With a demand for healthcare professionals, many students are taking nursing programs and going on to fulfilling careers. Most, however, have some assistance in the transition from nursing student to nurse through a residency program.

According to an article by Nurse.com, one recently popular program is the Versant RN Program, which offers new graduates a chance to boost their job skills while decreasing employee turnover for hospitals.

Many hospitals are taking advantage of the program, which assists with recruiting nurses. One such hospital is Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, which has had 115 nurses complete the program since 2006.

“A structured, evidence-based, on-boarding program for new graduates is critical to their success,” Donna King, RN, BSN, MBA, CNA-BC, FACHE, vice president of clinical operations and chief nurse executive at Advocate Illinois Masonic said in the article. “It’s a wonderful bridge no matter where they end up practicing. You are strengthening the foundation of their technical skills as well as their ability to navigate in the clinical area.”

The Versant RN Program is a data-based 18 to 22 week program, which was developed at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. The program is now offered at nearly 50 hospitals in eight states. The program is based on Patricia Benner’s novice to expert model, with skills including novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert.

“Our approach is very standardized in that we have best practices we learned over the years,” Suzie Reinsvold, RN, MSN, Versant senior vice president for implementation and standards, said in the article. “Versant charges hospitals $5,000 per resident … Nurses at different stages tend to approach patient care differently and problem-solve differently.”

Students in the program generally start out working with nurses that have a few years of experience, then work their way up to nurses with more experience.

As the economy continues to decline and fuel prices continue to rise, many people are looking for a significant change in their lives, perhaps a career that will somehow be good for the environment. According to an article by TreeHugger, a Web site for green news, solutions and product information, there are at least five new jobs considered to be green that are becoming more and more popular.

The first possibility is being a green tour guide by helping visitors become closer to nature or visiting specific sustainable attractions. Some companies have already taken advantage of this in such places as Oregon, New York City and Toronto.

The second option is to be a velotaxi pedal cab, or cycle rickshaw, driver. These green machines have become popular in Japan and New York, where they’re called BicyTaxis.

“The velotaxi pedal cab trend started in Berlin with motor-assist pedal-power taxis with a twist: the taxi company makes its money from advertising on the sleek, sheltering bodies of the pedal cabs,” the article notes. “The taxi drivers pay a minimal rent for a pedal-power taxi and earn their daily bread with the fares.”

Another option to those looking for a green job is being a garden guru, a career that would put you in charge of helping others learn how to grow organic foods and other plants and flowers.

Another popular new job is to create a green search engine, which makes money through ad dollars by leveraging existing search engines, such as Google, and sharing the profit based on the number of clicks the site receives while promising to do something earth-friendly in exchange.

Some existing green search engines include EcoSearch, which donates 100 percent of its profits to environmental charities, and GoodSearch, which contributes 50 percent of its revenue to a cause of your choice.

The final popular new job in the green field is being a small electronics repairer, spending time fixing people’s iPods and other like electronics. A small electronics repairer could save non-fixable parts for future repairs, and may help prevent these devices from going to a landfill.

There are many other new jobs in the green collar industry that employees are benefiting from, and America’s new passion for helping the earth has led many cities and states to invest in the future of green collar jobs. Most recently, it was learned small investments by the government could create several green jobs in Florida and green jobs in Nevada.