California Nurse Jobs

A nurse is a healthcare professional who, in collaboration with other members of a health care team, is responsible for: treatment, safety, and recovery of acutely or chronically ill individuals; health promotion and maintenance within families, communities and populations; and, treatment of life-threatening emergencies in a wide range of health care settings. Nurses perform a wide range of clinical and non-clinical functions necessary to the delivery of health care, and may also be involved in medical and nursing research.

Category: File - :Florencenighting00abbouoft 0048.jpg|thumb|right|125px|Florence Nightingale, "Lady with the Lamp", English pioneer of modern nursingNursing roles and education were first defined by Florence Nightingale, following her experiences caring for the wounded in the Crimean War. Tomey, A. M. and Alligood, M. R. (2006). Nursing Theorists and their Work (6th ed.). Mosby: St. Louis. Prior to this, nursing was thought to be a trade with few common practices or documented standards. Nightingale's concepts were used as a guide for establishing nursing schools at the beginning of the twentieth century, which were mostly hospital-based training programs emphasizing the development of a set of clinical skills. The profession's early utilization of a general, hospital-based education is sometimes credited for the wide range of roles nurses have assumed within health-care, and is contrasted with present-day nursing education, which is increasingly specialized and typically offered at post-secondary institutions. Barr, O. and Sines, D. (2009). The development of the generalist nurse within preregistration nurse education in the UK: some points for consideration. Nurse Education Today, 4, 274-277.

Practice as a nurse is often defined by state, provincial or territorial governments. As an example, the province of Ontario classifies nurses into the roles of Registered Practical Nurse, Registered Nurse (general class), and Registered Nurse (extended class). Government of Ontario, Nursing Act, S.O. C-32 (1991). Retrieved from http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_91n32_e.htm In this respect, the title "nurse" is protected by law within the province, and regulated by legislative statute. Some regions have legislated different or expanded roles for nurses, generating many potential nurse careers.

Around the world, nurses are often female. However, in Francophone Africa, which includes the countries of Benin, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Guinea, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Togo, there are more male than female nurses.[http://books.google.ca/books?id=-Ag7TqTyIC0C&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=Nurses+spain+males&source=bl&ots=5YiyohJZGv&sig=S7y246l0WaSmFL7m0QvVNyatogo&hl=en&ei=DeIJSpNpn7Iwn4et4Qs&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPP1,M1 Men in nursing By Chad E. O'Lynn, Russell E. Tranbarger] In Europe, in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Czechoslovakia, and Italy, over 20% of nurses are male.

Currently, a nursing shortage exists within the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and a number of other developed countries. Sigma Theta Tau, International Honor Society of Nursing (2001, July). Facts About the Nursing Shortage. Retrieved from http://www.nursesource.org/facts_shortage.html The majority of analysis refers to a shortage of Registered Nurse staff. The Canadian Registered Nurse shortage has been linked to longer wait times for hospital-based procedures, increased adverse events for patients, and more stressful work environments.Canadian Nurses Association (2009, July). Report: Tested Solutions for Eliminating Canada's Registered Nurse Shortage. As the shortage of Registered Nurses increases, it is expected that there will be an increasing move towards utilizing unregulated healthcare workers to meet demands for basic nursing care within hospitals and the community.Pan-Canadian Planning Committee on Unregulated Health Workers (2009, August). Maximizing Health Human Resources: Valuing Unregulated Health Workers. Retrieved from http://www.cna-nurses.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/UHW_Final_Report_e.pdf.

Category: File - :Miss Lydia Monroe of Ringold, Louisiana, a student nurse fsa8e04913u crop.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A student nurse in the United States (1942)

California () is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil. It is located on the West Coast of the United States, and is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the northeast, Arizona to the southeast, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. The state is home to the nation's second and sixth largest metropolitan areas as well as eight of the nation's fifty largest cities. California has varied climate and geography and a diverse population.

California is the third-largest U.S. state by land area, after Alaska and Texas. Its geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood?Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most geographically diverse state in the nation, and contains the highest (Mount Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the contiguous United States. Almost 40% of California is forested, http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8070.pdf, a high amount for a relatively arid state.

Beginning in the late 18th century, the area known as Alta California was colonized by the Spanish Empire. In 1821, Mexico, including Alta California, became an independent monarchy, then a republic. In 1846 a group of American settlers in Sonoma declared the independence of a California Republic. As a result of the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded California to the United States. It became the 31st state admitted to the union on September 9, 1850.

In the 19th century, the California Gold Rush brought about dramatic social, economic, and demographic change in California, with a large influx of people and an economic boom that caused San Francisco to grow from a hamlet of tents to a world-renowned boomtown. Key developments in the early 20th century included the emergence of Los Angeles as center of the American entertainment industry, and the growth of a large, state-wide tourism sector. In addition to California's prosperous agricultural industry, other important contributors to the economy include aerospace, petroleum, and information technology. If California were a country, it would rank among the ten largest economies in the world, with a GDP similar to that of Italy. It would be the 35th most populous country.