Online RN to BSN Programs Open Doors for Career Development

Online RN to BSN Programs Open Doors for Career Development

Advancements in higher education technology, combined with significant and growing shortages in nursing, are opening the doors for nurses to earn an accredited RN to BSN degree online and providing new opportunities for career development.

Colleges and universities are responding to the increasing need for nurses by expanding their educational opportunities. There are many accredited online RN to BSN programs, with choices increasing.

Online RN to BSN programs provide students with increased flexibility. This option appeals to non-traditional students working through school, having children, or preferring to work at their own pace. Nursing students can work around vacations and other activities.

Having more opportunities to work while getting a nursing education can decrease the money needed to borrow to pay for nursing school. In addition, there are added cost-savings for textbooks and other learning materials that can be accessed online or in PDF.

Additionally, online RN to BSN programs often cost less than on-campus programs, and there are added cost savings not having to move or commute to campus.

Another benefit of online RN to BSN programs is that they force nursing students to improve technology skills which are a vital part of healthcare. Most healthcare facilities use computer-based technologies for day-to-day patient care, so technology proficiency is necessary.

Accredited RN to BSN Online Nursing Programs

Are online-based nursing degrees accepted in the job market? The answer is YES if the program is accredited. Online and traditional programs have the same process for accreditation.

The Department of Education recognizes the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN ) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) to accredit nursing programs. Choosing an accredited nursing school makes students eligible for more scholarships, grants, tuition reimbursement programs, and student loans.

If you have a passion for nursing, prefer a flexible class schedule, lower costs, and prefer working at your own pace, an online RN to BSN program may be a good fit.

The next step in your nursing career is finding the right online nursing program. Begin your search at the Springer Publishing Nursing Showcase. Explore the latest online and campus-based nursing programs, and find information about Magnet hospitals, nursing residency programs, and other career resources.

Erica Yang Wins Heartfelt Dreams Foundation’s 2022 Academic Nursing Scholarship 

Erica Yang Wins Heartfelt Dreams Foundation’s 2022 Academic Nursing Scholarship 

Erica Yang, a nursing student at Case Western Reserve University, is the winner of the Heartfelt Dreams Foundation’s 2022 Academic Nursing Scholarship to support her career advancement in cardiac care.

Yang, a Planet, Texas native, was awarded $5,000 toward her nursing studies for the next academic year after being selected from a field of over 250 applicants.

She expects to graduate from Case Western Reserve University in May 2023 and continue her career in cardiac nursing. Yang is currently a Patient Care Nursing Assistant at Cleveland Clinic and gained nursing experience at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Duke University Hospital.

Heartfelt Dreams Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the treatment experience for congenital heart defect (CHD) patients and their families. They selected Yang’s application based on her philosophy of being a life-long learner who wants to further educate and better treat patients with cardiovascular disorders.

“We are ecstatic to award Erica with our 2022 Academic Nursing Scholarship and hope it can support her path toward becoming a cardiovascular nurse who will bring positive impact to patients,” says Eric Ankerud, CEO, President, and Co-Founder of Heartfelt Dreams Foundation. “Erica stood out because of her emphasis on better educating patients about congenital heart defects and always providing empathy in care. We believe that Erica will not only provide quality care for CHD patients, but up-level the overall care of cardiac patients wherever she goes next in her nursing career.”

Since 2019, the Heartfelt Dreams Foundation has awarded an annual scholarship to a hospital-based cardiac care nurse or a nursing student pursuing a career in cardiac care through a competitive application process.

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected as this year’s scholarship recipient,” says Yang. “Thank you, Heartfelt Dreams Foundation, for your generosity, this scholarship will enable me to further my career in more ways than I can express, and I am beyond grateful for the support and token of faith.

12 Types of Nursing Certifications and What They Mean for Student Nurses

12 Types of Nursing Certifications and What They Mean for Student Nurses

Nursing certifications are essential to provide the best possible care for your patients. There are many different types of certifications, and each one offers a different set of skills and knowledge. By being certified, you can show your patients that you are a competent and qualified nurse.

One of the most critical aspects of nursing is assessing a patient’s condition properly. This aspect includes taking into account their medical history, current symptoms, and vital signs. By being certified, you can show your patients that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to assess their condition and create a treatment plan correctly.

Among the many certifications for rookie nurses, a handful should be considered must-haves, including ACLS certification . By achieving these certifications, you can show your patients the communication skills necessary to care for them effectively.

Look at a few nursing certifications and what they mean for student nurses.

Basic Nursing Certifications

There are three baseline certifications that student nurses need to invest in as they begin their careers. Once you finish your registered nursing exam, these certifications are highly recommended.

Basic Life Support

Basic Life Support nurse certification is a process by which nurses can become certified in basic life support techniques. For example, BLS certification teaches you how to perform CPR and use an AED, which can be vital in an emergency.

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification, or ACLS certification, is a must. The ACLS certification demonstrates your knowledge and skills in managing a cardiac arrest patient and builds off the BLS certification.

Pediatric Advanced Life Support

Certification in Pediatric Advanced Life Support is essential for nearly everyone in the nursing field. PALS certification shows you have the skills and knowledge to provide the best possible care to children in an emergency.

Next-Level Nursing Certifications

Once you are an LPN or RPN, these are the certifications you can pick up to diversify your skills.

General and Specialty Wound Care Certification

There are two main types of wound care certification: general and specialty. General certification is for nurses who want to be able to care for all kinds of wounds. Specialty certification is for nurses who wish to focus on a specific type of wound, like pressure ulcers or diabetic wounds.

IV Therapy Certification

IV therapy certification demonstrates that you can effectively perform IV therapy as part of any treatment. Once you’ve passed the certification exam, you’ll be able to use the Registered Nurse-Board Certified in IV Therapy credential.

This credential will show that you’re a qualified IV therapy nurse and will help you advance your career.

Long-Term Care Certification

The long-term care certification for nurses is a voluntary process that allows nurses to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in providing care to patients with chronic illnesses or disabilities.

In addition to passing an exam, nurses must complete a minimum of 30 contact hours of continuing education in topics related to long-term care, such as geriatric nursing, chronic disease management, or palliative care.

Certified Pediatric Nurse

Certified pediatric nurses earn higher salaries than non-certified nurses and have better job security. This certification also allows nurses to specialize in pediatric care. Being certified can help you advance your career by allowing you to pursue specialty positions or nursing management roles.

Acute/Critical Care Nursing

Nurses with Acute/Critical Care Nursing certification care for patients with life-threatening conditions, such as heart attacks, strokes, and respiratory failure. They also care for patients who are recovering from surgery or who have been injured in accidents.

Acute and critical care nurses must have excellent clinical skills, think quickly, and make decisions under pressure.

HIV/AIDS Certified Registered Nurse

This highly specialized certification allows nurses to care for patients who have HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS-certified registered nurse program teaches nurses how to care for HIV-positive and AIDS patients.

The program covers various topics, including providing care for patients in the early stages of HIV/AIDS, managing the symptoms of the disease, and how to prevent the spread of the disease.

Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Certifications

If you opt for a Master’s Degree in nursing, you have the opportunity to grab upper-level nurse certifications for better pay and more responsibility. Here are a few options to consider if you seek to become an APRN.

Certified Nurse Practitioners

Certified nurse practitioners are a specific type of nurse practitioner that has completed additional education and training. CNPs can provide a wide range of primary care services, including diagnosing and treating illnesses, ordering and interpreting tests, prescribing medication, and counseling on preventative care.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist

A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist or CRNA specializes in administering anesthesia. To become a CRNA, you must first be a registered nurse and complete a Master’s degree in Nurse Anesthesia. Considering the demand for CRNAs, with the Baby Boomers needing medical procedures that require anesthesia, these types of nurses are in demand.

Family Nurse Practitioner

Family Nurse Practitioners provide comprehensive primary care services to individuals, families, and communities. They are trained in both nursing and medicine. These nurses offer a wide range of services, from health promotion and disease prevention to diagnosing and treating acute and chronic illnesses.

FNPs are in high demand, and the demand is expected to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the employment of FNPs will increase by 31 percent from 2018 to 2028.

Certified Nurse Midwife

There is nothing like the moment when a child is born. Nurses who choose to go a more specialized route when it comes to the profession may opt for a midwife certification. Midwife certification allows nurses to aid parents during those crucial birth moments and the precious moments in between.

With dozens of certifications available for nurses, there are many ways to increase your knowledge and your paycheck. Considering the Baby Boomer generation is hitting peak age when it comes to hospital visits, diversifying your abilities as a nurse is a must.

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Nurse Residency Program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center Earns Prestigious Re-accreditation from CCNE 

Nurse Residency Program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center Earns Prestigious Re-accreditation from CCNE 

The Nurse Residency Program (NRP) at MedStar Washington Hospital Center has again earned accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). It is the only CCNE-accredited nurse residency program in the nation’s capital, and more than 2,500 new graduate nurses have participated in the nurse residency program since its inception in 2012. 

The year-long training program for new nurses includes didactic, simulation, and mentored clinical education to support more than 350 nurses annually as they move from academic study to clinical practice. Coaches, educators, and nurse specialists guide new-to-practice nurses through orientation and during their first year of clinical practice. In addition, the NRP provides nurses training in clinical specialties, such as critical care, cardiac services, and perioperative nursing, and includes an evidence-based practice project. 

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The Nurse Residency Program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center again earns re-accreditation from CCNE and is the only CCNE-accredited nurse residency program in the nation’s capital

Conceived by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 1996, CCNE officially began accrediting operations in 1998. CCNE is an autonomous accrediting arm of AACN, contributing to improving the public’s health. The entry-to-practice accreditation is valid for ten years. 

“Our nurse residency program helps launch the clinical careers of many nurses in the District of Columbia,” says Tonya Washington, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “The re-accreditation is a testament to our continued high standards, our continued program excellence and our continued commitment to the community and the profession of nursing. It is a notable achievement by all at MedStar Washington who help develop the critically needed nurses of today.”

Psychiatric Nurse Finds Her Niche

Psychiatric Nurse Finds Her Niche

During her last rotation as a nursing student at an outpatient program for severely mentally ill patients, Dawn Bounds  found her calling as a psychiatric nurse.

She reflects on those days early into a new journey as an assistant professor at the UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing.

“I loved it – to sit and talk with my patients and try to understand the context of their lives and how to support them,” recalls the Chicago native. “It was such an enjoyable experience that I knew specialize in psychiatry from that moment on.”

Pivoting to Psychiatry

Bounds, who planned to go into medical-surgical nursing, took a position in an inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry unit right after graduation.

Being in such a challenging environment came naturally to her – so much so that she used to joke she’d return after she retired. Bounds worked there while earning a master’s degree to become a family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner and a Ph.D. in nursing science at Rush University.

Later, she continued her career at Rush as an assistant professor in the College of Nursing and the Medical College’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.

Helping At-risk Females

As a nurse practitioner, Bounds served in high schools and the county juvenile detention center on Chicago’s West Side. There, she helped at-risk female youths caught in a cycle of running away and getting locked up.

“I had two questions: Who are you running away from – what’s happening in the household that keeps you running? And who are you running to?” she recalls.

“Years ago, I attended a forensic nursing conference. They were talking about sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and all the red flags. I couldn’t help but think, ‘These are the girls I’m already taking care of,’” Bounds says.

“But nobody’s calling it sex trafficking or sexual exploitation. They’re just criminalizing these girls’ behaviors. They had these histories of being traumatized, and then on the other end, I was seeing them in juvenile detention, and I thought, ‘Something needs to change.’”

Supporting the Family Unit

Her research and day-to-day treatment took a fresh focus. Child welfare services often remove youngsters from abusive homes. But teens are more likely to remain in tenuous situations until they flee on their own.

Supporting young people, Bounds realized, meant supporting their entire families, especially those with minimal resources.

“These amazing kids were still going to school despite living in neighborhoods with shootings, violence, and substance use,” she says.

“I was just looking for ways to be of assistance and help them solidify some support networks so that they could not just survive but thrive amid many things beyond our control.”

Psychiatric DNP program

At UCI, where she joined the faculty this summer, Bounds will help establish a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner specialization in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

But the campus is not the only community that will benefit from her expertise and compassion. She plans to partner with primary care providers across Orange County to create an intervention that supports at-risk youths and their caregivers.

She wants to offer support beyond identifying trauma and suggesting emotional regulation techniques like exercise, yoga, and mindfulness.

“I feel like there’s this healthcare gap in how to make that happen. I think nurses and other health workers can become health coaches in the community,” Bounds says.

“Supporting teens chronically exposed to adversity could also mean connecting them to positive environments.”

This includes school-, faith- or sports-based youth programming, mental health care, housing, and support groups.

Technology’s Role in Helping Vulnerable

Her courses in the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing are delivered through Zoom, a tool she thinks could also serve a purpose in treating vulnerable patients. Still, Bounds misses the human connection and hopes her students can feel her warmth and sincerity through the screen.

“Being a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I know that those relationships you build are so important,” she says. “Even when they’re not my patients, students, and colleagues, I want that connection to be there.”

When asked about her proudest accomplishment, Bounds cites her mentoring ability.

“I come from a community that could be considered under-resourced, so I’m proud to be a role model for those I work with. A single mom raised me. I’m a first-gen college student. And now I have a Ph.D. and am working at the University of California,” she says.

“To me, I’m an example of that young person who might have limited resources and support right now. Examples like mine that demonstrate possibilities for young people are so important.”

Chamberlain University Announces Transition Agreement for More Than 350 Displaced Nursing Students

Chamberlain University Announces Transition Agreement for More Than 350 Displaced Nursing Students

Chamberlain University reached an agreement with Stratford University to help recently displaced Stratford University nursing students continue their nursing school education and achieve their career ambitions. 

Chamberlain University , the largest school of nursing in the U.S., remains committed to addressing the nation’s critical nursing shortages through its mission to educate, empower and embolden diverse healthcare professionals who advance the health of people, families, communities, and nations.

nursing-students-chamberlain-university

This agreement provides special arrangements for students enrolled in Stratford’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program and interested in transferring to Chamberlain’s Tysons Corner, Virginia campus or the BSN Degree Online option. Chamberlain will accept students who meet the University’s admission requirements to work toward completing their nursing degrees and contribute to the nursing workforce that desperately needs more nurses. After a comprehensive mapping of curriculums, Chamberlain can accept a generous amount of Stratford BSN credits eligible for transfer.

“We are glad to be located near the Stratford University campuses so we can help these displaced students continue their nursing education and dream of becoming a nurse,” says Lindsey Bradbury, MBA, BSN, R.N., Tysons Corner campus president. “We have an unwavering focus on delivering academic and service excellence to promote successful student outcomes and will continue with this effort for the new students who enroll.”

Students who apply to Chamberlain and are accepted can enroll as soon as the November 2022 session or have the option to begin with January and March 2023 sessions for Tysons Corner campus or BSN online.

“As an experienced nurse and leader of Chamberlain, I know first-hand the challenges nursing students face, such as intense studying, exhausting clinicals, and some even working full-time, and we are glad to help these aspiring nurses complete their degrees,” says Karen Cox, PhD, R.N., FACHE, FAAN, president, Chamberlain University. “Chamberlain recognizes the critical shortage of nurses we have in the U.S., and we do everything we can to support our students and hope our Chamberlain Care® values provide an extraordinary nursing education for these students and will encourage them as graduates to go on to make an impact on healthcare around the world.”

Interested Stratford University BSN students will apply via the normal transfer application process. Application fees will be waived, and applications will be expedited to allow students to start the November session. In addition, Chamberlain’s Admission and Enrollment teams are planning webinars, on-site meeting opportunities, and tours of the Tysons Corner campus to help interested students learn more about Chamberlain.