Category — Nurses

We were sent a press release today with this ranking of online programs in Master’s of Nursing and thought it was useful enough to publish. According to the site Top Nursing Programs, here are the 10 best online MSN programs.

10. Chamberlain College of Nursing
9. Old Dominion University
8. Drexel University
7. Georgetown University
6. Michigan State University
5. Loyola University New Orleans
4. Benedictine University
3. Indiana State University
2. St. Xavier University
1. George Washington University

The MSN is becoming one of the most important nursing degrees for nurses looking to advance their career. It’s popularity can be clearly seen through the number emails we get from programs and publications contacting us about this particular degree.

If you’re looking to get your Master’s degree in nursing and want to do so online, a website called Best Nursing Masters recently published their 2012 rankings for online masters programs in nursing. Leading the pack is Ball State University’s Online Master’s in Nursing.

Getting an advanced graduate degree is an important and costly decision and while college rankings aren’t a precise science, we do believe that they serve as a tool to help students make wise choices. As always, we recommend consulting multiple ranking sources in order to derive a consensus in your mind as to which program is the best fit for you.

Here are the 10 best online programs for a masters in nursing according to the site Best Nursing Masters.

#1 – Ball State University Online Master’s in Nursing
#2 – Benedictine University Masters in Nursing
#3 – Drexel University Online Masters in Nursing
#4 – Georgetown University Online Master of Science in Nursing
#5 – Gonzaga University Online Master of Science in Nursing
#6 – Jacksonville University Online Master of Science in Nursing
#7 – Johns Hopkins Online Master of Science in Nursing
#8 – Loyola University Master’s in Nursing
#9 – Saint Xavier Online Master’s in Nursing
#10 – University of Cincinnati Online MS in Nursing

Nurses continue to be in high demand.  A career in nursing is about the best protection you can have against any economic downturn, especially since health is one of the fundamental things that people need.

Over the last decade, salaries for nurses have gone up much faster than most other jobs at about 48% – this growth is not only better than inflation but also better than the majority of other jobs which have either remained steady with inflation or lost ground.

Below, we include the starting salaries and averages salaries for some of the more common nursing positions: [Read more →]

As a nurse one of our principal responsibilities is to educate our patients. Our teaching reaches across a broad gamut: medications (old and new), procedures, wound care, signs and symptoms to be aware of, health habits, how to continue caring for themselves once their home and more. The teaching can occur as spontaneous answers to questions from our patients or more formal educating including a plan and resource materials.

Patients are held in-house for increasingly shorter stays and are going home sicker, precipitating a greater need for instruction and information than ever before. The information you provide them during their hospital stay will hopefully help them gain a full recovery and decrease the risk of readmission. So how do we educate our patients effectively? Taking these factors into consideration will help you to successfully convey the information needed.

Provide a hospitable learning environment: With all the distractions of the hospital it may be difficult to find somewhere that is free from excess noise, disruption, is private and conducive to learning. While we can’t always choose the physical location where the learning will take place, we can try to provide planned learning at a time of day when those disruptions would be minimal; possibly mid-morning after breakfast, morning hygiene, assessments and rounds. Each floor has a different rhythm, choose what will work best for you and your patient.

[Read more →]