This week’s blog post is from our continuing series of nursing industry news pieces we’ve “ripped from headlines”, a la Law & Order. Have a read of our most recent instalment here.
In the international healthcare recruitment system, competent nursing is represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The quality international candidates who practice nursing, and the American healthcare providers who turn to Conexus MedStaff for their services.
These are their stories (duh-DUH!).
Then and Now: The Nursing Profession 50 Years Later
You’ve never thought of yourself as an assistant or a cigarette holder decked out in white. Sadly, that's the way the world was. The below article compared the nursing profession of the 1960s with the nursing profession.
From Business Insider:
While considered a prestigious profession today, nurses in the 1960s were "treated as handmaidens of physicians" who were expected to carry out orders without question.
An example of this lies in the demand for the educated, certified nurse:
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing — the organization that administers national testing — was not even around until 1978. Only 172 college-based nursing programs existed in 1960, compared to the 674 bachelor's programs today.
Through circumstances that drove the need for capable nurses, some of the stories and statistics back it up. Nurses, you’ve come a long way from the days of Marcus Welby, M.D and the attitudes of Don Draper.
Celebrating the revelations of National Nursing Week
National Nursing Week brought out a variety of helpful online pieces about the profession.
From NBC Chicago: an insightful, warts and all look at eight things that come with the nursing territory. It seems the ER actually mimics...ER.
While staffing levels vary by unit and hospital, the ER nurses we spoke to said it was not uncommon to have upwards of five patients at a time. The Illinois Nurses Association ispushing the Safe Patient Limits bill that would mandate nurse staffing ratios and penalize hospitals that don’t comply. HB 2604 would cap the number of patients per nurse, between one and four, depending on the unit.
Here's one from Philly.com: another example of nurses offering to assist with a healthcare problem. In this case, mental health assistance.
Nurses are raising their hands to fill the gap, but they say state laws are limiting their abilities. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) recently published a report detailing the need for more expansive powers for psychiatric nurses.
“Often, people say, ‘I need to see a psychiatrist.’ But you know what? You could see a psychiatric mental health nurse, too,”said Gail Stern, president of the APNA and administrator of the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s department psychiatry.
After reading all of this, you’re inclined to put the nursing profession on a similar plane with the firefighter. Rushing headlong toward the fire (figuratively, of course) to put it out.
Indiana, Kentucky move to recognize other state licenses
One of the more trying elements of plying the nursing trade in the US is the difference in regulations from one U.S. state to the next. Conexus MedStaff, for instance, regularly advise candidates on dealing with an individual state’s U.S. Board of Nursing.
Add another state to the list keen to pull talent from out of state more easily. From the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Hosparus Health official Amelia McClure tells WFYI-FM that the compact allows nurses to work throughout the states needing them most.
Once again, the states and domestic talent throughout the U.S. partner with Conexus MedStaff to provide talented nurses, regardless of where they are from, and regardless of the U.S. BON of which they are originally certified.
From our above blog post:
We're often asked by candidates whether they will be limited to only working in the state where they applied for with the BON for their U.S license. The simple answer is no. Here at Conexus MedStaff, if we place you in a U.S state that is different to your license, we will endorse it to the state where you will work in the USA. It is not uncommon for a registered nurse in the USA to hold multiple licenses for different states.
Man, Woman and Nursing Home Resident’s Best Friend
And now, for something completely different and heartwarming.
Conexus MedStaff is increasingly working with long-term care facilities to provide quality, competent nursing care to a dependent population. So, too, is the robotics industry, and in a way that can make a nurse’s job in nursing homes much easier and pleasant. All thanks to a crafty new study from the University of Exeter Medical School.
From WebMD:
In the new study, (study author Rebecca) Abbott's group analyzed data from 19 studies involving 900 nursing home residents, family members and staff at centers worldwide. Five different robopets were used in the studies: Necoro and Justocat (cats); Aibo (a dog); Cuddler (a bear); and Paro (a baby seal).
Many nursing home residents were entertained by the robopet even if they realized it wasn't a real dog or cat. Of course, "residents' responses could vary according to whether they were living with dementia and according to the severity of the dementia," Abbott's team noted.
Some residents talked to the robopet as if it were, in fact, alive and a real animal. Some even made an emotional connection with the "pet." For example, one resident told staff, "I woke up today and thought, today is going to be a good day because I get to see my friend."
It’s an intriguing, uplifting development that’s worth a commenton oursocial channels. Tell us: what do you think the impact of a robotic pet might have on your working life and relationship with patients?