Nurses and Public Policies

The National League for Nursing (NLN) is dreaming of more complete nurses under their wing. That is why they are also offering programs that deal with issues outside of the nursing field. Issues such as public policies. This is a subject that is unheard of during the earlier days of nursing. It is a topic that finds its discussions only with civil servants and politicians, not with nurses. But NLN is striving to put the subject of public policy to their nurses.

Making a Difference
Inserting public policy as one of the subjects for nursing courses is raising the level of care to their patients. This is all in place since taking care of your patients is one way of initiating change, which is the desired effect why public policies are instituted.

Coming Together
The spirit of camaraderie is also at work with public policies. This is somehow closely related to the work nurses are doing. Sometimes nurses work not just the concern of a single patient, but the concern of an entire community also.

The Power to Change
Taking care of your patient has its own power. Public policies can change not just laws, but lives as well. That is what NLN wanted their nurses to have. If they can connect their calling as a medical practitioner into something nobler like extending their care to their immediate community, then change is possible.

A Democratic Right
NLN acknowledges that it is a democratic right of every individual to have an accessible health care. And their nurses should be at the forefront of this right. Every person should be entitled to a medical attention regardless of his or her station in life.

Quick Guide for Providing the Best Hospice Care 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.

How to Cope with Difficult RN Classes

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.

High-paying Institutions to practice a LPN career

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.

The NLN Accreditation

To determine if an educational program meets the professional standard, an evaluation process is done by an outside body. This evaluation process is called an accreditation. Most schools or programs seek accreditation because it tells of the competence of the school or the program. One of the national organizations that has an accreditation entity is the National League for Nursing (NLN).

The NLN is a membership organization for nursing faculty and leaders in education. Part of it is the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) which is the entity that is responsible for the accreditation of nursing education schools and programs. The NLNAC website has a detailed information on a wide variety of nursing programs that has specialized accreditation the NLNAC is responsible for, including clinical doctorate, master’s, bachelor’s, associate’s, diploma, and practical programs.

The NLNAC accreditation serves to provide assurance that schools and nursing programs meet or exceed certain standards and criteria. Nursing schools or programs that have an NLNAC accreditation are able to improve through self-evaluation. The accreditation also helps programs recruit students, assures employers that graduates have competent skills, guide students in their job and education choices, and helps students be eligible for financial assistance from government sources.

Not all schools or programs in nursing have an NLN accreditation. So students who choose to attend non-accredited programs may not be eligible for financial aid. Non-accredited programs may not be transferred as well when students decide to change programs or further education. And the worst, students may have fewer job possibilities if they attend non-accredited programs, especially in the government.

The NLN accreditation done by the NLNAC is an important factor in considering a nursing school or program. Aside from it serving as proof that a program is following professional standard, an accreditation also has benefits that students attending the program can take advantage.

Does an NLN Accreditation Matter?

Many people are unsure about what an accreditation means to a program or a school. Accreditation is a process by which educational programs are evaluated by an outside body that determines if professional standards are being met. In a nursing school or program, one of the national organizations that have an accreditation entity is the NLN or the National League for Nursing.

NLN, a membership organization for nursing faculty and leaders in education, has created the NLNAC (National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission) that is responsible for the accreditation of nursing education schools and programs. The NLNAC, as detailed in the organization’s website, is responsible for the specialized accreditation of a wide variety of nursing programs, including clinical doctorate, master’s, bachelor’s, associate, diploma, and practical programs. The NLNAC accreditation serves to provide assurance that schools and nursing programs meet or exceed certain standards and criteria.

Other benefits of the accreditation are: enables a program to improve through self-evaluation, helps a program recruit students, assures employers that graduates have competent skills, helps guide students in their job and education choices, enables transfer of education credits, and helps students be eligible for financial assistance from government sources.

How does an accreditation affect you? Students who choose to attend non-accredited programs may not be eligible for financial aid and credit may not be transferred as well when they decide to change programs or further education. Job possibilities may also be limited for students who graduated in a non-accredited program especially in working for the government.

Therefore, an NLN accreditation does matter. You want to be confident that everything you are taught meets professional standards and you want to know that the program will prepare you to enter the healthcare industry with the most current skills and knowledge in that field. Attending an NLNAC accredited program is an investment for your future.

The NLN Accreditation’s Significance

The National League for Nursing (NLN) compose a group of nursing advocates such as educators, agencies, and other member of the public, dedicated to the success of the nursing education. The NLN has another entity that is responsible for accrediting nursing schools and programs – NLN Accrediting Commission. Various nursing programs get accreditation.

Nursing schools thrive to have NLN accreditation since it assures their students that their programs meet a or exceed criteria and standards for nursing education. Aside from this, accredited schools have across the country have been known for the large percentage of graduates who pass nursing licensure exams. Thus, employers hire nursing staff from accredited schools since they know these graduates are highly competitive and acquire the necessary skills.

Although accreditation is a sign that a nursing school is in line with quality standards, they may have a chance to loose this valuable validation. That is why schools need to maintain their commitment to the nursing education success.

When considering a nursing school, it’s important to consider an accredited school. Non-accredited programs may not qualify you for financial aid. Also, when you graduate, your employment opportunities may be limited. Employers may hire a nurse from an accredited school, if they had to pick between the two of you. Also, graduates from non-accredited schools may not have a chance to work for the government.

You may wonder, where can you find nursing schools that are accredited? Searching online through the NLN’s official website may help you find a number of schools within your vicinity. Also try to search for schools with candidate status. Candidacy is the first step that leads to NLN accreditation. So when schools offer candidate programs, they’re preparing for accreditation.

National League for Nursing: Striving for Excellence

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.

The NLN Pre-admission Examination

Students who wish to enter the nursing field must go through the NLN PAX before they can enter a nursing school. The National League for Nursing Pre-Admission Examination (NLN PAX) is a standard entrance exam for possible nursing students who are looking for admission into nursing schools across the country. Once they pass the examination, they are qualified to become a nursing student.

NLN PAXThe NLN PAX RN and PN consist of three main areas: verbal skills, mathematics and science. In the verbal skill section, the student’s word knowledge and reading comprehension skills will be measured. The mathematics area includes basic calculations, algebra, geometry, basic conversions, graphs, applied mathematics and word problems. While in the science field, the student’s basic knowledge in general biology, physics, chemistry and earth science will be measured. A section on health and first aid is also included.

The examination is intended to measure the readiness of the student in taking the nursing course. It will determine what areas the student is good at and what areas need more improvement. Each area contains all multiple-choice questions and consists of experimental items for the purpose of future test development. Answers to these questions are not counted in the scoring.

If you are planning to register for the examination, you may register online on http://www.nlnonlinetesting.org.  There are specific instructions that you need to follow for the registration. Once you pay the Pre-Admission NLN for RN Examination, you will need to create your own login and password. You must not forget your login and password that you made on the NLN website, as you will need this information on your examination date.

 

Taking the NLN Pre-Admission exam

If you are planning to enter the field of nursing, you need to acquire certain requirements. You need to pass first the National League for Nursing Pre-Admission Examination (NLN PAX). It is actually a standard entrance exam for potential student nurses seeking admittance into nursing schools countrywide. Every nursing student is required to take this examination before you are permitted to sign up to a certain program.

NLNThe NLN PAX RN and PN comprise three primary areas which are the verbal, mathematics and science. The verbal skills of the student will be measured by testing their word understanding and reading comprehension. The mathematics area includes basic calculations, problem solving, algebra, conversions, graphs, applied mathematics and geometry. In science, subject matters include physics, chemistry and general biology. You are given an hour for each section. All in all you, need to answer 214 questions. Each section includes all multiple-choice questions and experimental questions with regards to future test development. Answers to those questions aren’t counted in the scoring because it will be utilized as a baseline or test questions for future use.

Candidates may register online, just do as instructed online to sign up and take the Pre-Admission National League for Nursing for RN Examination.  Remember and take note of your login and password you created in the NLN website, because you will need these details in your examination date. Students are permitted to take the NLN Pre-Admission Exam once every six weeks. Though the subjects involved with the exam are covered in high school, you still need to have a review. Make some preparations by reviewing your notes in high school or picking a review center. Just review the basics and some important details of the subjects mentioned and you will be fine.