Why do I want to become a second career nurse? Nursing school is a commitment so you need to ensure that you are doing it for the right reasons. Think about what is motivating you to make the change. Is it the demand for nurses, the flexibility, the variety of job opportunities or a drive to help others?

Do I have what it takes & the support to make it through nursing school? Find out and understand what the requirements of the nursing program are and make sure that you have a strong support system to get you through an accelerated nursing program. There are many study options to choose from. Good luck!

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Firstly, use a professional resume template. You can find many of these templates online.

As you are likely to have less job experience, you can also include:

• Any relevant awards or honors received. For example, an educational award or an award received during your clinical rotations.
• Volunteer, summer jobs and work experience in the healthcare field that are relevant to the job.
• Any nursing affiliations you have.

When listing your clinical rotations or senior preceptorship, you should include as many relevant details to the job you are applying to. For example, you could include the type of patients that you worked with.

Finally, being bilingual in a second language is a sought-after skill and should be included.

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Passion – A nurse who is passionate and enthusiastic about the nursing profession, and about caring for their patients, performs better and can inspire passion in others.

Flexibility – Nursing and the entire healthcare industry is a changing and developing field so the willingness to be able to adapt to change is very important. This can include openness to learning new systems or new ways of working.

Positive attitude – A nurse who can maintain a positive attitude and can uplift those around them can help to decrease stress in the work environment. A positive attitude can lead to higher job performance and an increase in patient satisfaction.

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Lifelong learning opens more career opportunities for nurses. For example, you may consider studying for a skills certificate, for example, in nurse leadership or for a Master’s Degree in Nursing. These qualifications will improve your chances of promotion & career advancement and increase your earning potential.

There are many online learning options available, giving you the flexibility to study in your own time. Online learning also allows you to study, despite social distancing measures and closures of learning institutions due to COVID-19.

In addition, best practices in healthcare are always developing. There is always more to learn, so nurses need to develop their knowledge & skills to ensure that they are delivering the best possible care to their patients.

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While the United States faces some unique challenges in the delivery of health care, it shares many others with countries around the world. An aging population creates demand for more health care services. More people of all ages are living with chronic diseases, with nearly half of Americans affected by diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and mental health conditions.

As AARP’s 2009 report on chronic conditions¹ details, patients and their family caregivers experience firsthand the lack of care coordination among providers, often resulting in repeat tests and procedures, unnecessary rehospitalizations, and difficult transitions from hospitals to home. And the shortage of nurses and other health care professionals is already acute, particularly in rural and low-income areas. The shortages are expected to worsen as the current workforce retires and the demand for health care grows.

Addressing these challenges requires a transformation of the workforce. It is not just a matter of having more clinicians. We need health care professionals who are better prepared to care for people with multiple chronic conditions in all settings. And we need all of them to be able to deliver care to the fullest extent of their education and training. By virtue of their numbers as the largest health care profession, their scientific knowledge, and their adaptive capacity, nurses must help lead the changes in health care the population needs. To do so, nurses need to assume enhanced and reconceptualized roles in health coaching, chronic disease management, transitional care, prevention activities, and quality improvement.

These are some of the conclusions of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, released in October 2010. In partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), this nonpartisan report is the work of 18 experts in nursing, medicine, economics, business, hospital administration, health policy, consumer issues, workforce policy, and health plan administration. Based on evidence from an extensive review of the research, the report outlines a blueprint for transforming the nursing profession to enhance the quality and value of US health care in ways that meet the future needs of diverse populations. In launching the initiative, RWJF’s president, Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, noted that “nursing is at the heart of patient care” and is therefore crucial to changing the way health care is delivered so that “patients receive better care at a cost we can afford.” Echoing this sentiment, IOM President Dr. Harvey Fineberg noted that “Nurses are a linchpin for health reform and will be vital to implementing systemic changes in the delivery of care.”

One of the most viewed online reports in the IOM’s history, this landmark report calls on the nation’s leaders and stakeholders to act on its recommendations, including changes in public and institutional policies at the federal, state, and local levels. To spur this action, RWJF has partnered with AARP on the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. The campaign’s vision is for all Americans to have access to high-quality, patient- and family-centered care in a health care system where nurses contribute as essential partners in achieving success.

Coordinated through the Center to Champion Nursing in America at AARP, the campaign includes 36 state Action Coalitions (soon to be 45 or more states) and a wide range of health care providers, consumer advocates, policy makers, and the business, academic, and philanthropic communities at the local, state, and national levels. It is focused on three key pillars for change:

1. Advancing Education Transformation
2. Removing Barriers to Practice and Care
3. Nursing Leadership

Interprofessional collaboration and diversity are threads woven through each pillar, with better workforce data forming the foundation of the work.

Advancing Education Transformation

The IOM report emphasizes that if nurses are to be as effective as possible in helping to provide high-quality patient- and family-centered care, they will need to be better prepared as care becomes more complex and moves into the community. We need more nurses with advanced degrees to provide primary care and teach the next generation of students. The report also recommends continuing education to help nurses retain clinical skills and develop leadership abilities. Studies² support a significant association between educational level and patient outcomes, including mortality rates, in acute care settings.

Removing Barriers to Practice and Care

For both immediate and long-term needs, we must enable all registered professional nurses, as well as other health professionals, to practice to the full level of their education and training. In many cases, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), such as nurse practitioners and midwives, can be used to address the primary care shortage and free physicians to care for more complex cases requiring their expertise. A 2010 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Health Working Paper³ reports that many countries are searching for ways to improve health care delivery by reviewing the roles of health care professionals, including nurses. The report concludes that developing new and more advanced roles for nurses could improve access to care and might also help contain costs.

The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates equivalent patient outcomes when care is provided by an APRN or a physician. These studies include several systematic reviews⁴, a randomized, controlled clinical trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association⁵, and an Office of Technology Assessment publication⁶. Yet, many states have outdated regulations and barriers that prevent nurses from practicing to the full extent of their education and training. For example, nurse practitioners in Arizona can see patients or
prescribe medicine without a physician’s supervision, while their counterparts in neighboring California and Nevada cannot.

Nursing Leadership

Nurses bring an important voice and point of view to management and policy discussions. We need to prepare more nurses to help lead improvements in health care quality, safety, access, and value. A recent survey of 1,000 hospitals in the United States by the American Hospital Association found that nurses account for only 6 percent of hospital board members. Physicians account for 20 percent of hospital board members, and other clinicians make up about 5 percent. Nurses need to see themselves as decision-makers and be able to influence health outcomes. The campaign is fostering appointments of well-prepared nurses to public policy and health care organization boards at the state and national levels. To better prepare themselves for these roles, nurses can find a helpful resource, Nurse Leaders in the Boardroom—The Skills You Need to Be Successful on a Board, at www.championnursing.org.

Leadership needs to happen at every level. One program that has been successful at engaging staff nursing is Transforming Care at the Bedside,⁷ which empowers floor nurses to suggest changes that they think will improve patient care. The changes are tested over a short period, and they are adopted if they prove beneficial. This program has improved patient outcomes, including reduction in falls with harm and 30-day hospital readmission rates.

Interprofessional Collaboration

Interprofessional collaboration stretches across all three campaign pillars. Studies have demonstrated how effective coordination and communication among health professionals can enhance the quality and safety of patient care. Health professionals working collaboratively as integrated teams draw on individual and collective skills and experience across disciplines. They seek input and respect the contributions of everyone involved. That allows each person to practice at a higher level. The result is inevitably better patient outcomes, including higher levels of patient satisfaction.

Data

The campaign seeks to improve health care workforce data collection to better assess and project workforce requirements. Research on the health care workforce is fragmented, and data should be able to reveal the supply of and demand for a combination of health care professionals in a region, instead of single professions.

Diversity

Finally, this campaign aims to diversify the health care workforce. Approximately 33 percent of the US population is part of a racial or ethnic minority group, yet only 18 percent of our nursing students are minorities. By 2050, African Americans, Asians, Latinos, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives will comprise a majority of our population. We need to make sure the nursing profession reflects the patients it serves, and that all nurses deliver culturally competent care.

From Report to Action

International interest in the future of nursing is evident. A few months before the IOM released its report, the United Kingdom released the Front Line Care: the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England,⁸ prepared by Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England. Implementing the commission’s recommendations requires investment and commitment from diverse stakeholders. The US Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is guided by an illustrious, nonpartisan strategic advisory committee. It includes diverse stakeholders and outreach to policy makers across party lines. It has formed locally-based Action Coalitions across the country to mobilize a broad-based effort to push for changes at the national, state, and regional levels. It includes a communications plan, grantmaking, and a research, monitoring, and evaluating strategy to generate additional evidence in support of the campaign objectives and ensure accountability by fully gauging our successes and shortcomings.

The Center to Champion Nursing in America is also charged with providing a wide array of technical assistance to ensure that the Action Coalitions are able to implement changes in education, practice, leadership, interprofessional education, diversity, and data. The center is helping Action Coalitions communicate with one another through an extranet—a place to share online discussion, documents, and resources; weekly campaign updates; training; on-the-ground expert consultation; and opportunities for peer-to-peer collaboration though learning collaboratives.

The Campaign for Action has made much progress over the past year. Many national organizations publicly support the report and its recommendations in meaningful ways. These organizations include Aetna, American Red Cross, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, National Medical Association, and the World Health Organization. The National Hispanic Medical Association is working with its members on an initiative to improve interdisciplinary education. RWJF, in collaboration with other funders, has launched a research initiative to identify, generate, synthesize, and share evidence essential to implementing the recommendations outlined in the report. This multifunder initiative is designed to increase and focus national attention on a common research agenda tied to the IOM recommendations and to facilitate and coordinate funding activity across a range of sources.

The United States has the chance to transform its system and culture of health care, but only if nurses are better prepared and able to practice and lead to the full extent of their education and training. Through national and local efforts, the Campaign for Action aims to utilize the skills and potential of nurses to effect sweeping change for a health care system that provides seamless, accessible, affordable, and equitable quality care for every American.

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Additionally:

The median age of nurses is 46. More than 50% of the nursing workforce is close to retirement.

America is seeing vast increases in the number of people over 65. This age group has many medical and health needs,      and will put a strain on our health system.

Recent reforms in healthcare will give millions of people access to the healthcare system. More nurses and     health professionals are needed in response.

These factors, combined with an anticipated strengthening of the economy, will create a renewed critical shortage for nurses.

Opportunities for Nurses
Thinking of a career change? Nursing can offer a career that is both personally and financially rewarding. Learn more about nursing and how to get started on your nursing career. If you’re already a nurse, but ready for a change of pace, you may be interested in exploring options. Give us a call!

Negative Effects of the Nursing Shortage
The nursing shortage affords opportunity, but there are consequences, too. Nurses often need to work long hours under stressful conditions, which can result in fatigue, injury, and job dissatisfaction. Nurses suffering in these environments are more prone to making mistakes and medical errors. Patient quality can suffer. For these reasons, and more, ANA is dedicated to improving the workplace safety for nurses around the nation.

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Nurses Are Computer Savvy

A Pew Internet study (2012) characterizes those born between 1981 – 2000 as the Millennials. This generation is constantly connected through social media and with searching the web. They thirst for instant gratification and quick fixes that can lead to poor life decisions if they lack in common sense and sound judgment when it comes to sharing patient information on Facebook.

Encouragingly, 55 percent of the 1,021 internet experts from think tanks, research groups, corporations and universities concluded the Millennials “are learning more and they are adept at finding answers to deep questions, in part because they can search effectively and access collective intelligence via the internet…and cognition among the young generally produce positive outcomes.” Smart phones have accelerated our hyper connectedness (Pew, 2012) as currently 46 percent of American adults are smart phone users and by 2020 mobile devices will be the primary Internet connection tool. The misuse of this convenient hand held device equipped with camera, microphone and video recorder in the work environment has already led to cases involving state board disciplinary action.

The current trend has been a 21 percent increase in state board discipline over the past five years and cases published by the media involve patient rights issues which are protected by HIPPA (Health Information and Portability Patient Act) and can lead to a major criminal investigation as happened with two nurses were investigated by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) after posting an x-ray image of a foreign object which was lodged in a patient’s body part (Milwaukee News, 2009).

The following two case examples highlight the notion of dual responsibility for nurses using social media: nurses share professional responsibility in conjunction with employers who must provide Internet policies for nurses and to adhere to due process of the law when nurses are accused of unlawful or inappropriate postings.

The two cases involving Facebook posts, where no patient identification was included, were given Union support and a United States Judge ruled in favor of nursing students expelled from a Junior College for posting a picture of a placenta. Lessons learned and expressed publicly by Max Carbuccia, Labor Representative, CA., Nurses Association who viewed the content and the nurses intention for posting not unlawful, stating, “Nurses discussed how to handle different types of patients hypothetically and only in an educational context,” which was contrary to Larry Anderson, CEO’s appraisal:

“Nurses used social media to post their personal discussions concerning hospital patients.”

Tri City Medical Center has since publicly announced measures to prevent further occurrences admitting that: “Public hospital employees are entitled to a hearing before termination…and the hospital is to re-emphasize its policy regarding patient privacy through training.”(Beaulieu, 2010).

United States Judge, Eric Melgren, upheld four nursing students right to due process of the law after the nursing students were illegally expelled from the Associates in Nursing Program at Johnson County Community College (JCCC), Kansas, who were subsequently reinstated after testifying that their clinical instructor responded: “Oh you girls!” when they said they were going to post the placenta on Facebook (KCCNews, 2011). JCCC Board Member, Benjamin Hodge admonished the college administration for wasting resources on court costs and for continuing to draw high salaries despite their error. (KCCNews, 2011).

The Joint Commission has responded to the gap between nurses’ comprehension of the HIPPA core information and testing and its application in the work place by issuing health care organizations mandates to address these disruptive behaviors through establishing a social networking code of conduct. Bennett (2009) reminds nurses “although it may be outside the workplace that a nurse may be disciplined over a post that is inappropriate.”

Larson (2011) outlined six principles to guide nurses in using social media:

1. Nurses must not transmit or place online individually identifiable patient information.
2. Nurses must observe ethically prescribed professional patient-nurse boundaries.
3. Nurses should understand that patients, colleagues, institutions and employers may view postings.
4. Nurses should take advantage of privacy settings and seek to separate personal and professional information online.
5. Nurses should bring content that could harm a patient’s privacy, rights or welfare to the attention of appropriate authorities.
6. Nurses should participate in developing institutional policies governing online contact.)

On a positive note regarding Facebook and nursing, Smith (2010) is optimistic about nurses being active in the social media: “Nurses are change agents and as change agents we can embrace the social media tools of engagement with patients and the broader health care and nursing community to foster healthcare dialogue and to shape a healthier global community together.”

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