DALLAS, TEXAS (Nurses Lounge, LP) April 22, 2010. After publishing the successful “Nurses Lounge” magazine for more than six years, the Nurses Lounge has broadened its focus and today, after over a year in beta testing, announces the official launch of the first of its kind professional network for nurses, www.nurseslounge.com .
The site provides nurses with an interactive platform for professional networking with their peers in clinical roles, academia and associations. According to Timothy Armes, Founder/CEO, the Nurses Lounge is dedicated to advancing the profession of nursing by connecting nurses in any cycle of their career, from students and new grads to nurse educators and leaders. “We have had a tremendous amount of positive feedback from nurses in academia and management as we developed our site. Coming out of beta, approximately 60% of our members has advanced degrees and/or works in a nursing management position.”
Nurses register by creating a professional profile and then are able to network, learn from each other’s experiences, and share their perspectives through their participation in groups created by their associations, schools, and other professional thought leaders.
With technology that enables real-time dialogue, local/regional market segmentation, and secure exchange of information, Nurses Lounge has won favor with nursing schools and professional nursing associations. Over 40 schools and organizations such as Baylor School of Nursing and Illinois Nurses Association have already set-up groups and are using the network as a more efficient way to communicate information to their members and the nursing profession at large.
President of the Texas Association of Deans and Directors of Professional Nurse Programs, Elizabeth Poster, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Dean of UT Arlington College of Nursing, decided to forgo the development of a Web site for their organization and instead chose to create a group within the Nurses Lounge as a preferred means to communicate with members. “We have been very cautious about using social media out of concern for maintaining consistently professional communications with our members. Nurses Lounge gives us an easy to use, sophisticated communications platform for distributing information and allowing our members to stay connected, all without compromising our standards of protocol and professionalism”.
Healthcare employers are also showing support for Nurses Lounge with custom lounges that connect their staff nurses to information, learning opportunities, nurse leaders and peers. From a recruiting standpoint, employers are encouraging their nurses to join and develop a network of colleagues that they can then leverage as part of their employee referral programs.
CEO Armes expects that Nurses Lounge will be the communications platform of choice for the nursing profession. “The nursing profession, supported by literally thousands of associations, schools, employers and specialties, is highly fragmented and in need of communications abilities on many levels. By leveraging the community-building power of Web 2.0, our network enables all stakeholders in nursing an interactive platform to efficiently communicate professional news and information among a few like-minded individuals or the entire profession with just a few clicks of a mouse.
For more information about Nurses Lounge contact Garret Armes at 972-393-5892 or email garmes@nurseslounge.com
___