LPN Programs

The nursing shortage is worsening in America, to help combat it, the University of Indianapolis is launching a new degree aimed directly at career changers: people who already have a bachelor's degree in a non-nursing field and would like to enter nursing. The course is a an accelerated master's course which will net the students a BSN and an MSN in a total of 27 months. It will function as 14 months of regular bachelor's coursework with the master's coursework being completed online.

The course is targeted at displaced workers of non-nursing professions. You need to have a 3.0 GPA in your bachelor's (i.e. a "B" average) to be considered for the course. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated that more than a million new and replacement nurses are need by 2016 to meet the demand. If you are interested in a stable, recession-proof, well-paying career, take a look at nursing, it may be your cup of tea.

Eleven nursing students at the Prairie View A&M University were caught cheating by text messaging other students who were finished with exam. The exam was a comprehensive exam that lasts four to five hours to complete. The students were subjected to a student court in which they pleaded guilty.

The eleven students will not be allowed to graduate with their peers. Instead they will have to re-enroll for another semester and also be required to take a course in ethics. Many people have complained that the punishment was not in line with the deed, that cheating should have resulted in outright expulsion of the students. However, that may be a bit harsh, plus we need all the nurses we can get...

Nurses in Canada are celebrating the centennial year of their profession this year. Many have taken this chance and media exposure to teach people about a career in nursing. One theme has been showing the diversity and depth of the field. From school nurses to nurses in brain surgery to nurses on offshore oil platforms and in the military, they are an integral part of the system everywhere.

I do not know accurate it is to say that nursing is only 100 years old, personally I would think that it is much older. From the first bandage that was applied, I would think that nursing is much older. However, Canada is only celebrating nursing in their country being 100 years old. Nursing itself is much older. Linda Richards was America's first trained nurse and graduated in 1873.

Most states have a required surprise inspections that are carried out to maintain the quality of nursing homes. Normally, there are small problems that need to be fixed, and with the nursing shortage it is common that some problems arise. If the situation is very bad then the nursing home is required to shut down.

One such 5-day inspection carried out by the State of New Jersey, at the Shorrock Garden Nursing Facility in Toms River, NJ resulted in a perfect rating for the facility. The inspection consists of a meticulous look at all the facilities and observations and interviews with residents, families, management, and staff. The Shorrock Gardens Care Center is a system that is separated into four different regions which are specialized for different kinds of care.

This news seems very telling of things to come in the near future due to the nursing shortage. The service quality that healthcare providers can offer will start to decrease as the shortage of nurses worsens. A Peoria, IL based nursing home has been fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health for not carrying out physican-directed lab tests and not monitoring the prescriptive treatments given to patients. Basically they did not do the tests that were required and they did not pay attention if the right medicine was given to the right patient.

The violation is a very serious one according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Of course, the problem can be traced to the nursing shortage. They did not have well-trained and adequate staff so these things were overlooked. Some of the lab tests were carried out, but not in the way directed, others were not carried out at all. Prescriptions were given without adequate monitoring. This type of thing will start to become more and more prevalent as the nursing shortage worsens...

It's not only in America that we have a nursing shortage, this is a worldwide phenomenon and is dire in Norway. This summer, Norway faces a severe shortage of nurses in nursing homes. The number of applications for summer work this year are far less than required with some homes getting only one or two inquiries. It really looks bad for the nursing homes in Norway, and it seems foretelling of what may happen in America in the near future if nothing is done about the problem.

The shortage consists of the Norwegian equivalents of CNAs, LPNs, and LVNs. Many nursing homes are paying big bonuses to those staff who will postpone their vacations and are also trying to recruit new staff as young as 16 or 17. Nursing homes fear that their patients will not have their basic needs met without adequate staff levels. It is also dangerous for the staff and the patients to have an understaffed nursing home.

The nursing shortage is definitely a worldwide phenomenon. In Ireland's Central Mental Hospital, the nurses have been threatening a walkout due to unsafe staffing levels. For psychiatric nurses, it is very important to have ample staff due to the potentially violent nature of their patients.

Though of course not all psychiatric patients are violent, but there still needs to be enough staff around to help in case of a potential emergency, this leads to the nurses feeling that they are unsafe and hence the threat. The situation at Central Mental Hospital arose due to an overtime ban by members of SIPTU and the Psychiatric Nurses Association. Hopefully the matter can be settled with the patients being harmed.

Many states have tried to stem the nursing shortage by promoting nursing as a career option and trying to increase the number of nursing students. However, that really isn't the solution. There are really two major problems that need to be solved to really provide a solution of a style that will help solve the nursing crisis.

First, there needs to be more clinical placements while doing nursing. During nursing education the students should be exposed to more real-life experience so that they are better prepared to take on responsibility in the real world. Secondly, there is a shortage of nursing professors. These two factors need to be addressed by state governments before the situation will improve.

If you are interested in doing one of the many LPN programs that are offered online you may be confused with the amount of options you have. Here we do a little breaking down to make things a bit simpler.

LPN programs come in two basic varieties, online and offline. Which of the LPN programs you take depends on your requirements. Online LPN programs are good if you need flexibility in the timings due to a job or some other work. Offline LPN programs are for those who need to sit in a classroom to learn something. The quality of education is similar in both types of LPN programs.

There are new LPN programs that come out every day. However, whichever one you opt for you should make sure that it is certified by your state's Board of Nursing. This is the most important thing to check when looking at LPN programs. All of the LPN programs that are mentioned on this site are certified by their respective states.

Most LPN programs take about a year to complete. After finishing any of the LPN programs the next step is to take the NCLEX-PN. After you pass this test you are certified as an LPN. Obviously, a major objective of LPN programs is to adequately prepare the students to pass the exam.

When making a decision about which of the LPN programs to opt for, make sure you do it carefully. It is an important decision and should not be taken lightly.

If you are looking to do nursing and are in or near Massachusetts, then you will be glad to hear that the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education has approved five new nursing programs in the University of Massachusetts system. Three doctor of nursing programs have been added to the Lowell, Boston, adn Worcester campuses of UMass. A BSN program has been added to Caritas Laboure College in Dorchester and an MSN program to Curry College in Milton.

Massachusetts has always had a great amount of emphasis on higher education. However, the state still has a nursing crisis and with these new programs hopefully it will be lessened somewhat. The doctorate programs are a much needed addition, because many qualified nursing applicants are turned away because there are not enough nursing instructors to teach them. The doctorate program will hopefully reduce this shortage as well.