Showing posts with label Nursing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nursing. Show all posts

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

How to Get a Highly Paid Nursing Assistant Salary

While there is unfortunately not a list of higher paying nursing assistant salary jobs for you to aspire to, there are several options available to you to gain the most out of your CNA employment. These options are detailed below.

Obtain Your CNA II

Obtaining your CNA II will give you a bump in nursing assistant salary by as much as an extra dollar per hour or more depending on your facility. While this may not sound like much, over the years as a CNA employee it will add up. Plus if you add this to more certifications like Basic Life Support certification and a Certified Nursing Administration course. These will aid you in getting higher pay or promotions within the CNA field of employment. Phlebotomy training to give you extra certification and experience. However, if you become a phlebotomist full-time although the average wage is higher as a phlebotomist than a CNA. You will lose your extra shifts, double shifts, night shift and weekend work that you will get with CNA employment which pushes your pay higher than that of a phlebotomist.

You need to keep in mind before you attend an interview that you can negotiate a higher starting CNA salary if you have experience/qualifications in an area with serious nursing assistant shortages. So doing a little homework on the shortage in your area can pay dividends in your negotiations in your starting nursing assistant salary. You obviously will not mention the shortages at the interview, you just keep it in mind when negotiating your starting nursing assistant salary with the employer.

Generally speaking the higher paid certified nursing assistant jobs will be those in a hospital, in a major city or urban area. And the highest pay will be in the specialized units that require extra training such as emergency room, intensive care ward etc.

Get a higher nursing assistant salary by working for an agency

If you are prepared to travel between jobs and can handle the temporary nature of a contract offered by a nursing agency, then a much higher nursing assistant salary can be achieved. Then agencies like ARC healthcare or Medical Staffing Network to name just two of the many agencies across the country can offer you these higher paying certified nursing assistant temporary jobs. Then they will usually place you at a medical facility that requires nursing assistants at a short notice. The pay will be higher than say a long term contract in a nursing home, but you will not have the reassurance of long term employment.

These companies/medical facilities that need staff in a pinch and recruit through an agency often have double shift options. Which will usually have a bonus on top for the inconvenience. Also in a lot of these temporary roles your traveling expenses will be covered if they are in remote locations.

Agency certified nurse assistant salary is usually much higher than the average at around $15 - $20 per hour, whereas for the same job in hospital may only pay you between $9 and $12 depending on experience, location and medical facility. You need to bear in mind though that these agencies often do not include medical insurance as part of their contract terms. You should also know that in order to get on these agencies books you will need a minimum of 6 months CNA experience, with many requiring 1 years experience at least before they can offer to find employment through their agency.

Private duty cases obtained through these agencies often provide much higher CNA pay than the norm. You will find a website called healthcareerweb.com often provides private duty case jobs on their website.

You could also consider studying for a nursing degree which will open many more opportunities for advancement in the nursing profession which includes much higher pay. Some of the top nursing jobs like Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA), earn on average $100k per year and often much more. Now obviously for this level of nursing pay there will be several years of hard studying to do, but the rewards can be well worth it in the end.

Hopefully this has given you a few pointers in getting the most out of a nursing assistant salary that you are looking for as you journey through your medical career.

For information on CNA classes that you can take online, please click on the link below:

http://www.cna-classes-online.org/online-nursing-schools/

For more information on CNA training & certification, then you can find more information on the website here: http://www.cna-classes-online.org/


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Saturday, 15 October 2011

Practical Nursing Careers in New Jersey: At a Glance

New Jersey is in acutely short supply of health care professionals and employees just like all the other states in the Unites States. On the one hand, this is bad news for the state's elderly citizens and others in need of medical care. On the other hand, this is good news for individuals looking for practical nursing careers in New Jersey.

A lot of hospitals, clinics, and medical centers in the state of New Jersey have been sending ads about their intent to hire Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). Although these opportunities are for everybody, certain qualifications need to be met by an individual wishing to apply. First, you need to pass the licensure exam for practical nurses. Passing a board exam in another state won't exempt you from this very basic rule. Since New Jersey is not a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) you cannot apply for licensure through reciprocity. The second step towards becoming an LPN is to complete a training program which includes classroom-based learning and hands-on clinical practice. The classroom learning consists of learning and memorizing a lot of medical terminology as well as basic nursing concepts and theories. The other part of the training is purely hands-on experience in an actual medical facility. You will be assigned to a clinic or hospital where you will practice actual nursing skills under the supervision of a nurse educator.

The content of the training basically consists of skills that need to be mastered by an LPN before entering the workforce. The core areas of study include nutrition, obstetrics, pharmacology, proper hygiene for the elderly, pediatrics, math and science. Sufficient and substantial trainings will not, of course, guarantee a permanent position. But it will definitely give you a greater chance of getting employed.

In the state of New Jersey, an LPN can find work in a variety of counties and cities, usually in a hospital or nursing facility. Current openings include a general LPN position offered by Senior Lifestyle Corporation in Jackson NJ. This company operates a skilled nursing facility for elderly patients and are currently hiring LPNs to care for their residents. Another opportunity exists in Teaneck through Starlight Pediatric Homecare Agency, a nurse staffing agency specializing in LPN placement throughout New Jersey. Sometimes, your job assignment will take you miles away from your home if you are a travel nurse. Traveling nurses enjoy the benefits of seeing the country but miss out on having a local life in a given city. Once you gain a few years of experience you will have greater control over the types of employment positions that you can obtain. Furthermore, a New Jersey LPN can expect to earn between $29,000 to $36,000 per year.

Lastly, and most importantly, landing an LPN position does not signify the end of the road in your professional career. In fact, a practical nursing post is a perfect stepping stone for more financially rewarding regular nursing careers. If you wish to become a clinical instructor you can pursue specialization courses to achieve this. You might also choose to pursue a post-graduate degree to become a nurse practitioner and specialize in one particular field within nursing.

Interested in pursuing a career as a Licensed Practical Nurse in New Jersey? View current list of approved LPN programs in New Jersey and contact individual schools for more information.


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Thursday, 6 October 2011

The Prerequisites for Pursuing a Career in Nursing

Are you planning on becoming a nurse? Do you have the minimum educational qualification required to pursue nursing? Before jumping into a conclusion of becoming a nurse, one should be well aware of the prerequisites for pursuing a career in nursing. This will help you to get admission in the nursing schools without much delay. The problem arises when the people are not well aware of what is required and what is not, to join the nursing schools as a student.

The minimum qualification that is required to get admission in a nursing school is a high school diploma. There are many courses available for the people who wish to take up the nursing profession. Some of them are the courses for the Registered Nurse (RN) degree, the Bachelor's degree in Nursing, the course for the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) degree etc. The nursing schools offering these courses usually make the selection from among the students depending on the Grade Point Average (GPA) of each student in the previous courses they have completed. This can be mostly based on the pre entrance examination that is held for the students who wish to join the nursing schools, to pursue their career in the nursing profession. If you are a person who has low academic records, it would be quite difficult for you to get into a reputed nursing school. This is because most of the nursing schools try to select the cream of students, who have excellent academic records and for this purpose, the pre-entrance test is made in such a way that only the best of students pass this test. So if you really do want to pursue a career in nursing, and join some nursing school for that, you will have to concentrate on your academics, and have a good report to produce on you Grade Point Average!

One of the most advisable things to do would be to speak to an instructor or advisor, from the college you plan to gain entry for. They will be able to give you good assistance in preparing for the pre entrance examination, and in guiding you about what kinds of questions are possible to be asked in an entrance exam.

For some courses, the prerequisites are different from that of the normal course, and they may require something extra along with your high school diploma. This is mostly applicable to courses that are of a higher degree. In all these cases, there are a few general guidelines that can be followed. One thing is to be sure about the general education courses and certificates you have. Do not miss out on any general course you will require in the future. This can also help you to stay focused on the nursing coursework, when you start with the training for nursing. Taking a human development course under psychology, classes on general nutrition, chemistry, sociology etc. can also help you get one step closer to getting admissions in the best nursing schools. You can also opt to just fill in the application even as you complete another course.


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