The debate in Washington continues to rage with regards to President Obama's Proposal for Healthcare Reform. Although the sides remain divided, there is a strong push toward accepting the proposal now without further debate. Clearly this is a hot button issue that affects every American, but the impact of healthcare reform is substantial for the healthcare professional.

President Obama's plan deals heavily with the idea that middle-income earners who would normally not qualify for health care should receive benefits they can afford. He proposes a middle class tax cut that will allow those who could not afford health care premiums to obtain care. His proposal will also assist those who have small businesses, as it is often small businesses owners who forgo even the most basic of health care. In a country like the United States, those without health care often become seriously ill or even die because they cannot afford the cost of a doctor's visit.

Based on President Obama's plan, once these individuals have access to good health care, the medical community will need to be staffed adequately to provide that care. The Act will add more primary care providers across the Country, focusing on those areas where assistance is underprovided right now.

A specific focus of the Healthcare Reform Plan is on the current and projected Nursing Shortage. A huge problem for the United States, the medical community is bracing for a nursing shortage as the baby boomers begin their retirement. The current intake into US based nursing programs is not meeting the demand in medical care facilities. The Act will increase the amount of nurses in the United States, and assist in nurse retention by eliminating financial barriers that are preventing both registered nurses and nurse faculty from achieving their goals. In addition, the Act puts into place grants for nursing schools to both improve and retain nurses. Student loans will be increased, as will a nurse's eligibility for scholarships and loan repayments if they choose to become faculty.

President Obama's plan goes beyond the increased support of nurses in the United States. At the most basic level, the Act will assist students in public school programs to prepare for careers in health and medical. According to the plan, if health professionals support health sciences in the schools, it is far more likely that these students will enroll in post secondary medical programs such as nursing.

The President's Healthcare Reform Proposal is said to put the individual in the driver's seat as far as their health care options. As President Obama recently stated, "We have debated health care in Washington for more than a year. When's the right time? If not now, when? If not us, who?" Although there are challenges to passing such an Act, the issues of providing medical care to all who need it as well as the added benefit of combating the growing nursing shortage will far outweigh any detriments that may arise to changing the system.

Labels: Government, Health Insurance, Healthcare, Nurse Internship, Nursing Career, Nursing Jobs, Nursing Scholarships, Nursing School, Obama, Universal Healthcare

Nursing school graduates face a sparse job market in California despite projections for a massive nursing shortage in the state.

Before the recession brand new nurses could find jobs wherever they wanted in California even in tough job markets like the Bay area.

Back in 2004 state labor affairs officials estimated that California would need at least 9,000 new nurses a year.

But over the past 18 months thousands of graduating nurses have found it almost impossible to land a job.

Many hospitals have set hiring freezes and closed down clinical services. In addition, a lot of nurses that were expected to retire have not chosen to do so. Many have decided that because of the recession they were no longer in a financial position to retire, or perhaps their spouse lost a job and they needed to remain employed.

So a lot of reasons are related to the economy is why we have this temporary lift is what we still believe is a long term shortage of nurses.

Most economists agree that as soon as the economy turns around nurses will again begin retiring and there will be jobs for all of this year's 10,000+ graduates and many more.

In the meantime though, professionals in the healthcare field are taking action to keep trained nurses in California by either encouraging continuing education with an RN to MSN degree or by offering hands-on clinical training so they can compete with experienced nurses for roles that do open up.

Deloras Jones, president and executive director of the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care worries that this economic blip could threaten statewide efforts to build a stable long term nursing workforce. "We're concerned about nurses leaving, going to other states definitely or worse, leaving nursing altogether and going into some other field. The longer they're away from school they are at greater risk of losing what they have learned and that's why it would make it more difficult for them to be employed."

Relief for New RN's looking for work
Even where there are jobs available, hospitals would rather hire an experienced nurse over a new graduate.

New RN's can't expect to immediately graduate and go onto the floor and handle very complex medical patients. There needs to be an opportunity for those nurses to be mentored by experienced nurses and give them time to really get their clinical expertise up to a level that many hospitals need.

Graduates must also learn to be open to job opportunities outside of their first choice markets and might consider getting jobs out of state.

To help nurses wade through the recession, the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care is sponsoring community based programs that give new grads an opportunity to work in the field and pick up some of the skills they would normally get in an entry level nursing job. One of those new programs is a partnership between Kaiser Permanente in Northern California and Samuel Merritt University in Oakland.

Graduating students who pass their RN exams are placed with nurse precepts and Kaiser hospitals. This program is offering them a structured clinical practice environment which includes classes and also time in a clinical setting so they can gain a deeper understanding of the healthcare environment in which nurses work.
The free 15 week program is the first of its kind in the nation. It expects to turn out 250 trainees this year and the CINH hopes to get funding to train another 1300 nurses.

Now is the time for continuing education
Some nursing schools are encouraging graduates to ride out the recession by continuing their education. UC-San Francisco School of Nursing as a 1-year RN program, but many students are opting to stay on.

Said Dean Kathleen Dracup, "About half our graduates used to leave an work for a couple of years as a nurse just to get that experience and then come back for their masters, and now they’re all just going straight through. With the idea that by the time they get their masters which is a two to three year program, then they will be ready."

Labels: Nursing Career, Nursing Jobs, Nursing Scholarships, Nursing School, Nursing Shortage, Recruit Nurses

Many working mothers would like to go back to school and receive a higher education, but just don't feel that they have the time or the resources to make that happen. eLearners.com, which is a website of EducationDynamics, set out to make the dream of a higher education a reality for many women with their Project Working Mom scholarships program. The program received more than 50,000 applications for full ride scholarships that would allow working mothers to go back to school.

eLearners.com teamed up with several other resources such as American InterContinental University, Devry University, and Walden University to give away more than two million dollars in full ride scholarships. The scholarships are meant to empower women to make positive changes to their lives and the lives of their children. To date, education paths have led to online nursing degrees, culinary programs, business administration and more.

Project Working Mom scholarships are needed much more than the average person may even realize. According to statistics, children who have parents with a higher level of education usually grossly outperform the children whose parents do not have this education. While the two million in full ride scholarships will not help every mother out there get the education she needs to make a change, it will help many make positive changes in their lives and the lives of their children.

Project Working Mom scholarships are useful for the women who want to go back to school, but cannot go back full time. The American Council on Education has reported that part time students often do not qualify for financial aid; in fact, as few as 35% of part time students receive any financial aid. The Project Working Mom scholarships will help many mothers get the funding they need for even part time education. The scholarships are even helpful for those that want to get an online degree, which is ideal for many working mothers, as it allows them to continue working and caring for their children while advancing their education.

In addition to the two million dollars in full ride scholarships, Project Working Mom also features a database of $15 billion in scholarship opportunities. These scholarships will allow women to get the funding they need so they can see a higher education as a part of their life. While the Project Working Mom scholarships may only be a Band-Aid® for a larger problem, it will put many mothers through school that will hopefully go on to inspire their children to be the best they can be in the future.

Labels: Nursing Scholarships, Nursing School, Online College, Online Degree, Online Nursing Degree

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida is a non-profit organization devoted to the recognition of excellent nursing in the area. The group achieves this goal through the organization of scholarships, the honoring of local nurses, and the recruitment and support of Floridian nurses.

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida got its start in 2000 due to actions by a coalition of nursing organizations led by District 2 of the Florida Nurses Association. They created the first gala event, raising more than $30,000 with the help of community sponsors.

Since 2000, the Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida have put on 5 gala events in celebration of fabulous nurses. Nominations are taken from professional health care workers, patients and their families and community members in order to decide who exceeds expectations through their dedication to excellence at work and desire for further knowledge outside of work via online nursing programs or traditional college. These winners are selected by a panel of nursing peers. The gala events, which are sponsored by businesses and private donors from the community, reward these nurses for their honorable service with good food, awesome entertainment and lots of fun.

In response to the growing health care debt, the Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida uses these gala events to additionally find support from the community for a number of nursing scholarships. A 501(c)(3) organization, the Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida awards scholarships and grants to health care research projects.

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida is an awesome resource for health care professionals in the Northeastern Floridian area because they keep a Speakers Bureau of Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Administrators on hand, available to speak to groups in the area.

The concept of Northeast Florida's Great 100 Nurses is nothing new. In 1998, a registered nurse in North Carolina named Heather Thorne began devising plans for a group that would recognize nursing excellence while bringing more nurses into the fold through scholarships. Since the North Carolinian chapter was founded the group has raised over $140,000 in scholarships.

The Louisiana Great 100 Nurses is also one of the older Great 100 programs. Currently celebrating their twentieth anniversary, health care professionals, patients, families and community members make their nominations with essays applauding the nurses' accomplishments. Similar to the other Great 100 programs, the money from this incredible anniversary celebration will go towards promoting nursing and increasing the amount of money awarded to scholarship recipients.

Iowa's program is among the newer of the Great 100 programs. Founded in 2005 by the Iowa Nurses Foundation, all 99 Iowa counties participate in nominating and awarding nurses with this honor. The 100 Great Iowa Nurses and Iowa Nurses Foundation also support nurses by awarding scholarships that range between $500 and $1500. This is paying off in the University of Iowa Hospitals, as those awarded this honor represented 18 University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics at the five year anniversary of the program, that was held in Des Moines in May.

Labels: Nursing Career, Nursing Scholarships, Nursing School, Online Nursing Degree, Recruit Nurses, Stimulus

The John C. Dunham Trust, a philanthropic organization located in the Aurora area of Illinois, has started a grant that will support Illinois area nurses pursue higher education.

The John C. John C. Dunham initiated the Trust over ten years ago, and the money was put into effect two years ago. The Dunham Trust is designed to increase the quality of life in Illinois and particularly in Aurora. In order to achieve this goal, the Dunham trustees have focused on assisting organizations and charities that improve health and health care, helping Dunham's desire to make the world a more comfortable, safer place for mankind to live and prosper come to fruition.

This nursing scholarship, known as the Dunham Nursing Scholarship, is awarded to nursing students in the Aurora area, and is aimed towards offsetting the cost of education for nurses of all levels of education, from undergraduate to post graduate. The Dunham trust has already helped dozens of students pursue higher education, with $210,000 in scholarships awarded to college students from Aurora.

The Dunham Trust group has joined with health care professionals in Illinois, the Kane County Health Department, the Rush Copley Foundation, Aurora University and Dreyer Medical Clinic among other groups in order to fund the $750,000 nursing program. This scholarship was created in the hopes of encouraging nurses to become high-functioning, well-educated members of a nursing team.

The scholarship program, which awards almost a million dollars in scholarships, is distributed to at least 40 students every year between July 2009 and June 2011, assisting approximately 120 students enrolled in nursing programs during its years in service. This scholarship program, in unison with President Obama's health care reforms and stimulus bills, will make it easier than ever for aspiring nurses to fund their education.

Those awarded scholarships will have aid determined by their location. Aurora and Waubonsee students will see at least a 75% level of coverage as a result of the scholarship. In order to receive the scholarship, the student must have lived in the Aurora for at least a year. Applications are accepted beginning October 1. The funders of this scholarship make up the review board who judge applicants.

While continuing their education, scholarship recipients will work with the Dunham Trust on healthcare community service projects. At graduation, the now-accredited nurses are contracted to work in Aurora for at least two years.

Scholarships from the John C. Though the Dunham Trust isn't limited to Aurora Area, the majority of money awarded goes to applicants from Kane, DuPage, and Kendall counties. This area, between Illinois State Routes 38, 59 and 47 and US Route 34, is known as the "Aurora Area." Applicants from other areas may be considered, but Aurora applicants are given preferential consideration.

Labels: Nursing Scholarships