According to the U. S. Department of Labor, registered nurses have many job responsibilities. A few of these include making patient health assessments, keeping detailed medical records, and tending to all types of patients: hurt, sick, disabled, or convalescing (U. S. Employment). The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) mentioned other job responsibilities such as running blood drives and clinics for immunizations and health screenings. Registered nurses offer emotional support to patients’ families and explain to them how to care for the patient once he or she is home. They also supervise assistants and other workers with respect to patient care (U. S. Bureau).
JOB OUTLOOK
The OOH showed that the industry with the highest employment of registered nurses is the public and private hospital industry, which employed 60% of all registered nurses in 2008, or 1,570,000 (U. S. Bureau).
Nationally, the annual mean wage for Registered Nurses is $66,530; for Idaho, it’s $61,256 (U. S. Bureau; Idaho). Nationally, the job outlook for Registered Nurses from 2008-2018 projects a 22% increase, from 2,618,700 to 3,200,200 nurses (U. S. Bureau). The Idaho outlook is higher than the national outlook with a 27% increase, from 10,504 to 13,337 nurses (Idaho).
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
The Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing has a few special requirements:
1. Criminal history evaluations are required.
2. Applicants must pass the TEAS test (reading, math, science, English language) before the yearly September 15th deadline.
3.Paperwork requirements must be completed between the May 15th and September 15th yearly deadline before students can enroll in classes.
Other degree programs are available as well. An Associate degree in Nursing takes about two years of college, and the nursing diploma program usually takes about three years. Once a student gets a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, the Nurse Practitioner Master’s program is available online through ISU. Students in the Physicians Assistant program, however, are committed to courses in Pocatello from 8 am to 5 pm every day for 2 years. All nurses have to take classes every few years to keep their skills current.
ADVANTAGES
Nearly all the classes for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree can be completed on the Idaho Falls campus, and all the required nursing lectures are broadcast to the extension campus from Pocatello. The required clinicals can often be done in Idaho Falls at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center or other nearby facilities. The class schedules and class offerings by semester on the Idaho Falls campus work well for the nursing students who were interviewed.
A big advantage of the nursing program in Idaho Falls is that it is one of the most accommodating programs offered for Idaho Falls students. For example, Amber _____, a junior working on her Bachelor of Arts in Nursing, took a year off for maternity leave and was able to pick up right where she left off when she returned (Amber).
DISADVANTAGES
Some disadvantages of earning the nursing degree in Idaho Falls include commuting to Pocatello for meetings and required class times or activities such as labs or clinicals. The most up-to-date nursing equipment is located in the Pocatello labs and students must go in irregular intervals to use them. The sophomore students have to travel to Pocatello once a week the entire semester for these labs, and the juniors and seniors commute about five or six times during the semester. The commuter bus schedule is inconvenient for the nursing students. In addition, the nursing program is not flexible: semesters are designed to be taken in a prescribed sequence, so students do not have the option of picking or choosing classes.
When asked what one change would most improve your educational experience at ISU Idaho Falls, Amber replied, “more of our clinical lab activities would be held at EITC [Eastern Idaho Technical College], Health Education Building, which ISU owns a part of anyway, rather than hauling 30 students to Pocatello at random intervals” (Amber).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Degree requirements checklist:
http://www.isu.edu/advising/docs/DegreePlans/HealthProfessions/BS%20Nursing%20Checklist.pdf
Degree requirements checklist:
http://www.isu.edu/advising/docs/DegreePlans/HealthProfessions/BS%20Nursing%20Checklist.pdf
Occupational Outlook Handbook information found at: