Like the League of Nations, nurses have their own league as well. The National League for Nursing (NLN) is foremost in the development of nurses worldwide. It offers a range of opportunities to nurses, from testing services to research grants. NLN has more than a thousand institutional members under their wing.
It started its operation in 1893 as a subgroup of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses, and it is the first nursing facility in the United States. Their core values are indicative of their desire to improve the quality of nurses in the country.
NLN takes good care of their nurses so they can take good care of their patients. Promoting health and wellness has come to be a priority with NLN over the years. They see to it that the citizens of America and are healthy and free of any debilitating diseases. Integrity is also an indispensable element in the execution of their duties. They understand that they are not just treating the sick, but they are also setting themselves as moral guides to their patients.
They aim to treat their patients as individuals, too, not just a statistic. For NLN, every patient is unique. NLN strives to achieve excellence in the delivery of their work. They create strategies that enables these nurses to connect with their patients in a more personal way. These are the values that NLN have since its birth more than a century ago. Caring for the sick, establishing integrity with their patients, promoting excellence at work, with the understanding that every patient has its own peculiar need, makes NLN instrumental in the development of nursing education. NLN plays a key role of building diversity in the nursing field. They help educate our nurses with the goal of making them as an integral piece for a healthy nation.
Providing medical service to sick and ill people is a delicate process. Patient care should be handled by highly skilled medical professionals like nurses. The procedures in patient care are not simple. Most of them are complex in nature. People handling patient care should be careful and precise in everything they do.
Nurses are formally trained and educated on the right method of handling medical care to their patients. Most of the nurses are equipped with right knowledge in handling different types of medical cases. However, some nurses may neglect improving and developing special skills that are important in patient care. Below are few of the important patient care skill that nurses need to develop and enhance:
Pain and Injury Management
Many patients in hospitals do suffer from pain and injuries. Nurses should be able to enhance their management skills in handling pain and injuries of patient. They should be able to acquire advance pain management skills and proper handling of injuries. This is important so that nurses can efficiently help patients managed their illnesses and medical conditions.
Drug and Medicines Administration
Another important skill that nurses need to develop is the efficiency in administering medications to patients. Nurses should be familiar of the different medicines use in treating patients. They must know the right dosage and the possible side effects of a particular drug.
Respiratory management is a special skill that is important for a nursing professional. Nurses should be able to know the important procedures in handling respiratory related treatments to patients.
Good Ethics and Professionalism in the Work Environment
Nurses should also provide professional etiquette in delivering patient care to their clients. Aside from superior medical skills, satisfactory patient care also requires good interpersonal relationship with patients. Nurses must always remember to be courteous in approaching and talking to patients.
Hospice care is a special type of medical care that focuses on terminally ill and very sick patients. People who are at the end of their lives need to acquire the best hospice care. A hospice care is important to support the medical needs of seriously ill patients. Hospice care is usually manage by highly skilled medical professionals like nurses. Nurses play an important role in assisting patients with serious conditions in hospice care facilities. Nurses help terminally ill patients managed the pain and symptoms from their diseases.
Providing medical assistance to seriously ill people is not simple. Nurses who provide hospice care to patients should be well equipped with special medical skills and knowledge. Handling serious medical cases needs to be conducted in a careful and delicate manner. Nurses should be able to acquire the right skills in managing delicate and complex medical cases. Here’s a Guide for nurses to help them provide the best hospice care to patients.
Enhance expertise in hospice care by attending seminars and training. Nurses who are currently providing hospice care to patients should allot a time to participate in skill and knowledge enhancement programs. Medical seminars and Training are regularly conducted to provide updates about new developments in the field of hospice care. It’s advisable that nurses attend these kind of events to enhance their capability in hospice care.
Nurses should be up-to-date with the latest techniques in handling serious medical conditions. The medical field continuously adapts new medical techniques and breakthroughs. New methods in managing different medical cases are discovered which improve the quality of treatment to patients. Nurses providing hospice care should be constantly updated with these new medical trends. Usually, this updates are disseminated thru nursing and medical organizations. Medical professional groups often inform their members about the latest medical advancement in meetings and scheduled meet ups.
Finishing a nursing degree is not easy. In fact, entering a nursing school and passing the admission test is already a big challenge to students. If you luckily pass the admission test and are allowed to enroll in a nursing school, the next thing you want to do is pass every subject in the course. Nursing subjects are different from other subjects in college. The topics and lessons in nursing subjects are focused on medical science, which are most of the time difficult and complicated.
A freshman nursing student might find it hard to adjust in such complex topics and lessons. But with determination and some effective study habits you can pass the subject and get a degree in nursing. Here is a simple guide to help you adjust to RN classes.
Listen to your professor and ask questions if you don’t understand the lessons.
RN classes are often handled by teaching professionals who have expert knowledge in the field of nursing. They can provide you with important facts and principle that is useful to a nursing career. You want to listen carefully to your professor during your RN classes. Keep your focus to the nursing lessons the professor is teaching. Don’t hesitate to ask questions if some ideas and topics are unclear to you. It’s advisable that you take steps in clarifying any misunderstood lessons to help you have a clear understanding about the topic. Full understanding of the lessons in a nursing subject is key to achieving a passing grade on the exam.
Take tutorial classes
Tutorial classes can help you cope with difficult nursing subjects. You can join tutorial RN classes to help you earn a greater understanding about specific topics and lessons. Enrolling in a tutorial center can increase your chance of passing the course and acquiring good grades.
Choosing the ideal school to earn your nursing degree is very important. The type of nursing school plays an important role in developing professional skills and knowledge needed to practice a nursing career. These Nursing Schools are the foundation of a person’s nursing ability to provide healthcare service to patients. On top of that, a lot of medical institutions opt to employ nurses that came from respected and prestigious nursing schools.
You should be able to distinguish well which school to consider. Among the many nursing school offering nursing degree choose a school that have these qualities. This will be your quick guide in choosing the best nursing school in your area.
Highly qualified faculty members
The school’s Teachers and instructors are the front liners towards molding you to an efficient and well knowledgeable nurse. Some nursing schools have more qualified sets of faculty members compared to other. Choose a school that have high-credential faculty members on their list. A good indicator is membership in the National League for Nursing.
You may want to belong to an educational institution that have earn the proper accreditation in the field of nursing. Accreditation Bodies like The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC).
Nursing Board Exam Passing Rate
An effective nursing education program may be measured on the number of nursing board passers a school have produced. It’s preferable that you choose a nursing school that has a high rate of board passers in five consecutive years. Schools that have high percentage of passing rate often maintain high quality of education. You want to have this kind of quality nursing education to mold you to a highly qualified nursing professional.
The healthcare industry offers a big employment opportunity to professionals who have a background in nursing. An individual can choose a variation of nursing careers depending on the type of nursing degree he or she has earned. There are two nursing degree a person can earn in a nursing school. One is the BSN degree which would consume four years of tertiary education. The other one is the less-time consuming vocational nursing program. For some people who don’t have the time to earn a full-four year course nursing degree, taking a short nursing vocational course is very advantageous.
Taking the short-cut towards a nursing career is convenient and less strenuous. The only thing you need to do is apply and pass a nursing licensure exam. Now, if all goes well you will be able to practice a career as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Although you are now qualified to apply in any company, you want to be employed to a healthcare institution that can provide you a highly competitive salary.
Here are the top Healthcare Institutions that offer high compensations to LVN:
Hospitals, Clinics and Government health centers
LPN are qualified to employ all types of Hospital. The starting salary for LPNs and RNs is often similar, but an RN will generally make $20k-$26k more. Bigger hospitals offer higher compensation compared to smaller ones. You may want also to include in your decision which type of hospital you will be working with. Government hospitals can offer long term nursing career for you. While private hospital and clinics can provide better nursing experience opportunity for your career.
Nursing homes and Assisted Living Centers
These kind of Institutions can also offer you a lucrative nursing career. Assisted living centers and nursing homes employ a lot of LPN and RN to administer the duty of Senior Care and assisting people with disabilities and other medical conditions.
One of the oldest and top industry in the world is the field of Healthcare. Each year hundreds of new graduates are added in the lists of healthcare professionals offering medial service to help the sickly. In order to be part of this highly respected profession, one must undergo proper education and training. Offering healthcare service is not easy as carpentry. In order to practice such profession people need to qualify and pass professional accreditation which can be difficult.
If you are planning to have a career in the healthcare industry, it’s best that you seek the right educational institution. The school you choose can affect the level of skills you will have in the future. You may want to enroll to an institution that offers high quality healthcare education. Your choice of school can help have the right skills and ability to provide satisfying patient care in the future.
To help you find the suitable healthcare education that you need, here’s a short guide:
- Choose a reputable educational institution. The number of schools offering programs in healthcare has been increasing in the past years. This is due to the increase in demand for healthcare professionals. You should select an institution that has created a highly respected reputation in terms of giving high quality education.
- Pick the institution that produced a lot of successful healthcare professionals. The number of successful professionals from a school is a good indicator what kind of education you will be getting. You want to be educated in an institution wherein there is a high success rate among graduates.
Choosing the right educational institution is a step closer to attaining your plans to having successful career in the field of healthcare. Given the education and training you have, you will surely pass any professional accreditation exams that is required to practice a triumphant healthcare career.
The National League for Nursing is a premier national organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nursing education. It is concerned with the improvement of nursing education and nursing services and the provision of health care in the United States.
The National League for Nursing operates in the following Mission, Goals, and Objectives:
The National League for Nursing promotes excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of our nation and the global community.
Goals and Objectives
Leader in Nursing Education: Enhance the NLN’s national and international impact as the recognized leader in nursing education.
The NLN will:
- Be a key player in initiatives to build diversity in the nurse educator workforce
- Promote the preparation of a nursing workforce that contributes to health care quality and safety
- Be acknowledged as the leader in advancing excellence and innovation in nursing education
- Be the primary source of data for legislation, regulations, or decisions about nursing education and the nurse educator workforce; and that informs teaching practices across all types of nursing education programs for diverse student populations
- Be a key player in creating a community of nurse educators from around the world to address and influence issues related to excellence in nursing education
Commitment to Members: Build a diverse, sustainable, member-led organization with the capacity to deliver our mission effectively, efficiently, and in accordance with our values.
The NLN will:
- Continually seek out, engage, and be responsive to full- and part-time nurse faculty, individuals preparing for the faculty role, nursing education researchers, and other health care and academic professionals
- Be the leading provider of products and services for the continuous professional development of nursing faculty
- Build a diverse membership through comprehensive, inclusive, and aggressive methods
- Design all NLN programs and initiatives, including activities of affiliated constituent leagues, to provide maximum benefit to NLN members
- Achieve its annual revenue goals while ensuring that the infrastructure meets the growing needs of the organization
- Goal III
Champion for Nurse Educators: Be the voice of nurse educators and champion their interests in political, academic, and professional arenas.
The NLN will:
- Continue to provide opportunities to dialogue with the nurse educator community
- Promote nursing education as an advanced practice role
- Shape and inform public policy on nursing education
- Lead efforts to create and sustain healthful work environments that value and support a diverse community of nurse educators
- Expand and sustain alliances with other influential organizations
- Goal IV
Advancement of the Science of Nursing Education: Promote evidence-based nursing education and the scholarship of teaching.
The NLN will:
- Promote the continuous development of faculty as educator-scholars
- Advocate for resources to support nursing education research
- Develop, design, and advance research initiatives that have broad-based significance, promote evidence-based teaching practices, are critical to decision making at institutional and national levels, and serve to transform nursing education
The National League for Nursing was founded with a vision to promote excellence in the nursing education. They encourage nurses to be educators of the new generation of nurses. NLN identifies itself to be a leader in the Nursing Education which strives to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce of the nation and the global community.
With this goal at hand, it is understood that the National League for Nursing wants to give those nurses in education several opportunities for advancement in their profession. By doing so, NLN continuously designs and creates initiatives that will develop and promote the nursing faculty. This gives nursing professionals the motivation to work as a mentor to the new breed of nurses.
The role of the nurses in the health institutions does not revolve around the patients alone. They also have responsibilities that encompass the facilitation of learning of the nursing students. Every profession in every generation needs a mentor. And to become an effective and inspiring mentor, a certain organization is needed to make opportunities for development. The NLN has seen this and has responded to the need of the nursing educators. Hence, they have established objectives for the betterment of the nursing faculty and the nursing education institution.
When nursing educators affiliate with NLN, numerous opportunities await them. Other than faculty development programs, NLN has become the voice of nurse educators and support them in their interests in politics, academic and professional practice. NLN also initiates to promote evidence-based teaching practices which opens privileges for further study and research. Presently, the National League for Nursing has outlined numerous professional opportunities for nurse educators like educational research grant, write or review items for NLN tests, immersion programs, courses and workshops and many more. Check on their website to learn more about the National League for Nursing.
There are many different healthcare facilities where you can work as an LPN, such as in physician offices, public and private hospitals, home healthcare services, and community care facilities for seniors. Some LPNs may even work in laboratories maintaining equipment usability and effectiveness.
An LPN may be able to work as the school nurse but would need to check with the state licensing board first to see if they have completed the qualifications. They could also help formulate a nursing plan for a patient or teach community information classes. They could also work as a home health aide, going to various patients’ homes to help with their daily care, take their vitals, note any complaints, and report such to the patients’ lead general practitioner.
The institution where an LPN works will determine the work schedule. In a hospital setting, they could work any shift, weekends, holidays, and sometimes on call. There are some LPNs who work twelve hour shifts that can be from 7 am to 7 pm, or be odd hours like from 11 am to pm. In some places medical facilities, like hospitals, you may be called a “floater” which means that the LPN would be stationed in a defined area of a hospital, and help out where ever the need arises. And depending on the facility, an LPN might be assigned a certain number of patients each day for which they are accountable.
An LPN may give injections and oral medications to patients. What exactly the duties of an LPN would be, again, depends on medical facility’s choice of duty assignment. They may be on their feet their entire shift apart from breaks and you may also have to help patients if they have fallen, have difficulty getting to their feet after being in the bathroom, etc. This is a job that can be hard on your back and feet so the applicant must need to make sure that they are in good health and with great determination to pursue.