The Sentinel: Professional Development

Off-road thrills await at Illinois-Indiana LICA event

Register by July 11 for Illinois and Indiana LICA’s off-road day at the Badlands featuring trails, lunch, and a BBQ dinner.

GALVA - Contractors, thrill-seekers, and off-road enthusiasts are gearing up for a high-octane summer experience at the LICA Off-Road Adventure, set for Saturday, July 26, at the Badlands Off Road Park in Attica, Indiana.

Hosted jointly by the Illinois and Indiana Chapters of the Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA), the all-ages event invites members, families, and friends to explore one of the Midwest’s premier off-road destinations. The Badlands, spanning more than 1,400 acres of diverse terrain, offers trails for every skill level—from casual riders to experienced drivers—featuring sand dunes, gravel pits, wooded paths, rocky climbs, and plenty of mud.

Participants will gather at 9 a.m. EDT in a designated parking area before heading out in groups or as solo riders to tackle the park's multi-directional terrain. All types of off-road vehicles are welcome, including dirt bikes, ATVs, SUVs, 4x4s, and Side x Sides.

Food trucks and on-site concessions offer lunch options throughout the day for when adventurers need to refuel between rides. The event concludes with a catered BBQ dinner at 5 p.m., where attendees can wind down, swap stories, and connect with fellow members and families. The evening will wrap up with a short Illinois LICA members’ meeting.

LICA encourages all interested to register by July 11 at http://illica.net/events or by calling (309) 932-1230.

Medical crisis on the horizon, more than a quarter of practicing nurses want to leave the medical industry

Photo: Hamid Tajik/Unsplash

StatePoint Media -- According to a new survey, American nurses are overwhelmed by job demands, a long-brewing situation only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the majority of nurses continue to be dedicated to the care of patients, many are considering leaving the profession at a time when staff shortages are part of the problem. But there’s hope, according to industry experts, who say that understanding these challenges can lead to meaningful and necessary reforms.

The 2022 national survey, “The Future of Nursing: A Profession in Crisis,” of nurses and student nurses, was conducted by Cross Country, a market-leading tech-enabled workforce solutions platform and advisory firm, in partnership with Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing.

Overall, the study revealed that nurses remain passionate about patient care, with 66% citing helping people through meaningful work as a main driver for staying in the field. Nevertheless, ongoing challenges have created undue burdens for nurses, with pay rates/compensation (86%), staff shortages (53%), stress (39%) and burnout (35%) cited as top career dissatisfiers.

This frustration has put the industry in crisis: 28% of nurses indicated their desire to leave the profession has increased dramatically since the pandemic, while those who said their desire to stay has dropped from 24% in 2021 to 4% in 2022. This translates to a real potential loss of talent in hospitals, physicians’ offices, long-term care facilities and other healthcare settings. Of those surveyed, 23% plan to look for a new career in 1-2 years and 13% plan to retire in 1-5 years.

“We had hoped that as the pandemic eased, nurses would have better balance, mental health and working conditions, but we are not there and as a result, nurses are leaving the profession in droves,” says John A. Martins, president and chief executive officer, Cross Country Healthcare. “The time to fix these mounting problems is now.”

To that end, Cross Country is deploying several strategies to transform the nursing profession. These include an ongoing examination of pay rates and retention practices; identifying new pathways for education, licensing, and talent development; focusing on flexibility and growth opportunities; and investments toward innovation to strengthen the nursing workforce.

The company continues to invest heavily in technology and digital transformation to support these strategies. Among these initiatives is a new website dedicated to nursing candidates. Found at crosscountry.com, the site aims to help health care professionals find and engage with potential job opportunities more effectively.

Identifying new pathways for nursing education is also a critical steppingstone towards reforming the profession and addressing healthcare provider shortages. That’s why the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing offers accredited programs at all levels to prepare and train students, including various tracks for a BSN, Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), PhD and DNP focused on Caring Science. Also offered are a BSN-DNP program with a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner concentration and post-graduate dermatology and telehealth certificate courses, as well as other concentrations that intersect innovation and technology.

“Nursing is the greatest profession in the world. The experience you will get is priceless,” said one of the survey respondents. “Make sure you’re getting into nursing for the right reasons because I love coming to work and look forward to caring for patients every day. No two patients are alike, so every day in nursing is like a new experience and adventure. And you make the difference.”

To learn more about the challenges facing the nursing industry, visit crosscountry.com/the-future-of-nursing, where the complete study results, can be found.

Journalism scholarships available for students, application due Feb. 22

by Adriana Gallardo, Ash Ngu and Mollie Simon
ProPublica

We are proud to announce our sixth annual scholarship program. This year we are teaming up with The Pudding, a visual essays online publication.

ProPublica, with additional support from The Pudding, will be sponsoring need-based scholarships for 25 students to attend an eligible journalism conference in 2021 and/or to contribute toward journalism related expenses such as subscriptions to news publications, software, FOIA fees, or equipment (think cameras, recorders, etc.).

Anyone who is a permanent U.S. resident is eligible to apply. We especially encourage students from an underrepresented group in journalism — including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities — to apply.

The $750 scholarships will go to students who would otherwise be unable to attend conferences or purchase supplies to support their education and ongoing reporting.

The following conferences offer great opportunities for networking and professional development, especially for those just starting out in journalism. Scholarship recipients will also have the opportunity to meet ProPublica and The Pudding staff throughout the year at conferences (virtual or in person). Check out last year’s scholarship recipients.

You can apply for the scholarship here. The deadline is Feb. 22. Students have the option to select a conference as part of their application. We understand many have yet to announce dates and that formats may change, but we would still like to know which you are interested in attending.

AAJA, Asian American Journalists Association. Location and dates TDB.
AHCJ, Association of Health Care Journalists. Austin, Texas, June 24-27.
IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors. Indianapolis, June 17-20.
JAWS, Journalism and Women Symposium. New Mexico, Sept. 24-26.
NABJ National Association of Black Journalists. Houston, Aug. 18-22.
NAHJ National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Virtual, July (exact date TBD).
NAJA, Native American Journalists Association. Phoenix, Sept. 15-19.
NICAR, The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. Virtual, March 3-5.
NLGJA, Association of LGBTQ Journalists. Location and dates TBD.
NPPA, National Press Photographers Association (Northern Short Course). Location and dates TBD.
ONA, Online News Association. Location and dates TBD.
SND, Society for News Design. Location and dates TBD.
SRCCON, organized by OpenNews. Location and dates TBD.

Every year, we share what ProPublica is doing to increase the diversity of our newsroom and of journalism as a whole. These scholarships are a small but important step to help student journalists from underrepresented communities take advantage of everything these conferences offer.

High school, college and graduate students are welcome to apply. You must be a student at the time of application, but it’s OK if you’re graduating this spring.

Questions about the application process? Want to contribute to our scholarship fund to send more students to these conferences? Get in touch at adriana.gallardo@propublica.org.

This story was originally published by ProPublica on January 20, 2021. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.