Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Visuals



This Video shows a great example of the different types of careers you can have with your RN degree. I will be able to use this information with my paper by stating the job oppurtunities this degree equips you with.



This video explains why there is a shortage of RN's in the field of nursing. It goes along with my research that nursing is high in demand, however there is a shortage because of the economy.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

April 5, 2010

INTERVIEW:

1. How much job security is there in your job?
a. Kelly replied that security of her job is basically for life. She stated that there will always be sick people and a need for them to be treated by nurses. She also said that in her experience a lot of people that she works with have changed positions from the hospital to other areas such as community nursing.
2. What can you tell me about the hiring freeze for first year nurses?
a. I haven’t really experience that since I have been working the same job for 5 years. Although from what I have heard it is due to the bad economy and budget cuts at hospitals.
3. What type of education was required for your career?
a. I attended Estrella Mountain Community College when I first decided to go into nursing. I completed the program in a little after a year. During the program we mainly focused on anatomy, pediatrics, first aid and nutrition.
4. What other jobs could you do with the skills you have learned in this field?
a. If I ever decided to leave the hospital I could work in a nursing home, doctor’s office, or privately in the community. I’m sure there are other options out there but these are just a few that I have considered before.
5. Can you tell me about your background and how you got started in this field?
a. Well after high school I just kept bouncing from job to job and a friend of mine was working as a CAN and she convinced me to look into the programs at Estrella. I decided to start the LPN program and fell in love with it very fast. This was 10 years ago and I still love what I’m doing and am planning on going back to school for my RN degree.

RESPONSE:
After my interview I feel a lot more informed about nursing. Hearing in Kelly’s voice the joy of her work really inspired me to get into this paper and learn more about the field. I will use her information in my paper while talking about the educational part. She didn’t really have much to say about the hiring freeze so that didn’t help but I think with a little more research I will be able to get down to bottom of it.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Annotated Bibliography

"Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses." Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition (2009): n. pag. Web. 5 Apr 2010.

The source gives a general overview of what a Licensed Practical nurse does. It is a website produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is a fact finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The website gives data including training and advancement, a job outlook, and projection data. In my paper I will use this source to describe the education needed to achieve and advance in this area of work. The site will also help me to describe the need for nursing in the country; I will use the projections data for this part. This is a very credible source especially with all of the references that are provided at the bottom of the article and the site is generated by the federal government.

Mitchell, Stephen. "Supplemental Recruiting Services: A Viable Solution in Challenging Times." ProQuest 27.3 (2009): n. pag. Web. 5 Apr 2010.

This source is from ProQuest, an online database that I found through the school’s portal. ProQuest is a very credible source and has been recommended for use by many of my teachers. The source outlines the hiring freeze that first year nurses experience. The author states that even though there is a freeze for nursing the need is still there. The freeze is generally from budget cuts, however just because one department is cut, it doesn’t meant that the need is not still there for other departments. Many nurses are able to find work; however it requires moving your life to another state. I will use this information while arguing the controversy of the hiring freeze that most first year nurses face.

Malicoat, Kelly. Telephone Interview by John Paul Travis. 05 Apr 2010.

This is an interview of Kelly Malicoat, who is a nurse at the Wickenburg Community Hospital. She has been a nurse for almost 10 years now. During the interview I asked her a few questions regarding her field of work. When asked about the hiring freeze that first year nurses face, she didn’t have much to say. She stated that when she started out she didn’t face much of a hiring freeze and found work fast. During the interview I asked her to questions about education and advancement. In my paper I will use this information while describing the nursing field and the projected amount of nurses needed in the future.

Gustafson, Jeanne. "Nursing shortage becomes a surplus - at least for now." ProQuest 24.18 (2009): n. pag. Web. 5 Apr 2010.

This article is also from ProQuest, it also focuses on the hiring shortage for nurses. In the article it blames such shortages on the economy and it predicts that once the economy turns around, the need for nurses will once again be sky high. The article states that first year nurses receive much less job offers if any. This is very credible especially since it has many references provided and is found through our library database.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Collected LInks

John Paul Travis
English 101
Collected Links
Laura Darrow
April 2, 2010

1. http://www.careercruising.com.proxy.yc.edu/Careers/Interview.aspx?LoginID=ed00bf89-3be0-40a6-89e5-db51064ba6fd-&person=George&Occname=Licensed+Practical+Nurse&OccNumber=459 This is an interview I found through the website, Career Cruising. George is a LPN and I found the interview very important. During the interview George mentions that job security for LPN’s is very high because people will always get sick and need to be treated. Also he mentions that there is a great room for advancement if you are an LPN.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursing This website is Wikipedia. Wikipedia contains numerous definitions, history details, statistics, and other sub-divisions of counseling. Many links and resources are offered as well. This site should be useful for some background into the world of nursing.
3. http://www.nursingworld.org/default.aspx This site is the American Nurses Association. The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 3.1 million registered nurses. The site seems very helpful and has lots of links that show the pathway to becoming a nurse. It also has a link that is about nursing with lots of researched information. The site is updated frequently and seems very credible.

4. http://www.thenursingsiteblog.com/ The Nursing Site Blog is a blog for nurses, student nurses, and those who want to become nurses. This site seems very helpful and includes pictures and videos uploaded from actual nurses and student nurses.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Topic Proposal

When I discovered that essay number three was about your future career choice, I was a little skeptical. This is my second semester at Yavapai and I am undecided in my career path. A good friend of mine keeps nagging me to look into the nursing program at Yavapai so I am using this opportunity to do just that. As of right now I know that it takes two years to complete the nursing program at Yavapai and first year nurses make roughly sixty thousand dollars a year. About ten years being a male nurse was not practical. When you think about it, in years passed, during war time stereotypically women were the nurses while men were either doctors or in combat. Now we have women in uniform and male nurses. Who would have thought? Through this assignment I am hoping to learn more about the field of nursing and possibly making it a career option.