Dr. Sellars Educate

Now that we've started the conversation about the importance of nurses being educated at the BSN-level, let's dig dipper into the cost of education.  As politicians continue to talk about the debt that college graduates are being faced with, I don't see alot of legislation that is bringing us any relief. The Committee on Education and the Workforce continues to discuss the challenges on their website https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402070 Until next time, Your Nurse Leader Today

It's been a while since I've posted, and alot has changed!!   Just to catch you up...I've had my 1st CNO job (for 2 years, and I learned alot) and now finally I'm blessed to serve in my passion as an academic leader in the role of Director of RN-BSN Option and Associate Professor at Winston-Salem State University.   Enough about me...let's get to the topic of this post, BSN in 10 for RNs in NY legislation has been signed by Governor Cuomo.  I'm not going to get into the details about the politics, but will focus on the impact that this legislation will have on our nursing profession.   There are several benefits with this legislation, and it's highlighted very nicely in this article from 2008.   1. Nursing leaders are increasing their tuition reimbursements to help support this initiative.  -Going back to school is expensive, and many private institutions are charging twice as much as public institutions.   -To really...

Hello again from the Nurse Leaders Today Studio!! Well, the California State University nursing students have survived again!!  Just completed another leadership class with a group of 21 future RN to BSN students!!  California is certainly on their way to reaching the goal of 80% by 2020!! On a personal note, I've transitioned my move back home to NC!!  It's awesome to be with my family, but I will continue to keep my ties to California as part-time faculty for CSUF until I find a faculty job in NC.  So far, it's much harder than I anticipated, but I'm certain that God has a plan that I'll step in to when it's time. Now, back to Nurse Leaders today.... Healthcare continues to be plagued by finding enough experienced nurses, and the work I do with AMN Healthcare validates that.  We are seeing more demand for traveling nurses, and now just need to find those nurses that are ready to come back into the travel industry.  It's an exciting time to be a nurs...

A Caring Work Environment The leadership team’s ability to develop and demonstrate caring will support building this type of clinical environment.  The leaders in the organization are responsible for creating a caring environment that supports respect  among  peers leading to the development of a culture of quality care and clinical excellence.  Nursing care is increasingly complex and requires all team members to be aligned with prioritizing patient safety while providing a high level of quality care.  The objective is to integrate the conceptual framework created by to build caring into the nursing practice that will foster collaborate relationships among the healthcare team.  The development of collaborative relationships will lead to decreased adverse events for patient and the creation of a culture of safety and caring [i] .  The Joint Commission emphasizes the requirement of leadership to serve as the role model and change agents to promote ...

Happy New Year!! As we enter into the new year of 2014, healthcare is more uncertain than ever.  The one thing we know is that change is coming!  In the spirit of change and improving healthcare, take a look at the December 2013 Nursing Management article that I've published with my colleague, Dr. Ann Mayo.  I've included excerpts below and you can go to www.nursingmanagement.com to download the full article and references. For more than a decade, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has released reports that call for hospitals to explore possible solutions to complex healthcare problems. The Future of Nursing Report outlines 8 recommendations to lead change, advance health, and transform the healthcare environment.  The IOM recommended that hospitals utilize best practices and processes that promote patient-centered, quality nursing care. Sustainable transformation begins with the leadership team understanding the processes that create a culture of nursing excel...

Hello Fellow Nursing Leaders!! We continue to press forward with meeting our FON goal to get 80% of all RNs BSN-prepared by 2020.  I am so impressed with the students that I teach at CSUF in the RN-BSN program.  They are so engaged about this topic, and really see the value in achieving this goal.  We've had a few discussions this semester and discussed the following about barriers/obstacles with achieving this great goal: Peer nurses that have more experience feeling threatened and increased bullying in the workplace Managers feeling anxious about losing the RN to another hospital/leadership Not enough opportunities to be involved in decision-making (this is a good problem, I think) Feeling of frustration about manager behaviors that don't align with our studies about leadership Where is your staff on the 80/2020 scale?  Do you know?  If you're a leader of a healthcare organization, I challenge you to find out today!! Until next time... Nurse Le...

As we continue to push Healthcare Reform forward, we are reminded about the accountability that healthcare providers and hospitals must take in the problems we have with healthcare.  Dr. Marty Makary reminds us of this in his book appropriately titled, "Unaccountable: What hospitals won't tell you and how transparency can revolutionize health care". We have to become more transparent in healthcare, and this book shares insight into this problem, and how it affects healthcare.  When we think about the CMS mandates related to patient outcomes and CORE measures, it certainly brings us closer to rewards being tied to outcomes, but consumers still need to be better educated about what this all means. I propose the following steps:    -"Healthcare Now: HN": develop community advocacy groups to get the word out about every CORE measure in laymen's terms and talk about discuss area hospital metrics    -1-stop Repository: put all of the metrics tied ...