Global Health: Did you ever wonder why....?

Students who begin studying global health issues start to realize how complex health challenges are in many countries. Sometimes a combined history lesson in economics, sociology, and politics provides a lot of helpful explanations for "why things are the way they are." The Center for Global Development (who does a great global health blog) has an excellent presentation about the complexity behind social and economic development. When you have some time, click here to watch the 45 minute presentation.

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There Are Other Masters Degrees Besides a Nurse Practitioner - Part I

It strikes me that many students and nurses do not seem to know about the "other" masters degree options for nurses. Everyone seems to want to be a nurse practitioner these days. Now, that's great news for the primary care provider shortage, but we need nurses with masters degrees who can work in other positions and have other skill sets.
Let's review the other masters degrees in nursing. Nearest and dearest to my own heart is Nursing Education. Remember that really cool clinical instructor you had in your entry-level nursing program --that could be you! Do you like precepting new hires? Are you the person on your unit who unofficially keeps everyone up-to-date on the latest evidence? Do you really enjoy patient teaching, whether in the hospital or community setting? Do you just like to teach? Nursing education is the right masters for you. Skills learned in a nursing education masters cannot be learned on the job. Curriculum writing and program developmen…

Why You Will Get a "Bad" Grade in Nursing School & Why It Will be the Best Thing to Happen to You

Perhaps you have been a straight A student all your life.

Perhaps you had one subject you struggled with, got Bs in it, but mostly As in the rest of your classes.

Then you started nursing school.

Most students quickly discover that nursing is one of the hardest majors at any university. Not only do you have a lot of time in class, your "lab" equivalent involves learning how to care for really sick people. Most nursing students spend between 24 to 30 hours per week in class --and THEN have lots of reading and other assignments they need to do to prepare for their "labs." After all, in a chemistry lab you probably won't harm or kill anyone due to the highly controlled conditions. When any health profession student is learning, there is always the risk for mistakes and it's why they are so closely supervised.

Inevitably, every nursing student gets their definition of a "bad" grade. For some, this is an actual failure of a class and that can happen fo…

Language Barriers and Your Patients - Let the Evidence Guide Your Decisions so You Can Comply with the Law

In almost every health care setting in the United States (US) these days, nurses and other health care providers are dealing with language barriers as part of care delivery more than ever before. In fact, most countries in the world run into some kind of language barrier issue in the health care setting. Global migration means more tourists and immigrants for every country in the world.
In the US, language access--meaning the availability of interpreters and their services-- is a civil right. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also added new provisions for health care services providers around language access that are important for you to know. From CME Learning:
New rules on language access were implemented on July 18, 2016. These changes are sweeping in scope as they apply to “every [federal] health program or activity, any part of which receives Federal financial assistance.” Section 1557 is a “non-discrimination” provision that broadly prohibits discrimination in health care or health c…

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