Welcome to the Healthcare Career Category where you’ll find information on career management, jobs and professional networking for nurses, physicians and allied health professionals.
Nurses often wonder if they should include an objective or a summary on their nursing resume. The decision can be a difficult one because there is a lot of debate among career advisers. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the difference between an objective and a summary, summarize the debate, and discuss why we feel there is a hands-down winner for your nursing resume. Read more
Professional networking is a concept typically associated with shmoozer business types like salesmen and insurance agents. These professions typically require persuasiveness aimed at gaining favor or business which are common objectives of professional networking. Why then should nurses take professional networking seriously? After all, nurses are not salesmen or insurance agents. In this blog post, we’ll address that question by offering our top 5 reasons that nurses should take professional networking seriously. Read more
A New Grad RN recently shared their frustration with us regarding the difficulties they encountered while searching for their first job. Having spoken to many New Grad RNs over the years, we know how frustrating it can be for them to land their first job with an acute care hospital. These days, many people point to uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act as the cause. However, our experience indicates that New Grad RNs have been having this difficulty since at least 2006. While the problem has certainly been magnified since 2008, we’re not sure how much of it can be attributed to the Affordable Care Act. The poor economy and an overall misunderstanding of the “nursing shortage” are more likely causes. Understanding the issues at play can help New Grad RNs formulate a strategy for landing their first job in an acute care hospital. Read more
Our article discussing the top 10 details to include on your nursing resume has received over 2 million views. The most common question we receive pertains to the length of the nurse’s resume. Inquirers are concerned that they can’t fit all of the information we recommend into a one-page document. In this article, we’ll focus on nursing resume length so you can approach the topic with confidence.
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Skills checklists are self assessment tools utilized by healthcare employers and healthcare professionals for gauging a healthcare professional’s skill set within a particular healthcare specialty. Healthcare employers often require potential job candidates and new-hires to complete them. They are a standard requirement for employment with travel nursing agencies and healthcare staffing agencies of all types. Skills checklists can also be very useful for healthcare professionals interested in determining their own expertise within their healthcare specialty, for identifying areas of future career growth, and for getting an edge in the hiring process. BluePipes provides members with free access to over 100 comprehensive skills checklists which can be completed, saved, downloaded as a PDF file and utilized at the member’s discretion. Below is a sample BluePipes skills checklist for an ICU nurse. Join BluePipes today; it’s free and easy! Read more
Geography and/or regional issues are often cited when referring to the nursing shortage. The idea is that certain areas of the country have a surplus of nurses while other areas of the country are faced with severe shortages. The net result is an overall nursing shortage. These regional imbalances lead to recommendations that nurses, especially those having difficulty landing a job, should seek employment opportunities in regions exhibiting shortages. However, others contend that such recommendations maybe without merit. Understanding the issues at play will help nurses form a clearer picture of the nursing labor market and possibly assist them with their job searches. Read more
This Infographic displays a comparison between median Staff RN salaries and the top 10% of Staff RN salaries by specialty. Remeber, the median is the numerical value separating that higher half of the data sample from the lower half of the sample. In other words, 50% of Staff RNs make more than the median salary and 50% make less than the median salary. This is much different than the average Staff RN salary. Read more
