What a decade this year has been, huh?
In this post, you’ll find resources for if you work in healthcare or if you are planning on working in healthcare.
I’ve included links to finding employment, reporting PPE issues, and continuing your education.
Want to jump ahead? Take me to…
Non-health work tips for right now
Note: If you missed Part 1 of Covid Resources for students, click here. You’ll find tips on studying online, managing your finances, and dealing with uncertainty.
Do you already work in healthcare?
So much of what’s happening depends on your state and your employer.
In California, the governor created a California Health Corps to bring more healthcare workers into hospitals and help the public. More than 75,000 people have already applied to help.
CNA, LVN, EMT, paramedics, medical assistants, and nursing students are all eligible to apply. If you are interested, you can apply here.
Idaho and Texas have also temporally changed their requirements for nursing students.
You can check with your state’s board of nursing to find information specific to your location.
Practicing healthcare right now
PPE is, sadly, another issue for healthcare workers. Sonja Schwartzbach is a nurse in New Jersey collecting stores from healthcare workers. She was recently featured in The New York Times.
She has an anonymous online survey where she’s collecting stories from current healthcare workers in an effort to highlight needs for better safety and protection.
Other organizations have been creating video lessons on how healthcare workers can best communicate with patients.
Here is a quick video lesson about how to to patients about their COVID-19 fears from the organization Practicing Excellence.
The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing also has a podcast episode to discuss coronavirus.
The CDC also created a series of videos. If you are working in a nursing home or assisted living facility, here is the CDC video for how to prepare:
Are you planning on a healthcare career?
The world needs you. It might be a little bit chaotic right now, but if you are called to healthcare, keep going.
What’s about testing for pre-nursing and nursing students?
Everything changes quickly, so it’s really hard to say what the next month will look like.
Nursing is not going away. In fact, it’s more important than every right now.
Pearon Vue, which operates testing centers for the NCLEX, opened select testing centers on March 25. In addition, the NCLEX has changed until at least July 2020.
You can read more about the essential testing center designations here.
What’s going on with TEAS testing?
In some areas, tests have been postponed or cancelled. In other parts of the country, the TEAS is up and running. There’s even remote testing at some schools!
You’ll need to follow up with your school or testing center.
I wish I had more concrete tips, but things are a little up in the air.
Here are 3 tips to find reliable information for your situation.
Tip #1: Pay attention to emails from your school.
Your school will be able to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information. Policies change depending on the week and location.
If you haven’t heard any news, that’s okay. Everyone is busy and trying to figure out what the new normal looks like.
Tip #2: Visit your state board of registered nursing’s website.
Here, you’ll be able to see what your state is doing to support nurses.
Here are three states to get you started: California, Texas, and Washington.
To find your state’s board of nursing, you can search for your state + board of nursing.
The board of nursing can direct you to possible healthcare work if you are already a registered healthcare provider, give you an update how the state is handling nursing schools, and give you links to educational resources.
Tip #3: Question anonymous online information.
Discussion boards and online groups can sometimes spread inaccurate information quickly. Sometimes they are right, sometimes not. If you read something in a group that is not from a credible source, try to validate the information.
You can ask the poster for their source or try to find independent validation.
The good news is that you do have time right now.
This is an opportunity to learn. You are watching history be made in real time, and there is a wealth of information on epidemiology and public health.
Online learning options
Prenursing Smarter students have options.
If you need to pause your membership, no problem. Just shoot me an email. I’ll pause your membership and restart it for free.
If you’d like to extend your membership, all good. I am currently offered reduced extensions for re-enrolling students.
Everyone can take advantage of a promo code for the 6-month study package. Simply enter this promo code to save get 3 extra months for about 10 bucks: getbetter2020
Because seriously… get better, 2020!
You can also check out my 30 free TEAS practice questions here + my free TEAS resource library.
For another source of online learning, Johns Hopkins is currently offering a free, online 5-hour course to teach you about COVID-19 epidemiology. You can sign up here.
How to find non-healthcare work
Finally, I know this is a time of great uncertainty for everyone. Many people go into nursing because it is a stable career. You might be working a non-healthcare job and worried about its security.
People have been crowd-sourcing information on who is hiring right now.
Here are a few of these resources:
Hiring, layoffs, or freeze freeze table from Candor. This covers a range of companies nationwide.
Here’s database of remote work opportunities.
In addition, here is a career coach who provides lots of free materials like workshops for students who are looking for work during covid and free examples of how to improve resumes and cover letters.
Finally, you can check what services are avaialbe in your area. 211.org can direct you to local services based on your zip code.
You might also check out Workforce Partnership in your area. They can help you find jobs and paid internships in your area. (I hired my first intern through Workforce Partnership, so shout out to their services!)
Search for workforce partnership + your city for the office in your area.
OK! That’s all for now. And if I missed a resource that would be great to share, please feel free to email me or send me a DM.
Stay safe, stay inside, and wash your hands. I’m looking forward to seeing you on the other side of all this! 💚
