though, it’s sometimes easier to teach this to others than it is to work on the message ourselves.

Managing your weight doesn’t necessarily mean losing weight. Some nurses are at a good, comfortable weight and only need to be sure it stays at that level. Here are 10 tips to help you manage your weight.

1. Get together with like-minded people.
You may want to join an established weight-loss group or form your own, but whatever group you join, the group mind-set is often helpful to people who are working on losing weight. Setting up a group at work may seem daunting—but a work group has its advantages, the main one being having people around to be accountable to during your work hours.

2. Get your employer on board.
Between working shift work and crazy weather, going out to exercise is not always an appealing option for anyone, let alone tired nurses. What if you could get your employer on board and your workplace became more health-friendly for the employees? After all, healthy employees are generally happier employees. At-work health initiatives can range from holding weekly weight-loss meetings to incentives and room to exercise.

3. Sneak in some at-work exercises.
You may have read some articles geared toward office workers about how they can do some exercises at their desks. As nurses, we do get a good bit of walking done, but we can also squeeze some exercises into our daily routine by taking advantage of our environment. One example is to do toe-rises if you chart while standing. Clench your glutes together while you rise up on your toes, then relax as you go back down. It may not seem like a lot while you’re doing it, but if you steal a few minutes here and there throughout your shift, every shift, there will be a difference down the road.

4. Read Your Care Plan: A Nurse’s Guide to Healthy Living.
The book  Your Care Plan: A Nurse’s Guide to Healthy Living was written by a nurse for nurses. Who better to help advise us on working and living in a healthy way? The book reviews health challenges faced by nurses and offers solutions.

5. Share healthy recipes with other nurses.
Most of us have a favorite recipe or two that we enjoy making and sharing. How about doing a recipe exchange with other nurses—with the challenge that the recipes have to be for healthy, low-fat meals or treats? Who knows? You may end up finding healthier versions of your favorite “naughty” foods. In some workplaces, nurses and other employees have put together cookbooks of their favorite recipes. This initiative is not only helpful for sharing great ideas, but it may also double as a fundraiser for a favorite cause.

6. Lose the self-consciousness.
While this isn’t a verifiable research statistic, it’s likely safe to say that many overweight people who want to go to a gym feel too self-conscious to end up making that commitment of actually joining a gym or group class. If you want to lose weight, it’s important to understand that this goal is about you and only you. Others may notice you in a gym or class, but they’re there for the same thing—so it’s not exactly in their best interest to snicker if they’re in the same situation! Don’t be too embarrassed to go to a gym. Look out for yourself and to heck with what anyone else thinks, if anyone does notice you.

7. Ditch the chaotic eater lifestyle.
If you’re a chaotic eater—eating on the run, grabbing whatever is handy—you will likely have a more difficult time reaching and maintaining a healthy weight than if you have a more scheduled, less chaotic approach to meals. See if you’re a chaotic eater and what you can do about it.

8. Stop thinking of it as dieting.
Dieting has a negative connotation. Dieting feels as if you’re depriving yourself of something. So stop thinking about dieting. In order to lose weight—and to keep it off—we usually need to make some lifestyle changes. This could be cooking healthy meals instead of grabbing what’s available, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and so on. These are changes that we weave into our lives as we go about our day-to-day living. They’re add-ons, not take-aways!

9. Be realistic in your weight loss goals.
You know you need to lose weight. You’ve vowed to lose weight. So why are you this close to failing? Could it be because you set an impossible goal to begin with? You can’t meet an impossible goal, and if you set such goals, you will feel as if you’ve failed. So set realistic weight-loss goals. Either alone or with an expert, calculate the safe and acceptable amount of weight you need to lose. Then look at safe ways to do this. Slow but sure, rather than fast and frantic, will likely help you see you reach your goals.

10. Plan ahead.
Whether you were in the Scouts or not, you likely have heard the phrase “Be prepared.” If you want to lose weight, this is what you need to do. You need to prepare your meal plans, your exercise plans and what to do if your situation or environment changes (vacations, invitations to dinner, etc). By planning ahead, you may avoid many of the pitfalls that affect people who are trying to lose weight.

Image: Comstock | Thinkstock

Whether we believe “money makes the world go around” or “money is the root of all evil,” we all have to be realistic that money is what we need to live.

As important as money is to our survival, many of us are reluctant to talk about how much we earn. But don’t be left in the dark!

Here you’ll find a rundown of nurse salaries for LVNs/LPNs and Registered Nurses. You might be surprised which cities compensate the best.

As with most professions, a nurse’s salary can depend on a number of variables, including:

• Education level
• Experience
• Facility
• Specialization
• Geographical location

Nurses in some parts of the United States make substantially more—or less—than in other parts. When nurses in the lower-income states see the high salaries, it’s not unusual for them to be shocked or envious that their peers may command such high salaries. There is one thing that’s very important to keep in mind, though. Before packing up to move to a higher-paying state, you must take into account the cost of living of your destination.

A high salary may not give a nurse more disposable income than a nurse who gets a lower income elsewhere if the higher-salary nurse lives in an area where rent and home prices, and the necessities of life, are three times that of the lower-salary nurse. So, if you’re looking to move, don’t let the lower salaries discourage you from some places or higher salaries blind you!

LPNs/LVNs

LPNs and LVNs are at the starting point of nursing salaries. According to the United States Bureau of Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary for LPNs/LVNs in 2008 was $39,030. However, some made less than $28,260 per year. On the flip side, some also made more than $53,580.

Payscale.com has broken this down according to some of the bigger U.S. cities:

·      Birmingham, Alabama: $30,536 to $39,333

·      Richmond, Virginia: $33,776 to $41,705

·      New York, New York: $36,289 to $45,805

·      Chicago, Illinois: $36,107 to $50,272

Of course, salaries tend to go down as you move away from the big cities to smaller towns and rural areas.

Registered Nurses

Nurses who graduate with a diploma won’t be in the upper echelons of salaries; those are reserved for nurses with more advanced degrees. That being said, RNs can be paid quite well, depending on the area. The BLS reports that as of May 2008, the median salary of RNs overall was $62,450, with some making less than $43,410 and some more than $92,240.

Payscale.com provides hourly rates for RNs in some of the larger U.S. cities:

·      St. Louis, Missouri: $20.44 to $27.57

·      Chicago, Illinois: $24.81 to 32.44

·      Phoenix, Arizona: $25.42 to $33.91

·      Los Angeles, California: $27.57 to $37.47

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners enjoy a higher salary throughout the country. Payscale.com reports these cities:

·      Orlando, Florida: $65,783 to $78,823

·      Louisville, Kentucky: $68,654 to $82,849

·      Kansas City, Missouri: $73,711 to $83,173

·      New York, New York: $85,989 to $107,566

Cost of Living

The cost of living in a particular area is calculated by a combination of cost of accommodation and cost of everyday expenses, such as groceries and fuel. In a survey done in 2009 of cities across the world, New York City was ranked as the eighth most expensive city in the world, well above other American cities:

Los Angeles, California: ranked #23

White Plains, New York: ranked #31

San Francisco, California: ranked #34

Honolulu, Hawaii: ranked #41

Miami, Florida: ranked #45

Chicago, Illinois: ranked #50

So, how does your salary compare? Do you feel you make enough for your area’s cost of living?

Sources for this article:

www.allied-physicians.com/salary-surveys/nursing
www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html
www.payscale.com

Hemera | Thinkstock + Scrubs

It’s a simple prescription really: You get up, go about your day or shift, go home, wind down and then go to sleep; repeat daily.

But if you’re one of the nearly 10 percent of Americans who report having chronic insomnia or one of more than 25 percent who have occasional trouble sleeping, getting that shut-eye is anything but easy.

These statistics are taken from the general population. Chances are the numbers are higher among nurses who work shift work.

In order to help you increase your chances of getting some quality sleep, which in turn will hopefully lower your stress levels (and help your heart!), Scrubs offers you 10 tips to help you get much-needed rest, whether it’s making sure your room is dark enough or ensuring you have a good mattress to do it.

1. Develop a good go-to-bed routine.
You know those bad habits you can’t get rid of? Like biting your fingernails or saying “you know” after every two words? Bad habits are hard to break, but good habits should then be easy to keep. But you have to develop the habits first. By establishing a steady bedtime routine, your body and your mind will start to expect you to go to bed and, eventually, fall asleep.

It may take a while to establish a routine that works for you, but the trick is to be consistent. Some examples are turning your television or computer off an hour before bed, reading a book, brushing your teeth and meditating before turning off your light.

2. Brush your teeth two hours before bed.
If you do your night prep two hours before bed, including brushing and flossing your teeth, you’ll be less likely to eat or drink anything within that period. Many people find it more difficult to get a good sleep if they eat or drink within two hours of lying down.

3. Exercise early in your day.
Whether your day is during the daylight or night hours, exercise early and not too close to bedtime. Your body needs time to wind down and relax before it can get ready for sleep. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you make it harder to do that.

4. Check your medications.
As a nurse, you know that not only do some medications help you sleep, but some keep you awake. If you take prescription medications, double check to see if one of the adverse effects is wakefulness. If so, you may want to speak with your doctor or pharmacist about adjusting the times you take them to work better with your sleep schedule, particularly if you are working rotations.

5. Use your bedroom only for sleeping and for sex.
In this day of being able to bring your life everywhere with you in the form of computers, netbooks and smart phones, it’s easy to forget that your bedroom should be your sanctuary. Having all the other parts of your life in there tells your body that the bedroom isn’t special. Keep your work and play out of the bedroom.

6. Make sure your room is ready for sleeping.
It may seem obvious that you need to darken your bedroom if you’re trying to sleep during the day, but if you’re having trouble sleeping at night, it could be that your room just isn’t dark enough. If you live in the city, street lights can shine a bit too brightly outside your bedroom window, or you may see the sweep of car headlights as they turn around your corner. Your best bet? Invest in blackout curtains and make it really seem like night in your room.

If you have a bright digital clock, consider covering it as well. Those things can throw off quite a bit of light in a dark room.

7. Don’t let your room get too warm.
This is a mistake many people make. They’re cold when they go to bed so they put up the heat in the room to compensate. The problem is, as you sleep, the room stays hot and this can actually wake you up. If your room is cool, you may want to consider a few other ways to be warmer aside from getting a thicker quilt. Try wearing socks to bed, warming up your bed with a heating pad or hot water bottle (make sure you turn off the heating pad or that it has an automatic “off” function), or invest in an electric blanket or heating underpad, which goes under your sheets. This way, you can be warm, but the ambient air stays cool.

8. Check your bedding.
Do you remember the story about the Princess and the Pea? If you’re having trouble staying asleep, you could be writing a sequel to the story: The Nurse and the Wrinkle.

Bedding linens are not cheap. Because they’re “just sheets,” we tend to spend as little as possible when buying them. But consider this: If you spend six to eight hours per night (or day) in bed, that’s 42 to 56 hours per week, 168 to 224 hours per month or 2,184 to 2,912 hours per year you’re on those sheets! Isn’t your sleep worth a few more pennies a week? Buy the best sheets that feel comfortable to you, which means going for the higher thread counts. In the winter, you may want to invest in flannel sheets. The point is to sleep on what’s comfortable for you, instead of waking up because you keep rubbing against a pull or a pill in the sheet.

While we’re on the subject of sheets, how old is your mattress? Mattresses aren’t meant to last forever, and our needs for soft versus firm change as do our bodies. Maybe you should take a look at what’s available or invest in a mattress top that will change the firmness without switching the whole thing. And finally, your pillow. Your pillow is an important part of your sleep system, too. Your pillow should comfortably support your neck, no matter what position you sleep in. But you may not have the right pillow for your body and your sleep habits.

9. Address bothersome bed partners.
Do you have a partner who snores? Does she toss and turn? Does he pull off all the covers? These are all things that can make sleep difficult. One solution for the covers is to have two quilts or blankets on the bed: one for him and one for her. Earplugs may help the snoring solution. Hogging the bed could even mean a partner needs to sleep on another bed or in another room. If your bed partner is a pet and his sleeping habits are waking you, it may be time to consider letting Fluffy or Fido sleep in another part of the house.

10. Don’t force it.
Sometimes, sleep just doesn’t come, no matter how much we need it. If you haven’t fallen asleep after 20 or 30 minutes, get up and out of bed. Leave the room and do something quiet, such as reading or listening to soft music. Don’t do anything stimulating like watching TV or checking email. Stay quiet and calm. After a while, try going back to bed again. The trick is for your body to associate the bed with sleep, not with wakefulness.

References: cdc.gov/sleep/

1. Let’s make something clear…
How many times have we been tempted to say something like this to a visitor or patient who dismisses you and asks to speak to a doctor?

Do you want to speak to the doctor in charge, or the nurse who actually knows what’s going on?

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