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"On the Disk Training" for Nurse Managers

While the last three years have seen double-digit increases in Nursing School enrollments, a significant number of nurses continue to leave the profession, either due to age and considerable tenure, or concerns about upward career mobility and opportunities.

In part due to feedback received via the Discovernursing.com website, the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future learned of a growing need among nurses for management training and opportunities. Nurses wanting or needing to know how to manage, challenge and mentor their younger peers and subordinates was a recurring theme.

To respond to this demand The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future has created "The Virtual Nurse Manager," a CD-ROM to be made available to every hospital in the US. This program features six different "scenarios" which challenge nurse managers to learn everything from time management to conflict resolution and more effectively dealing with staffing shortages. And being available in a CD-ROM environment, interested nurses can train and learn on the job.

"We developed this program using real nurses and real-life scenarios, so that nurse managers would find the tool both credible and useful, and hopefully the nurses, their patients and hospitals will benefit as a result," said Andrea Higham, director, The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future.

The CD-ROM features interactive, multiple choice scenarios supplemented with video of real-life nurse managers sharing guidance they wish someone had given them along the way. Each educational CD-ROM can be used by multiple nurses, at home or at work.

Additional copies, as well as all others collateral resources - including posters, brochures, and lapel pins - are available free of charge as part of Johnson & Johnson's ongoing efforts to alleviate the nursing shortage. These items can be ordered online at http://www.discovernursing.com/promotional.aspx.

Nursing Is More than a JobIt's a Calling!

When Jody Baker of Woodbury, NJ was 23 years old, she enjoyed a lucrative career as a sales representative. With an expense account, a company car and a national territory, Baker traveled the country to meet with her customers. Her career was going well until a tragic automobile accident almost took Jody's life, and caused severe head trauma.

Inspired by the exceptional care she received from nurses during her long recovery at Underwood Memorial hospital in Woodbury, Baker decided to begin a career in nursing, and she returned to school to become a nurse. In 1985, she received her RN license.

Now, more than 20 years later Baker testifies, "As a nurse, there are many nights when I come home physically exhausted but spiritually and emotionally energized, because I am making a difference every day, one patient at a time."

Baker eventually went on to further her career by obtaining an Advanced Practice Nurse degree at the University of Pennsylvania and continues to enjoy her rewarding career path. "During my five years in sales, I made a lot of money, but I never came home feeling so worthwhile," Baker, now a Critical Care Clinical Specialist said recently.

Addressing a large group of her peers at a recent gala celebrating the profession of nursing, Baker expressed that Nursing is more than a career, it is a life's calling.

For more information, on nursing programs and nursing as a second career, visit the Nursing as a Second Career section on http://www.allnursingschools.com.

Promise of Nursing Galas
2006 Schedule

Tennessee (Nashville)
March 9

Washington (Seattle)
March 29

California (Los Angeles)
April 27

Texas (Houston)
Fall 2006

Promise of Nursing Galas

The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future continues to hold its Promise of Nursing Galas in areas where the nursing shortage is most acute. Including last month's event in East Brunswick, New Jersey, these events have raised over $8 million in scholarship proceeds. All funds raised will support nursing school scholarships; faculty fellowships for nurse faculty and expand or enhance specialized nursing programs at nursing schools in the markets where the dollars have been raised.

To date, 431 scholarships and 100 faculty fellowships have been awarded to qualified students for the duration of their program. More than 96 nursing school grants have assisted nursing schools in expanding their program capacity.

Funding for student scholarships and faculty fellowships remains available in the following areas: California, Florida*, Tennessee, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas* and Washington. The application deadline for faculty fellowships has been extended to March 10th, 2006. For more information and a copy of the application, please visit www.nsna.org/foundation/faculty_fellowships.asp

*only some areas in these regions are eligible - please check application for more details.

Marian G.
RN; Adult Emergency Acute Care
Huntington, NY

I was an advertising executive for over twenty years, but I found that I enjoyed the volunteer work I did at a local hospice more than I enjoyed my job. While volunteering with AIDS patients, I discovered that medicine was a calling that I wanted to pursue full time. My company let me go with an offer to come back if nursing was not everything I thought it would be. I made it through nursing school and now I am an RN and have never looked back. I love my job. Emergency care offers me a stimulating environment with variety and the opportunity to think on my feet. I work with my head, hands and heart and at the end of every day, I feel good. While nursing is demanding both physically and emotionally, it is enormously satisfying

Hospitals Compete For Nurses
By Ann Roberts Brice Contributing Writer

Today, New Jersey's hospitals and medical centers find themselves competing among themselves and with other fields to attract enough high-quality nurses. The use of sign-on bonuses, pension enhancements, tuition reimbursements and higher salaries are not unusual - and not unlike practices of "blue-chip" corporations in strong economic cycles

To read this article in its entirety, please visit http://www.discovernursing.com/press.

Reprinted with permission from New Jersey Business Magazine