Nurse Mentor

Something I tell my New York-based students all the time: If you want your first choice job, leave New York City and don't go to California, Philadelphia, or Boston. Seems like my advice has some merit based on the latest national survey of where new graduate BSNs are getting jobs. From the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's latest survey: "For new BSN graduates, the job offer rate for schools in the South is 77% followed by 71% in the Midwest, 57% in the North Atlantic, and 56% in the West. This rate is higher across the board for entry-level MSN graduates: 80% in the Midwest, 76% in the South, 72% in the North Atlantic, and 66% in the West. These findings indicate that employment of new graduates from entry-level nursing programs is more challenging in different regions of the country. For more details on this survey, visit AACN’s website ."  Why is it so hard to get a job right out of school in the North Atlantic and the West? Simple. Lots of nurs

It's the start of another school year and after a long hiatus, I come back to the blog with a question generated by reports from former students in the field. What makes for a perfect shift when caring for patients? Even as immersed as I am in all the research about nurses' work environments, I realized that no one has asked this question of working nurses in awhile. What makes for a perfect shift as a nurse, wherever you work, in the 21st century? Some things I'm sure will stay the same, but others may be new because of all the changes happening everywhere in health care systems around the world. I hope you'll participate in a discussion through the comments section. All nurses, any where in the world, are welcome to participate. Do share what would make for an ideal working shift for you. Maybe if we collect enough ideas, we can make more changes happen at our workplaces.