The Future of Nursing
Introduction
The importance of nursing is becoming more and more profound nowadays. There are much more responsibilities as well as innovations in this sphere compared with decades ago. To clearly understand the purpose of nursing institutions, it is necessary to know that “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association, n.d.). Therefore, there is a high level of necessity for young people to get experience in the field of treatment. Nevertheless, mature professionals are always continuing to develop new approaches, technologies, and strategies, which are useful for nursing staff.
Recommendation 1: Increase the Proportion of Nurses with a Baccalaureate Degree to 80% by 2020
Despite general progress in the sphere of medicine and care, a big demand for educated personnel not only remains but seems to be only increasing in the next several years. According to The Future of Nursing (2011), these days the rate of people studying for becoming bachelors is about 50%. There is an important task for academic nurse leaders to promote the percentage of bachelors up to 80% by 2020. There are statistics that show that the number of nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) grew to 32.7% by 2000. Despite this, in 2002, the number of nurses with just an associate degree diminished even faster rate than nurses with a BSN. It is crucially important to run monitoring and build a specially equipped and ready workforce to face the challenges and requirements of divergent populations nowadays and during the next times. The partnership with different education accrediting establishments and funders of public or private kinds is vital.
There are several recommendations, which soon can be seen as required points concerning the future of nursing. For instance, The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education in association with other nursing organizations should pay more attention to academic courses applied at all nursing schools aiming at getting higher degrees in nursing education (The Future of Nursing, 2011). In addition, such things as tuition reimbursement, salary, and other kinds of promotion can be good for the completion of studies. Moreover, it would help to involve many students in specially developed nursing programs of baccalaureate within five years of school graduation. The fact of special focus on second-degree nursing students remains essential and may include extra expansion of grants and loans (The Future of Nursing, 2011).
Recommendation 2: Double the Number of Nurses with a Doctorate by 2020
The question about doubling the number of professionals in nursing with a doctorate by 2020 demands additional research with more focus on growing diversity. The main purpose of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education should be confident that no less than 10% of all graduates with baccalaureate follow further doctoral or master’s degree programs within the period of graduation. Doubtless, different nursing establishments should be provided with additional financing, because it is the basis for creating professional teams there. Generally, it is the responsibility of the Department of Labor, Health Resources and Services Administration. However, benefits packages for students and other kinds of involved people will only sustain the nursing concern (The Future of Nursing, 2011).
Recommendation 3: Ensure that Nurses Engage in Lifelong Learning
First of all, people at different levels of their interests and responsibilities dealing with health care issues should be provided with an awareness of the constant necessity of updating nursing information. At the same time, continual learning and research will make many present and future health demands of people known and easily fulfilled. Therefore, constant professional growth and performance with up-to-date competencies at three stages teaching, practice, and research are necessary (The Future of Nursing, 2011). There should be a wide range of fostering methods to increase the interest of students and employees in learning successful and correct ways of nursing. Additionally, there are several indicators of each program’s accomplishment or failure. They are accessibility, flexibility, adaptability, influences on clinical results, and ability of the accordant programs’ update (The Future of Nursing, 2011).
Having referenced to Mr. Murphy, Executive Director of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation, “About 50 percent of employers pay for certification… But only 38 percent pay for recertification (required every four years), which makes no sense for those who intend to support lifelong learning” (Edelson, 2012). According to the Director of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Accreditation Program, there has appeared a new demand in organizations demonstrating their bonds between the constant nursing education they propose and advancement in the professional nursing practice of people’s care. Hence, there is the open question if the learners of programs are satisfied with accomplishing them (Edelson, 2012).
The Role of Educational Level in the Current Job Market; Its Affect on the Future of Nursing
American Nurses Association (ANA) highlighted that nurse education should be supported at educational establishments like universities and colleges to ensure that nursing staff was appropriately educated and trained (Nursing School Degrees, 2010-2012). In addition, nowadays it is almost obligatory for a nurse to have a BSN degree, as well as special education background and substantial skills for working with patients. A BSN degree is vital for individuals looking for managerial advance or possessing specialized roles. BSN degrees make nurses ready for wider roles within the treatment setting. Moreover, the BSN degree is necessary for supporting proper mental health, ambulatory care, and community and public health. Furthermore, there are such essential qualifications of nurses with BSN degrees as perfect communication skills and a high ability in problem-solving and critical thinking. Psychological and social aspects, as well as medical training, are also under focus. There are much more subjects studied by nurses with BSN degrees than those found in diploma programs or associate degrees (Nursing School Degrees, 2010-2012).
Conclusion
Having discussed the information above, it is obvious that nursing concern demands a lot of attention, as well as financing from the side of special organizations. Constant interest and support can be seen in improving nursing programs and continual updating of curricula at schools. Innovations of all probable kinds would meet the needs of learners and patients. The recommendations proposed by The Future of Nursing are very useful and should be implemented by medical faculties of colleges and universities, as well as other nursing institutions.
References
Bachelor of Science in Nursing – BSN. (2010-2012). Nursing-School-Degrees.com. Retrieved from https://www.nursing-school-degrees.com/Nursing-Schools/LPN-to-BSN-Programs.html#context/api/listings/prefilter
Increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020. (2011). The Future of Nursing. Retrieved from http://thefutureofnursing.org/recommendation/detail/recommendation-4?quicktabs_1=1#quicktabs-1