The Need-To-Know Stats to Plan the Perfect Wedding

June is the most popular month to tie the knot, but brides and grooms have so many questions while planning for the big day. How many groomsmen should I have? How many bridesmaids? What should our budget be? While there is no rule book stating what you can and cannot do with your wedding and the reception, each year, websites and organizations release a list of statistics with averages and percentages from the previous year’s weddings.

I decided to take the Wonderlic Test...here's what happened.

I'm a bit of a football fan and I'm not ashamed to say it. One of the more interesting elements of being a football fan is the NFL Draft. Each year leading up to the draft the top college players hit the NFL combine and run through a battery of tests where they are poked, prodded and measured in every way that NFL scouts find worthwhile. This includes everything from measuring hand size, to vertical jump, to shuttle runs and even to a variety of tests including the Wonderlic Test.

The Wonderlic is one of the better known intelligence tests, but unlike some of its older contemporaries like the IQ test, the Wonderlic can be administered quickly and is thought to be more of a measure of someone's ability to "think on their feet". 50 questions in 12 minutes. For those who score well it's a pat on the back, for those who score poorly, expect a media shaming.

As a college educated person, I wanted to see how I'd do compared to the jocks so I could feel superior or great shame. I signed up at a local administrator and gave it a go. Here was my experience.

1. Nerves. It's been a long time since I took a test of any kind. Though I had nothing to gain in this experience, it did cost me money and I didn't want to explain to my wife if I was found to be stupid.
2. The test goes FAST. I mean, unbelievably fast. I was cognizant of the time for the most part, but  I still wasn't able to finish the questions in time. I was on question 46, and though there was no warning I knew I was about out of time so I started randomly filling in answers but left the final two blank.
3. It's very easy to get caught up on a single question, which is what happened to me. I should have skipped it - it was a math question that I kept second guessing myself on and it ate up 30-45 seconds, and that's a big no-no.

So how'd I do? I ended up with a 41. So, by NFL standards, I'm pretty smart. Though, I guess that's a good score by most any standard. That said, this isn't reason to get big headed, it's a test. I'm good at taking tests and always have been. I imagine there are plenty of people good at processing information and even highly book smart who just wouldn't do well based on the logistics of the Wonderlic. 

That said, I've looked around on the web and taken a few of the free online versions, and the only one which I found to be a fairly close approximation was wonderlictestsample.com, so give it a try if you're interested in seeing how you'd do with Wonderlic questions.

The Nursing Shortage

The shortage of registered nurses has been predicted and studied for more than a decade, when the health care industry began preparing for the impact of an aging baby-boomer population. There are several factors that have contributed to the shortage of nurses and many steps being taken to correct it.

The nursing shortage is a result of not only the aging workforce, but also a main contributor was the Affordable Care Act in 2010 that brought millions of Americans into the health insurance system, increasing demand for nurses. Another major reason for the shortage is the retirement rate of RNs,  as 55 percent of the current RN workforce are 50 or older, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. More than 1 million RNs will reach retirement age withing the next 10 to 15 years.

The shortage has affected nurses and patients alike, with an increased and heavy workload for nurses and less detailed care for patients. According to a report done by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, inadequate nurse staffing has been a factor in 24 percent of the 1,609 cases involving patient death, injury, or permanent loss of function reported since 1997. For nurses, the shortage has meant increased stress levels, longer hours, and job dissatisfaction. On the other hand, as incentive to persuade young people to join the nursing field, higher salaries are being offered, as well as large sign-on bonuses.

In order to minimize the shortage, many colleges are taking steps to expand their nursing programs and to get students more interested in joining the health care industry. Many students have realized that the shortage means easy post graduate employment, prompting them to join the nursing track. Sixty percent of graduates from Sinclair School of Nursing in Missouri had confirmed jobs even before graduation. One organization, Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow, made up of 40 national nursing and health care organizations are working to address the shortage. The coalition has created a website as well as an advertising campaign and secured media coverage to spread the word about the shortage and to encourage young people to join the field.

The nursing shortage is a long-term problem that requires long-term solutions and mainly the best solution is to get our young people interested in nursing. Campaigns, higher salaries, and an increased awareness of what being a nurse really means are the first steps. 

About the Author: Ed is a guest contributor from CNA Free Training, a free online resource offering impeccable CNA training for nursing jobs.