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A practical solution: “Everyone talks about the nursing shortage, and I know a reason for it, ” said Chicagoan Kathryn I. McCrea, an office manager for a private physician’s practice.
“Many adults who would consider entering the nursing profession are unable to go to school to do so because of the constraints of their full-time jobs and of family responsibilities.”
McCrea says she came to this conclusion after researching nursing programs in the Chicago area. “I couldn’t find any schools that offer a nursing education–either for registered nurses or licensed practical nurses–on a part-time or full-time evening basis. In fact, I found very few programs at all for licensed practical nurses.”
Her solution: “Hospitals are open seven days and nights a week. Since it’s clear they’re chronically in need of good nursing help, an evening program given by hospitals would be the answer.”
McCrea suggests that hospitals with such programs “might also hire nursing students as assistants who would receive benefits and tuition reimbursement. Perhaps a hiring incentive might be offered to those who agree to stay on after graduation.”
I asked McCrea if she would switch careers if she could go to nursing school at night. “I definitely would,” she said.
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Voice of experience: Eva Paley of Voorhees, N.J., says she agrees with me when I suggest that experience is not the only gauge of job success.
“I’m a good example of that,” said Paley, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is a senior trainer and Web master for a computer training firm. “Nine years ago, even though I had no experience as a computer trainer, I approached my boss and (asked him to) make me a trainer. I knew I had the qualities to do the job and do it well! Lucky for both of us, he took a chance on me–and I can say with confidence I haven’t disappointed my company.”
Paley says she hopes that not basing hiring or promotion solely on experience will become a common practice. “I hope that employers open their minds and realize they are not doing themselves any favors by restricting choices of candidates only by experience.”
Because if they do, they’ll miss out on productive and loyal employees such as Paley.
To tell the truth: Some working parents tell me they’re forced to lie about their absence from work and say they themselves are sick–when the truth is they have a sick child or other family member to care for. They do so in order not to lose a day’s wages. But Mark Olson, a Chicago attorney who specializes in health-care law, has little sympathy for such excuses.
“The concept that people can’t afford to tell the truth, besides being problematic under almost any circumstance, is more so when the purpose of lying is to take money from an employer for not working,” said Olson, who has handled Medicare fraud cases. “What is the difference between lying to avoid an unpaid leave day and taking cash out of the employer’s till for personal use?
“In my simple world, stealing is wrong . . . “
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Carol Kleiman’s columns also appear in Tuesday’s Business and Wednesday’s Working sections. She is the author of “Winning the Job Game: The New Rules for Finding and Keeping the Job You Want” (Wiley, $16.95). Send e-mail to [email protected].