By Kathleen Blair-Harmon, RN, clinical educator Graduation time is right around the corner, and passing the NCLEX exam is No. 1 on your list of priorities. No. 2 should be to start thinking about finding your perfect job. As a new graduate, you will be anxious to enter your chosen specialty directly after graduation. You will have a multitude of opportunities open to you, but be careful to fully evaluate each job opportunity to determine the best one for...  Read More »

It takes a lot of courage to deal with negative behaviors successfully-physicians act out their power in dominant behaviors, which makes it very difficult to approach them. What are some of the ways physicians maintain their dominance? The majority of these behaviors are nonverbal: Poor eye contact or raised eyebrows Never bothering to learn your name Ignoring you Giving one-word answers Using a sarcastic tone of voice Body language that says, “I am...  Read More »

By Kathy Garrison, MSN, RN I cannot ever remember a time in my life when I did not want to be a nurse. If forced to think back, I would say that my exposure to the healthcare world through my younger brother’s chronic health conditions is what led me to choose nursing as a career. I have yet to regret the choice. Nursing is one of the career choices you can make that can last a lifetime. Now I find that I’m often on the “other side”...  Read More »

There are many questions about the nursing shortage: How can hospitals reduce turnover? How can overall job satisfaction be improved? How important is a good relationship with a supervisor? Christine Kovner, a professor in New York University’s College of Nursing, is looking for some answers. Kovner recently received a $4.1 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to expand a study of nurses and their career plans in the United States from...  Read More »

Go to http://www.hcpro.com/rehab/ and scroll down to the bottom right corner of the page to add your answer. Last week’s survey: How willing are you or your facility to write or contact your Congressperson about regulation and other issues affecting your facility? We have already written letters or called with success 43% We have written letters or called, without any success 19% We are very willing to write letters or call, but have not done so (need...  Read More »

The relationship between a preceptor and a new nurse can make all the difference in the world. A poor introduction to a new facility can contribute to turnover. A great introduction can contribute to retention. And with a worsening nursing shortage across the country, it’s easy to see how delicate and important this relationship is. For some insight into this crucial connection, we’re turning to a new columnist. Some of our readers may be new nurses,...  Read More »

Sometimes you see things that are not safe and want to protect your patient or coworker from making a mistake. But that is not easy, especially if the person who is about to do something unsafe is a physician and you are in your first year of nursing. But you can’t just close your eyes and hope the situation will go away! You need to take action. Don’t just dive in; use a strategy to escalate your concern: Start easy with a gentle nudge; ask a...  Read More »

“Oh, and by the way, the staff upstairs wanted to know if they could have a small pool party during lunch . . .” And the winner is . . . (drum roll, please) . . . Cyndy Wright! Congratulations, Cyndy! Thanks to everyone who submitted a caption. They were all hilarious! And, we’ll be back next week with a brand new cartoon! Will YOU be the next winner?   Read More »

By Kathy Garrison, MSN, RN I cannot ever remember a time in my life when I did not want to be a nurse. If forced to think back, I would say that my exposure to the healthcare world through my younger brother’s chronic health conditions is what led me to choose nursing as a career. I have yet to regret the choice. Nursing is one of the career choices you can make that can last a lifetime. Now I find that I’m often on the “other side”...  Read More »

In this age of technology, you may see an advertisement for a job that requires you to submit your résumé electronically. Using your MS word or Word Perfect format may not work well as an electronic submission. You should save your document as a rich text format (RTF) file to ensure it looks like it should on the receiving end. Email it to yourself or a friend to see how it looks before posting it. Here are some other tips for submitting an electronic résumé:...  Read More »