A Nurse Practitioner's View

5 Ways to Make Your Life as a Nurse Easier It’s a profession that most people find daunting and challenging, which is why they choose to give it a miss. Not everyone is cut out to be a nurse because it involves long hours, grueling work, and a fair amount of emotional stress. But on the plus side, it’s a calling that warms your heart and makes you a better person. You see so much suffering and pain that you’re grateful for the healthy life that you and your family have, and you develop your kinder side because of your interaction with your patients. Even so, it’s a stressful job, and if you don’t make the effort to make your life easier, you’re likely to burn out. So here they are, a few tips on how you can make your life as a nurse easier and more relaxing: · Leave the office behind when you go home: As a nurse, you see so much going on in hospitals and in the lives of patients. You’re busy running around tending to them and taking orders from and following th...

How Hospitals Can Better Retain Their Nurses America is in the middle of a nursing shortage that is only expected to worsen as baby boomer nurses reach retirement age and a burgeoning population requires more healthcare. Here are just a few statistics that highlight the serious problems facing the healthcare industry: · More than 581,000 new nursing positions are expected to be created by 2018. This growth is much faster than any other industry, and there just aren’t enough nurses to fill the positions. · U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to between 260,000-500,000 by 2025. · Over the next 20 years, the average age of the RN will increase and the size of the workforce will plateau as large numbers of RNs retire. Because demand for RNs is expected to increase during this time, a large and prolonged shortage of nurses is expected to hit the US in the latter half of the next decade. · There are more than 100,000 vacant RN position...

Here is President Obama's speech to the American Nurses Association from 6/17/2010. He specifically refers to NPs by stating: Now, there is more work to do. And that's why today my administration is announcing a number of investments to expand the primary care workforce. This includes funding to allow students training part-time to become nurse practitioners to start training full-time. (Applause.) We want to speed up the process where folks go from the classroom into the exam room. And we’re going to provide resources for clinics run by registered nurses and nurse practitioners. (Applause.) More work to do indeed.