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Beth Ulrich, EdD, RN, FACHE, FAAN, is senior vice president of Professional Services at Gannett Healthcare Group. National Survey Takes a Pulse on Nursing Beth Ulrich is a leading nurse researcher and author of numerous published works and studies, as well as a regular contributor to Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek magazines. She also co-authored one of the seminal studies on the nurse staffing crisis in 2002, and recently completed an update of that benchmark survey with Dr. Peter Buerhaus, director for the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Vanderbilt University, and Karen Donelan, senior scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. This most recent National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, conducted by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, shows some positive trends and identifies work environment issues still in need of improvement. Nursing Notes recently sat down for a chat with Beth: Question: Do the results of your research make you more optimistic about the progress we are making to reduce the nation's nurse staffing crisis? Answer: I'm optimistic because we've seen positive movement. The results of our research in 2002, 2004 and 2006 indicate that progress is being made in the effects of the nursing shortage, the environments in which nurses work and the satisfaction nurses find in nursing as a career. But while RNs report progress, there is still much room for improvement, especially in areas such as decreasing the amount of verbal abuse nurses experience, increasing opportunities for nurses to influence decisions about patient care, less use of RNs for non-nursing tasks and providing more recognition of accomplishments. Question: For the eighth consecutive year, a Gallup Survey of the most honest and ethical professions has given nursing the top spot. Do you believe that the reputation of the nursing profession is catching up to the reality of the work? Answer: The public trusts nurses to be honest and ethical. That is a huge compliment, but also a big responsibility. People (patients, families, other health care professionals, the public, etc.) judge nursing by the nurses they meet, so each of us represents the entire nursing profession with every encounter we have with others. It's important that we show people our competence and caring, as well as honesty and ethics so that they see the whole of nursing. Question: We hear a lot about nurses leaving nursing. Does your research support that conclusion? Answer: Neither our research nor the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses supports that conclusion. The most recent National Sample Survey, which was conducted in 2004, showed that over 83 percent of RNs with active licenses are employed in nursing, giving nursing one of the highest labor force participation rates of any profession. Our research has consistently found that about 40 percent of RNs plan to leave their current jobs in the next three years, but they plan to leave for another job in nursing or to continue their nursing education. Only a very small percentage (5 percent) say that they plan to leave the nursing profession. It is, however, important to note that nurses are increasingly taking advantage of the many job opportunities that being a nurse presents. In the 2004 National Sample Survey, researchers found that only 56.2 percent of RNs employed in nursing worked in hospitals (down from 59.1 percent in 2000) and the percentage was down to 53 percent in our 2006 survey. Question: To what do you attribute the surge in nursing school applications, increases in nursing post-graduate degrees, and overall positive attitude among nurses in the field today? Answer: The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future has been a tremendous help in increasing the public's awareness of nursing as a career option, providing information on degree options and resources and serving to jumpstart many local, regional and national initiatives to increase nursing school enrollments. The results of our national surveys indicate that nurses who have seen various aspects of the Campaign overwhelmingly think that the Campaign has had a positive impact in many areas including their feelings about being a nurse, the image of nursing, the number of applicants to nursing schools, etc. In addition, many organizations have implemented strategies to involve nurses more in decision-making and to increase their control over the nursing practice, both of which have been shown to improve nursing job satisfaction.

Paul Bier is currently a neuro/trauma nurse at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and preparing to make a transition into travel nursing. Men Find Fulfilling Careers in Nursing After more than 25 years in the corporate world, Paul Bier was unfulfilled with his executive career and knew he needed something more. He didn't know what that void was until one evening while watching television, he saw an advertisement sponsored by The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future that changed his life. The ad featured men and women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds as nurses, each proudly proclaiming, "I am a Nurse." "I immediately said to my wife, 'That's what I could do, I could be a nurse,'" says Bier who spent some time caring for his elderly parents. Bier, now an RN in neuro/trauma at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, is one of many examples of men who are being inspired to consider nursing as a rewarding career option. The stereotypical images of male nurses are fading, and men are discovering countless career opportunities available in this female-dominated field. "The male population is a hugely untapped demographic, which gives us a broader range of potential nurses to attract into the profession to help alleviate the current nursing shortage," said Dr. Frank Shaffer, RN, FAAN, chief nursing officer at Cross Country Staffing in Boca Raton, Fla., the nation's leading nurse travel company, providing nurses to more than 3,000 hospitals. According to a Vanderbilt University School of Nursing study, the number of male nurses in the U.S. has nearly doubled since the 1980s, from 5 percent to approximately 9 percent. "Nurses are highly educated and consistently ranked by the public as the most respected profession," said Bier, who at 53 will soon take on a new role as a travel nurse. Travel nursing assignments, which are gaining popularity within the profession, typically last 13 weeks and are often in locations ranging from leading hospitals to rural areas, as well as adventurous assignments on cruise ships and in resort areas. Bier sees this as an opportunity for him and his wife to travel throughout the country, enjoying a semi-retirement lifestyle of sorts, with the comfort of a great career. Men who are thinking about a future in nursing can visit www.discovernursing.com for more information.

Promise of Nursing for Mississippi Date: April 24, 2007 Time: 6 p.m. Location: Beau Rivage, Biloxi, Miss.

Becoming A Nurse The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.) Tuesday, April 10, 2007 By Leah Rupp A social worker is on her way to becoming a nurse thanks to the University of Mississippi Medical Center expanding its nursing program by 40 students.