Assistant Professor of Nursing Part 2 – Salaries Career Opportunities

Assistant Professor of Nursing
Part 2 of HospitalSoup.com’s Interview with Professor Bethany Hoffman
Another “Day in the Life” series brought to you by HospitalSoup.com featuring innovative health care professionals and medical careers.

Q. Give us an example of what a typical day on the job might be like as a clinical nurse educator.
B.H. I have time every day that is allotted for office hours. So I might start the day with office hours and have individual meetings with students in regards to information about advising, choosing a course for the semester, making decisions around what the student’s needs are. I might meet with a couple of students about a research project they’re working on in another class, which has an interest in mental health. So we may discuss what they can do their research on, what kind of information will be needed. Being part of a campus, my responsibilities also include being a part of the college. I serve on communities and boards, which have meetings. It’s part of my position here, and part of the evaluation process. So my day may include attending a meeting for a committee that I’m on. For example, yesterday I attended a
community-wide presentation on “Dying on Our Own Terms.” The idea is to involve the community on how we want death to be handled in our community. On other days, I might accompany a student making a home visit. Each student has a long-term patient in the mental health community they visit for six weeks. Teaching involves going on these visits with the student. Then, I would do my theory class for two hours in a particular subject area, and that involves preparation, doing class for two hours. Hours are designated, but there’s a lot of flexibility. Because I’m in a teaching position, I chose to be involved in things like community efforts that will enrich the learning for the students as well as for myself.

Q. Is this your choice as an educator or more your passion to become more involved in community?
B.H. It’s both. I have a passion for this but I also want the theory, the coursework, to be real for the students. Mental health still has an incredible stigma attached to it, and many people are fearful of it, uncomfortable with it, lack knowledge about it. Most of the students that come to my class say that [before they took the course] they really didn’t know what schizophrenia was, what depression truly looked like, what bi-polar illness was. When I tell someone I’m a psychiatric nurse, they’ll ask, “How do you that?” Or within five minutes, they’re telling me a story about a relative, or someone they know or they have a question about some mental illness. So I think it’s important that mental health is integrated in all practices; it doesn’t have to be a separate entity. When you take care of a patient, you need to able to communicate and connect with that person in some way. So I try to bring something real, something happening now, into the classroom.

Q. Explain how a nurse educator’s role differs from that of other nurses.
B.H. I didn’t take a lot of educational classes when I got my masters. I’m a clinical specialist in psychiatric nursing. I focused on the clinical aspect and not the education. So part of my time here has been learning more about the educational process. You want to be really strong in the knowledge of your clinical area and also in how to teach, to understand how people learn. I’m always making room to try and understand the student’s perspective, too. What’s going on  with them? How do they see it? How do I to make education more interesting? You may get across less information, but what is real is that a student participates in the learning, the more they retain. So how do you create a classroom where students leave there feeling like they really learned something, and they really got it. They can integrate it, use it. Recently, we revised our curriculum. Our goal was that when a student graduated, they had a particular level of knowledge, they have these confidences, they have this level of professionalism. We worked with all the faculty to provide all the knowledge and experiences and competencies to create that. We went through the accreditation process with the AACN this last fall and we passed with a 10-year tenure, which is the highest rating they give. The other concern as an educator is that you have students graduating at a level where they can pass the State Boards without difficulty and we’ve been in the 90th percentile since I’ve been here, which is way above the national average. Additionally, my roles are: keeping up with nursing journals, attending conferences that relate to psychiatric nursing, participating in community efforts to assimilate information. The other piece is I find that very exciting – to know that something that was discussed in class on Monday, a student uses when they meet with a patient that Wednesday.

Q. What type of education is necessary to prepare for a role as a nurse educator?
B.H. Within the profession of nursing you have two entry levels of practice. You have Associate Degree or a Baccalaureate degree. With a master’s, you can teach both levels, depending on the institution. However, with a PhD comes more opportunity to teach at the Baccalaureate level.

Q. What is the most positive aspect of your job?
B.H. Probably having all those relationships with all the students. Getting to know people, getting to have a small part in adding to “their bag of tricks,” as I call it. Things they can carry with them when they gain confidence in relating to people. I like to think of it in terms of the metaphor of planting a seed and hoping it germinates somewhere along the way. How far will it go? If I can help a student in getting more comfortable in talking and communicating with patients, than I’m probably an advocate in helping all those patients with whom that student comes in contact. As students and as nurses, they’ll be better advocates and give better care.

Q. What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
B.H. Keeping up with the constantly changing technology. The changes are continuous, from the most basic to the most complex. Also, the juggling and balancing. You feel there’s always more – more to share, to teach, to learn from the students. I have to be careful not to overwhelm the students. There’s all this knowledge and information, but what do they really need to know?

Q. Are there growing opportunities for nurse educators?
B.H. Certainly. In fact one of the things that’s being recognized now is that the numbers of nurse educators are in an age population that will soon be retiring. There aren’t that many nurses who are graduating with PhD’s and are pursuing education as an alternative. There are opportunities for nurses with advanced degrees, those in areas of individual practice. There are also research opportunities. If you look in any nursing journal, you’ll find ads for nurse educators. Also, a lot of people choose nursing as a second career. Often they chose to come and get their education as a nurse after they’ve worked in another area. I’m not sure of the average age [at Mesa State], but we have many adult learners. It’s a great environment because they have incredible life experiences they bring to the profession. We also need to encourage younger people to consider nursing as a career.

Q. How about room for advancement?
B.H. Definitely. There are many positions throughout the nation for nurse educators. There’s support and encouragement within the college here for people to pursue and continue their degrees. There are three individuals in our department who are currently working on their PhD’s.

Q. What’s the average salary for a nurse educator?
B.H. It depends on the level of institution where you are working. Sometimes teaching salaries are related to the type of program you’re teaching. The pay also depends on your educational degree, and on the college itself. If the college has a high cost per student and your contribution is part of a larger institution, then your salary is going to be higher. I don’t have a good answer as to the exact range. Probably in the high 20’s is the low side, but I don’t know the high side. That all depends on the position. For a Dean of Nursing, it would be much higher. Also, some schools are looking at dual appointments where half your salary is paid by the college or institution and the other half is paid by a hospital. You have dual appointments in which you teach part-time and work in the field part-time.

Q. What types of changes in nursing have taken place since you started?
B.H. Changes in health care technology and management. That has influenced our education process. It affects the patient’s stay [due to the impact and affect that managed health care has on the relationship of diagnosis to length or type of treatment]. So it’s caused a shift. We include community more than before, and in every area that we teach there is a community component. Often I have students working more in a community setting than in hospitals and institutions, so they have the broader view of health care. The other effect has been that nurses must be much more able to do research that supports the need for people to be hospitalized. Quality care issues around things like what nurses must do versus what non-licensed professionals do. Patients also need to be educated about who their nurse is. This has the effect of positively uniting nurses, in getting nurses to say this is what’s important and this issue/position should be supported.

Q. What would you tell someone who was interested in becoming a nurse educator?
B.H. Probably talk to other people who are in nurse education. I think there’s room for creativity in how you present your classes, there’s lot of changes and you need to be willing to be flexible. Also, that you like people. Most nurses say the most important aspect is their connection with people. They really like people, that’s why they’re in it. Also, knowing that every student has their own background, their own way of learning, their own learning style. I think it’s very challenging and fun to try to bring out the best capabilities in every student. I encourage that.

Q. What would you tell someone who was interested in nursing as a career.
B.H. Probably some of what we’ve already talked about. A sincere interest in individuals, in people, what their lives are about, what’s important to them, caring about that. Strong background in things like science and math. You need to be adaptable, flexible, open to change. Health care is definitely an area where the knowledge is going to keep on growing, and you need to have the willingness to be in a profession where [adaptability] is going to be something that is required of you. You can’t go to college and learn to be a nurse and think you’re done. You need to keep up in whatever area you work in. When I’m a nurse, I’m not really much of a different person than who I am as an individual and that really is how I got so connected with psychiatrics. For me it’s very interesting. I never felt like I didn’t want to do this any more. I don’t see myself leaving because of the connection with people.

This concludes HospitalSoup.com’s interview with Bethany Hoffman, RN, MSN.
HospitalSoup would like to thank Professor Hoffman for contributing her time, knowledge and experience for this article!

Have a question about psychiatric nursing? Comments about this article? Let us know your thoughts.

Operating Room Nursing Part 2 – OR Nurse Salary and Jobs

Operating Room Nursing Part 2
OR Nurse Salary and Jobs

This is Part 2 of HospitalSoup.com’s interview with Operating Room Nurse Tammera Glenn and part of  ”The Day in the Life…. Series by HospitalSoup.com as we profile exceptional medical professionals and provide our readers with an insight on what it’s like to work in the medical field as a health care professional.

Q. What type of education is necessary to prepare for a role as an OR staff nurse?
T.G. Nurses must graduate from an accredited nursing program. Programs range from two to four years in length. Entry level nursing education may be obtained through either a two year, associate degree program, a two to three year diploma program, or a four year university program. Educational components are comprised of both classroom instruction and clinical experiences that are supervised. Once the educational component is completed, in order to become licensed as a Registered Nurse one has to pass the NCLEX-RN licensing exam. At our hospital here in Lebanon, Oregon, we have training for new nurses that helps them become competent and proficient in the OR.

Q. What is the most positive aspect of your job?
T.G. Working with people. I have a great staff and they work very hard. When we have an emergency or are short staffed, employees come into my office and ask me what they can do to pitch in and help. We have a wonderful team, and I can’t say enough of my staff. Furthermore, I love the area, and get a lot of joy out of being with the patients. Throughout my nursing career I’ve had some great experiences. I used to work a lot with pediatrics. Being able to comfort a baby or child was wonderful. I love talking with patients and making children feel better.

Q. What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
T.G. Also working with people. Physicians all have different requirements and it’s a juggling act sometimes to try to meet everyone’s individual needs.

Q. Are there growing opportunities for OR nurses?
T.G. Absolutely. One can decide to practice as a staff RN, or go into an area of management, education, surgical specialist, RN First Assistant, or nurse anesthetist.

Q. How about room for advancement?
T.G. Definitely. You can basically decide how far you’d like to advance your nursing career. There are many different areas of nursing and advancement opportunities are plentiful.

Q. What’s the average salary for a operating room nurse?
T.G. It really depends on the area one is located. Rural vs. urban impacts how high one is paid. The average starting pay for an OR nurse in a smaller community is $12 to $13 an hour, yet other hospitals can pay up to $20 an hour. The overall average for an OR nurse is $16 to $17 an hour. For the management side, it really depends on level. A nurse manager makes an average of $50,000 a year. Our salary can go up to $80,000 to $90,000 depending on how large the hospital system, and the number of staff one supervises.

Q. What types of changes in nursing have taken place since you started?
T.G. There have been changes in technology that has made it a lot easier on the patient’s recovery following surgery. Salaries have improved. Since 1990, pay has increased by 47%. There is a shortage of nurses now and the boundaries of nursing responsibilities have increased. I think that nurses are being hired without enough education and experience because of this shortage. The advancement in technology has made it easier on patients but more difficult on health care professionals. Nurses and physicians must continually broaden their scope of knowledge due to new advancements. Laproscopic surgery has helped patients shorten their recovery time. Patients are having their gallbladders removed and leaving for home the same day. Surgery cases may be more complicated. For one case of surgery, there is a table full of instruments and monitors. This is just for one case. Each case generally has a different set of instruments and monitors, so there is a broad base of knowledge that one must have to work in the perioperative environment. Furthermore, in the OR, we have representatives continually teaching new procedures and we must learn new equipment as it is introduced.

Q. What would you tell someone who was interested in becoming an Operating Room Nurse?
T.G. Talk to people. Come see it, watch the process. Understand that coming to the OR as a career, means being on call. There are times when I have been called in at nine thirty at night, gotten home at one o’clock in the morning and been called again at five o’clock a.m. on the next day. Although it can be tiring, you understand that you must be available to provide care for the patients. And that means being on call because trauma cases or emergencies happen 24 hours a day. Additionally, I’d recommend that someone who is interested in perioperative nursing take a lot of classes, and obtain the best training that they can, and preferably shadow (which means to follow and observe someone as they work on the job) an OR staff nurse who is passionate about the job.

This concludes HospitalSoup.com’s interview with Tammera Glenn, RN, BSN, CNOR. HospitalSoup would like to thank Tammera for contributing her time, knowledge and experience for this article!

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Nursing Informatics Part 2 – Informatics Nursing Salary and Informatics Job Description

Nursing Informatics Part 2
Informatics Nursing Salary and Informatics Job Description

This is part 2 of HospitalSoup.com’s Interview with Informatics Nurse, Lt. Col Florence Valley

Another “Day in the Life” Interview with a Medical Professional brought to you by HospitalSoup.com, profiling  outstanding health care professionals and medical careers so that you can learn what it’s like to work for a day in the medical field.

Q. As an Informatics Nurse, describe what you do.
I’m responsible for obtaining data from multiple data repositories within the military hospital. One repository includes information about patient demographics, laboratory work, radiology, and appointment utilization. Others involve prevention programs for our active duty personnel, and immunization tracking. After I export the data, I transform the data into information that is useful to the end user. Hospital executives, for example, might want aggregated data on clinical outcomes of diabetes care. On the other end of the spectrum, our providers need specific information about the diabetic patients enrolled to them specifically. Perhaps the data might show that a diabetic patient hasn’t had an eye exam in three years, although it’s recommended annually. I relay this information to the provider and their teams so they can proactively encourage patients to get the preventative service aimed at preventing blindness. My job isn’t just informatics. I’m responsible for integrating processes, as well. At times, I feel like a plate spinner, moving back and forth between plates to keep them spinning.

Q. What’s a typical day like for an informatics nurse?
There are no typical days! That’s what I like so much about my job. Some days I’m briefing the executive team, some days I’m mentoring a nurse on how to build a disease management database. On another day I might be data mining our patient database or evaluating a consumer-based web education program. Perhaps I’ll help a provider examine new cost-effective technologies–palm pilots, for example–that can be integrated into primary care settings. I might evaluate computer-based schedules that providers use to book appointments to ensure the best use of their time. Do they have the right type of and amount of appointments to meet the demands of the population enrolled to them? By “providers,” I mean physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. I do interact with patients. The other side of my job is that I sometimes fill in for absent nursing staff. Every so often I’m on the triage line when patients call in with their problems: Do they really need a same-day appointment? Do they need home care advice? Maybe they’re having trouble getting an appointment with a civilian agency for their specialty consultation. My office is right in the middle of the primary care clinic, so I get pulled from my primary job to do all sorts of things, blood sticks included. This is so beneficial because I can evaluate our processes from many angles, including the staff member.

Q. How does your role differ from that of other nurses?
I believe I can improve patient care on a much larger spectrum than what I could do with one-on-one encounters. I can provide information that might improve the care for all our four hundred diabetic patients, whereas if I were a clinic nurse, I’d interact with a select group assigned to my team. I’m more of a facilitator of technology, whereas a clinical nurse may be the end user. I’m also investigating new technologies or coordinating their implementation with our current practices. I’m much more autonomous than a clinical nurse. I run my own shop, pick my own projects and prioritize my work day. You’ve got to be a self-starter. Some people like structured environments, so this job is not for everyone.

Q. What education is necessary to prepare for a role in Nursing Informatics?
I’m fortunate to have grown up with the systems I’m now managing or evaluating. But my master’s course work was pivotal. Between the three management areas I studied, I was well prepared to take on my present role. My studies helped me understand outcome management – making use of stored data – and develop a real appreciation for high quality medical care that can be delivered with a reasonable price tag. Because the University of Arizona sits in the middle of an HMO dominated area — learning how a health maintenance program operates has proved so helpful to me. Starting in 1996, the Air Force started a network of HMO’s operating under the umbrella of the military health system. Knowing how an HMO functions assists me in interacting with our civilian contractors.

Q. What is the most positive aspect of your job?
My position is in its infancy, so to a great extent I’m able to create my job. Working at many different levels within my organization never gets boring.

Q. What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
What is most challenging is keeping abreast of current technologies. I don’t want to be recommending a specific technology when waiting three months would give me a better product at a lower cost. I recently attended the American Medical Informatics Symposium in Los Angeles and realized that I need to catch up with the literature. Being a mom, wife, and full-time Air Force member doesn’t always leave enough room or hours in the day for keeping up with all the changes in this field.

Q. Are there growing opportunities for informatics nurses?
I think the opportunities for nurses who develop technical and clinical expertise are boundless. Just a few years ago, nurses never thought of themselves as playing the role of liaison between the two fields. Now it’s a burgeoning field for them. In some areas of the country, it’s moving like gangbusters. The academic centers are leading the way. They’re able to combine medical informatics with traditional computer programs because of the resources available to them. The Universities of Arizona, Maryland and Colorado have solid nursing graduate programs in informatics, which has spilled over into their undergraduate programs.

Q. How much room is there for advancement?
In medical settings, data analysts are often paid six-figure salaries, yet generally they’re lacking the clinical piece of the puzzle-they might not know what kind of data is needed to improve care for patients. There’s also communicating with the provider staff. It’s easier for a nurse to translate the technical problem to the providers because we can translate it into something they will understand. I’m not saying that the two roles are interchangeable, but because my position is unique among my peers, my chances of promotion are greatly enhanced. Nurses are always cost-effective. We’re good at analytical thinking–in taking a problem, splitting it into pieces and conquering each piece.

Q. What’s the average salary for an informatics nurse?
I’m not really sure. Jobs that deal with informatics don’t always have the same job title. I make $78 thousand, but I’ve been with the Air Force for more than 18 years. Longevity has its advantages in any company or organization.

Q. What changes in nursing have taken place since you started?
When I graduated from college, nurses chose either clinic or hospital roles. About 90 percent of those who worked in hospitals were floor nurses. Now our options include outpatient surgery, community health, home health, wellness clinics, extended care facilities and nursing homes to name just a few. Informatics nursing is just one role among many. Nurses now play an increased role in coordinating patient care. These days, the smart providers use an integrated team approach to care for their patients.

Q. What would you tell someone who is interested in becoming an informatics nurse?
If they’re not computer phobic and want to positively influence patient outcomes on a large scale, then informatics is a viable option. Working your way into this new role in your current job is optimal, because you already know their systems and how the processes function currently.

Q. Are there any closing thoughts you’d like to share?
This isn’t an area you can jump into right out of college. Get some nursing experience first, but don’t pidgeon-hole yourself. I’ve played many nursing roles, and the variety has prepared me to understand processes throughout the facility. Stay committed to your goal, but in the meantime, have fun and keep learning.

This concludes HospitalSoup.com’s interview with Lt. Col. Florence Valley.HospitalSoup.com would like to thank Lt. Col. Valley for contributing her time, knowledge and experience for this article!

Nursing Informatics Part 1 – Nurse Informatics as a Career

Nursing Informatics:  Part I : Nursing Informatics as a Career
Interview with Lt. Col. Florence Valley

Part of the Day in the Life Series by HospitalSoup.com
Medical Career Profiles

Interview and editing by Bonnie Garrington for HospitalSoup.com

Name: Lt. Col. Florence Valley
Title: Chief, Health Care Integrator
Place of Employment: Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska
Educational Background: M.S. in Nursing

Background: Lt. Col. Florence Valley joined the U.S. Air Force in 1982, the year she received a B.A. in nursing from the College of Saint Catherine in St. Paul, MN. She began her career as an obstetrics staff nurse, moved into the role of assistant nurse manager, then worked at another facility where they needed a medical-surgical nurse manager. While in Bitburg, Germany, she managed outpatient clinics starting in pediatrics and ending in family practice. After she worked as an inpatient obstetrics head nurse at another facility, she began course work at the University of Arizona and graduated with a M.S. degree. Her nursing studies focused on case, systems and data management. Today she works at a military medical treatment facility that serves a population of 28,000 beneficiaries at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. Valley has worked as an informatics nurse since 1999.

Q. What made you choose nursing informatics as a career?
To a certain extent, by happenstance, but I also wanted to find something that would set me apart from my peers. Many of them were also nurse managers, so we had the same skills. I really don’t consider myself in the role of “nursing” informatics. I am a nurse that does informatics. I value the business aspect of health care, and I knew that providing quality health care was often data driven. Also, the military health system had recently become part of a network of contracts representing possibly the biggest HMO in the nation. Information is so very important in every aspect of this enterprise. Because of my course work at Arizona, I kind of fell into data management because I knew that data drove many decisions. Another reason was that my husband is an avid computer “geek,” so the environment was familiar. It’s a long story, but my experience has prepared me well for this career. It has all come together. With my clinical background, I know the processes that produce the data. With my computer background, I’m able to retrieve data and transform it into information needed to improve medical care.

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Operating Room Nurse Part 1 – Working as an OR Nurse

Operating Room  Nursing – What’s it like to work as an OR Nurse?

A Day in the Life…..
An Interview with Tammera Glenn, Operating Room Nurse Manager
Written by: Patrice Shields

Name: Tammera Glenn, RN, BSN, CNOR
Title: Operating Room/Post Anesthesia Care Unit Manager
Place of Employment: Lebanon Community Hospital,
Lebanon, Oregon
Educational Background: R.N., B.S.N, and C.N.O.R

Background: Tammera Glenn is a graduate of William Jewell College. After graduation in 1985 Tammera enlisted with the Air Force. As an Active Duty Air Force RN Officer Tammera spent time in San Antonio, Germany and Maine. In the Air Force Tammera went through a selective internship, working in a variety of areas within the nursing profession. In San Antonio she specialized in surgical trauma, in Germany, as a staff development officer in a multi -service unit, and in Maine coming off of active duty, she was a charge nurse. After the military, Tammera went directly to the reserves as a civilian and became an operating room nurse.

Q. What drew you to become an Operating Room/Post Anesthesia Care unit (PACU) Manager?
T.G. During my last semester in college, I worked in the Operating Room (OR), three days a week with a physician. I absolutely loved it. Since I had a lot of nursing experience from being in the military, I knew what happens to a patient before and after surgery. This helped me provide better care for patients. Since I’ve worked in so many different areas in the military, I became comfortable and complacent with a lot of areas in nursing. I still haven’t experienced that complacent feeling in OR nursing. Working in the OR is an ongoing learning experience, and I love the challenge of it. Managing multiple departments provides for different responsibilities. As a manager, I have the best of both worlds. I oversee several departments and participate in patient care, normally at least twice a week. I enjoy working with patients, and it gives me a break from the office.

Q. Specifically, as an OR/PACU Manager, describe what you do.
T.G. On a week to week basis, one of my responsibilities is staff scheduling. Should some staff members be on vacation or otherwise absent, I have to take that into consideration when planning staffing for that particular time period. Sometimes I fill in if we are short on staff, enjoying the opportunity to do patient care. On the management side, my responsibilities are in four departments, the Operating Room, Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Sterile Processing and Anesthesiology. I help budget these areas, to ensure that we have all the necessary equipment to make these units run effectively. I also perform employee evaluations and spend time as a manager troubleshooting as needed in my respective departmental areas. Additionally, I spend time participating in many committees, and go to staff scheduling meetings to make sure things run well. At least one week out of the month is dedicated to administrative work. Paper work is plentiful! I have enough paper work to last  for years! Many days, I end up taking a lot of paperwork home with me to complete.

Q. Give us an example of what a typical day on the job might be like as a staff OR nurse.
T.G. Usually, the day before, you’ll know what types of surgeries are scheduled for the following day. A nurse may be assigned to be either a scrub or a circulating nurse for a procedure. The Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) describes the role of both scrub and circulating nurses in the following fashion. Scrub Nurse: “The scrub nurse works directly with the surgeon within the sterile field passing instruments, sponges, and other items needed during the surgical procedure. The sterile field is the area closely surrounding the OR table, and the Mayo stand, or instrument tray. Surgical team members who work within the sterile field have scrubbed their hands and arms with special disinfecting soap and wear surgical gowns, caps, eyewear, gloves, and shoe covers. ” Circulating Nurse: “The circulating nurse’s duties are performed outside the sterile field. The circulating nurse is responsible for managing the nursing care within the OR. The circulating nurse observes the surgical team from a broad perspective and assists the team to create and maintain a safe, comfortable environment for your surgery. The circulating nurse makes sure each member of the surgical team performs in a united effort.”

Before entering the surgery or pre-op areas, nurses put on scrubs, talk to the patient, answer any final questions that they may have prior to surgery, and make sure that the patient understands the procedure and has signed all the appropriate consent forms. The nurse also reviews the patient’s chart, and finalizes preparations for the patient’s surgery. Sometimes a patient will have a tongue ring or item that’s been overlooked and needs to be taken out. As perioperative nurses, we have to be certain that the patient does not have anything on which could possibly interfere with the success of their surgery. We also have to be aware of all the state laws, rules, and regulations of hospitals, and those rules change frequently.

After all this, we take the patient into the surgery room, help put them to sleep, position them according to the surgery performed and prep the patient. Once surgery is done, the patient is taken to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) Nurse where they will begin their post operative recovery. Then, we finish charting and finally, start the process all over again with another patient. In the middle of our normal surgical routines, we could have a trauma, which would change our whole assignment quickly. There is a high amount of stress in the Operating Room. The patient’s life is in the hands of the surgeon and surgical team. It’s important to be flexible and to understand that in the OR, we are all really there to provide care for our patients.

Assistant Professor of Nursing Part 1 – Working as a Nurse Educator

Assistant Professor of Nursing – What’s it like to work as a Nurse Educator?

A Day in the Life…..
An Interview with Professor Bethany Hoffman
Written by: GinaMaria Jerome
HospitalSoup.com is proud to introduce one of our new feature writers, Ms. GinaMaria Jerome

Name: Bethany Hoffman
Title: Assistant Professor of Nursing
Place of Employment: Mesa State College, Grand Junction, Colorado
Educational Background:Master’s of Science in Nursing

Background: Professor Bethany Hoffman graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1976 with a BSN. Her career in nursing has included staff positions with St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, CO as well as a school nurse. After several years in practice, she returned to college to receive her master’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1993. As a nurse and an educator, Professor Hoffman’s focus is Adult Psychiatric Nursing. She has been teaching at Mesa State College in Grand Junction for five years.

Q. What made you choose nursing as a career?
B.H. I wanted to be a nurse from the time I was very young. Part of my influence was the environment I grew up in. My mom was a nurse, and one of the things I noticed occurring with her is that people shared their stories with her. She was a person who was able to be available to them, to be supportive to them, a source of knowledge to them. She was a significant help to them. Right away, I was in situations where I saw that happening and I felt comfortable being around people who were in vulnerable positions in their lives. I felt drawn to that.

Q. What drew you to psychiatric nursing?
B.H. When I first got out of school my interest was in OB and Pediatrics. Later, I did a lot of Home Care and community health nursing. What I found was that if I really didn’t know my patients, didn’t have a strong connection with them and felt I was a person they trusted and felt safe with, the level of compliance went way down. I couldn’t get very far with the physical and medical compliance until I knew the person, and had a strong relationship with them. In all my positions – I even worked as a school nurse in the school district – I found myself doing a lot of counseling That role of nursing just spoke to me. If I was with another individual and I felt they could really tell me what was going on with them, could talk about that, that we could sort through it and problem solve – I felt that was me, who I truly am. Then I started working as a psychiatric nurse on the staff at St. Mary’s Hospital. When I decided to get my masters, I wanted to get my degree in an area that I really cared about deeply. After I completed my masters, I kept my fingers crossed for open possibilities and there happened to be a teaching position that came available [at Mesa State College] and happened to be in the area of my interest. It was a wonderful opportunity, at the right time. I had lots of students when I was on staff [with St. Mary's] so I was aware of the program here and was interested in being able to teach at the same time I was practicing [as a nurse]. I think that’s what education allows you do. You have the influence in trying to help nurses grow, to become, and at the same time to practice your craft.

Q. Specifically, as a nurse educator, describe what you do.
B.H. Depends on what day of the week it is. Two days a week I’m in a hospital setting doing clinical experiences with students. Students are assigned locations throughout the community, and I make my rounds with them. We determine which patient(s) they’ve chosen to spend time with and what is the plan of care. I ensure they’re knowledgeable about the care that’s involved for that patient for that day. So that would be a full day of clinical. Spending time with patients one-on-one, helping students learn the actual clinical environment. When I’m in clinical sites, I often do group sessions or spend
one-on-one time with individual patients. So I have that patient connection while at the same time trying to help students develop their skills. Other days may involve doing class work, which is the theoretical class. There’s time spent in the classroom, which may involve preparing and giving the lecture for that class. I also teach another class called Senior Specialty, which involves students in their very last semester working for 120 hours in practice, so they are “work ready.” They choose an area they have an interest in working in, and we work out an arrangement for them to work onsite, one-on-one with the preceptor. The student gets confidence in their skills and abilities and also feels like they’re a part of that unit.