Friday May 24, 2013
Explore Careers in Optometry, Ophthalmology
May is Healthy Vision Month, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the American Optometric Association (AOA). Careers in eye care are in great demand, as more than 20 million Americans suffer from severe vision loss, states the AAO.
Optometrists are "Doctors on the frontline of eye and vision care," says the AOA. Optometrists are integral in the providing preventive eye care. These health professionals obtain a doctoral degree in optometry (OD) from an accredited four-year optometry program. Once educated, trained, and qualified, optometrists conduct eye exams to detect and diagnose eye diseases, prescribe medication, and perform minor procedures.
Ophthalmologists attend a four-year medical school, earn an MD or DO medical degree, and then attend a residency program to specialize in ophthalmology. They are physicians and surgeons who specialize in more serious eye conditions and issues beyond basic vision care.
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Friday May 10, 2013
While More Men Work as Nurses, They are Still a Minority
The latest report on the nursing population from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the nursing profession still remains predominantly female, but the percentage of men in the nursing workforce has tripled since 1970, in some nursing roles.
While that is a rapid rate of growth, consider the fact that in 1970, only 2.7 percent of registered nurses were men. Today, 9.6 percent of registered nurses are men.
Here are a few more statistics on men in nursing, from the Census Bureau's 2013 report:
- Women earn 91 cents for every dollar earned by men in nursing, as compared with 77 cents on the dollar across all occupations
- The proportion of male licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (LVN) has more than doubled, from 3.9 percent to 8.1 percent.
- Of the 3.5 million nurses employed in 2011, about 3.2 million were female, and only 330,000 were male.
- The highest percentage of male nurses (41%) is found among CRNAs (nurse anesthetists), which are among the top earning nurses, at more than twice the salary of the average nurse.
What is it like to be a man working in a woman's world?
To find out, we asked two men with years of nursing experience to share their stories. Learn more about the challenges and rewards of being a male nurse, in the newly published Q&A with Mark Andaya and Hung Hsin from the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
Monday May 6, 2013
Happy Nurses Week!
National Nurses Week 2013 kicks off today, Monday May 6, which is also known as National Nurses Day. According to the ANA (American Nurse Association), there are over 2.9 million registered nurses nationwide, and 2.4 million of those are actively practicing. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects Registered Nurses (RNs) to be one of the healthcare sectors to add the most jobs in the next few years.
This year's theme for National Nurses Week is "Delivering Quality & Innovation in Patient Care", according to the ANA.
How are you going to celebrate Nurses Week?
Why not explore some challenging, exciting careers in nursing? Nurses certainly deserve more than one week's worth of appreciation and gratitude, due to the demanding work they endure regularly. According to the ANA, over 70% of nurses experience chronic or acute effects of stress and overwork, and over two thirds of nurses report that they work some type of unplanned overtime each month. If you are passionate about health care, and you have a lot of stamina, a nursing career may be for you.
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Friday May 3, 2013
Healthcare added 19,000 jobs in April, according to today's employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared to previous months, the industry's growth for April is modest, if not weak in comparison to the average of 24,000 new jobs monthly.
The largest gains were in ambulatory care, which grew by 13,600 jobs, including:
Hospitals added only 2,700 total jobs in April, according to the BLS.
The unemployment rate for the healthcare industry is down from last year's rate of 4.8 percent to April's rate of 4.4 percent, the second lowest rate of all industries. (Government workers have the lowest unemployment rate currently at 3.3 percent for April).
The nation's overall unemployment rate remains at 7.5 percent after the addition of 165,000 jobs for the month of April. Even though healthcare had modest job growth for the month, the industry still remains one of the strongest employment sectors in the nation.
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