It’s that time of year again. It’s time for everyone to remember the past year, to look at the ups, the downs, the highs, and the lows of 2006. What was your best memory? What was your worst moment? After a little (and sometimes a lot) of evaluation, most people sit down and make the all-important New Year’s Resolution. What will yours be this year? Some people promise themselves that they’ll get in shape, while others will finally kick...  Read More »

Every area of the country is famous for a certain type of weather. You’ll find dry, intimidating heat in the southwest, lots and lots of rain in the northwest, and humidity in the southeast. The northeast–and New England, in particular–has four distinct seasons on its calendar year. Winter, for many, is the most special. Beautiful landscapes and snow that’s occasionally measured in feet present opportunities for adventure and relaxation....  Read More »

Every nurse has heard the term “horizontal hostility.” Sometimes it’s referred to as “nurse-to-nurse hostility,” “lateral violence,” or even “nurses eating their young.” Regardless, it’s a troubling issue that continues to plague the nursing profession on a daily basis. Horizontal hostility includes overt examples (e.g., name-calling, bickering, backstabbing, and gossip) and covert examples (e.g.,...  Read More »

One figure is 5%. The other is 32,323. One figure is good. The other, not so good. Earlier this month, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), released preliminary survey data that showed trends–some positive and some negative–in the world of future nursing. Five percent (the good number) represents the rise in nursing school enrollment from 2005 to 2006. It’s the sixth straight year that enrollment has increased at nursing...  Read More »

We’ve all heard the song . . . over and over and over again. Every holiday season, it’s the same. “On the first day of Christmas, my true love . . . blah, blah, blah.” It’s long, it’s time-consuming, and it’s outdated. What the heck is a leaping lord anyway? And where are you going to get 10 of them? Anyway, we decided to change the lyrics around a bit. We thought about what makes up a career at nursing school (and...  Read More »

Are you having some trouble getting into the spirit this year? Has all the work, studying, and stress piled up so high that they are blocking your view of the holidays? The good news is you’ll only need about two hours to get a smile back on your face and a spring back into your seasonal step. How, you ask? Why a holiday movie, of course. We’ve done our research (and our viewing) and have come up with the 10 best flicks that’ll put you in...  Read More »

It’s easy to feel like an island in nursing school. You spend long, lonely hours studying, worrying, and pulling your hair out. Thoughts of your next exam, the tough class you still have to pass, and your pinning ceremony (yes!) float around in your head on a daily basis. It can be intimidating, exciting, and scary all at the same time. Well, don’t fear, for you are not alone. And to prove it, we asked a future nurse (just like you) a few questions...  Read More »

We all have stress on a daily basis. That’s a given. Some of us are busy trying to balance school and work, while others are trying to figure out how to get the 6-year-old to soccer practice and the 9-year-old to ballet rehearsal in a five-minute span. Plus, there’s grocery shopping, paying bills, the holidays, trying to figure out this crazy nursing profession, and that movie you just returned. You did return it, right? With all the stress and...  Read More »

It looms large at the end of every nurse’s education. It’s a daunting, intimidating collection of questions meant to test knowledge on anything, everything, and then some other things. It is, without further ado, the National Council Licensure Examination. Or, as you like to call it, the NCLEX®. So, why is the test so scary? Is it the amount of information on it? Is it the reality that, upon successful completion, you are an actual nurse? Or...  Read More »

Feeling left out as a male nurse? Give Albany-based Excelsior College a try. In nearly 35 years of existence, the school has graduated 35,000 nursing students, 16% of which have been male. That’s 10 percentage points higher than the national workforce average of 6%. To show its appreciation, the American Assembly for Men in Nursing, a national organization aimed at bringing male nurses together, awarded Excelsior the 2006 Best School Award. Excelsior...  Read More »