Improving The Nursing Field

Registered nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system, and make up the largest number of healthcare professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) “The employment rate for registered nurses is expected to grow by 16% between 2014 and 2024”. This is more than double the average rate of growth for a profession. The rapid growth rate can be attributed in part to better management of chronic diseases and the baby boomer generation. The growth in the nursing profession is paramount, however the demographics of the nursing population does not mirror the demographics of the population served.

The Institute of Medicine’s 2010 report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health acknowledges the changing healthcare sector in the US and describes future vision of healthcare and the role of nurses to fulfill that vision. The United States always strives to provide affordable and quality healthcare to the entire population of the country. In order to achieve this goal an overall restructuring of the healthcare system was necessitated. Nurses are considered to be the central part of the healthcare system to provide high quality and safe patient care. Nursing in the US is the single largest segment of the healthcare workforce with almost 3 million nurses working in different areas across the county. The changing

The national shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) has helped generate formidable interest in the nursing profession among people entering the workforce and those pursuing a career change. According to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service in 2002, the national population is continuing to grow and age and medical services continue to advance, so the need for nurses will continue to increase. They report from 2000 to 2020 the predicted shortage of nurses is expected to grow to 29 percent, compared to a 6 percent shortage in 2000. With the projected supply, demand, and shortage of registered nurses and nursing salaries ever-increasing, the nursing profession can offer countless opportunities. But first one must

Nursing is a complex and ever changing field full of new areas to advance, learn, and grow in. Some of the institutes available for nursing studies are Harkum College and West Chester University. Kristine Balay, the nurse I interviewed, attended Harkum College for her Associates degree in Nursing and she attended West Chester University for her Bachelors degree in Nursing. She has been practicing as a nurse for about 10 years now in various settings. When she was working on a trauma unit she was required to obtain an ALS certification, Kristine admits that she was grateful for obtaining this certification because it sets her apart from others in regards to job opportunities and promotions as well as gives her confidence in situations.

Historically, the nursing field is one that has consistent positive job outlooks, as there is typically a continued shortage. Healthcare is the backbone of most communities, not just for its services, but also for the jobs it provides and the economy stimulation. Jill Bernstein, author for “Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization” states, “The health care industry is a critical component of the national, and most regional and local economies of the United States” (4). The nursing field has suffered challenges due to the economic, social, and the political downturn of the U.S. Nevertheless, there is still some noticeable growth taking place and opportunities available. This shows encouraging signs for new nursing graduates.

According to Kris Loterbauer, “You should have a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in the nursing field to have a great understanding of what it is all about; more and more facilities are asking for that degree nowadays.” The NIACC nursing program may be outstanding, but they do not offer the degree that many facilities are wanting directly through their school system, instead making the student take the course online through the University of

Nursing school has been in the society for a long time. The first nursing school was established in 1873 in New York city. Bellevue hospital school of nursing was the first school of nursing established in the United States by Florence Nightingale until it was closed in 1969. The nursing school prepares students to become a nurse by teaching the students basic skills, nursing theories and clinical practice. Also, students will be required to take general college courses in the school of nursing to complete their degree requirements. There are different types of degrees and pathways a student has to decide to take to carry out their goals.

There are three major organizations in nursing that have made great impacts on the way nurses guide and represent their profession. One of the organizations is the American Nurses Association (ANA) whose mission statement is “nurses advancing our profession to improve health for all” and their philosophy is committed to ensure that there are an adequate supply of “high-skilled and well-educated nurses is available” (ANA, 2014). The ANA helps to advance the nursing profession through fostering high standards, the promotion of the general welfare of nursing professionals in the workplace, projecting a positive as well as realistic view of nursing practices, and lobbying within Congress about health care issues that affect both nurses and the general public (ANA, 2014). The ANA is primarily responsible for restructuring healthcare through legislature and lobbying on both state and national levels (ANA, 2014).

214) “The ACA and the need for APRNs, nurse faculty, and nurse researchers would have increased dramatically under any scenario.” (L R Cronenwett [RWJF Iniative on the Future of Nursing], 2010, table 1). “Not only must schools of nursing build their capacity to prepare more students. Nursing need to focus on fundamental improvements in the delivery of nursing care to improve patient safety and quality is key.” (IOM, 2010, p. 208)

“According to the IOM report, the nursing profession is the largest segment of the nation’s healthcare workforce. Nursing represents the largest sector of the health professions, with more than 3 million registered nurses in the United States.”

With the solid foundation and established nursing practice, the aftermath of war halted the progression of the nursing profession. As Orsolini (2009) stated, many of the women who served exceptionally during the war came home and rebuilt their lives with their families. With the shortage of nurses to keep up with the economic progress, nursing tasks were assigned to untrained people, as mentioned by Orsolini (2009). In an effort to regain the nursing status to its professional level, in 1965, American Nurses Association (ANA) and the National League of Nursing (NLN) proposed that the baccalaureate degree be the minimum entry level of nursing. By 1970, the pursuit for a higher education and a change

The purpose of this assignment is to critically appraise a selected research paper following a data extraction relevant to the field of nursing. Critical appraisal is the process of evaluating the strengths and weakness of research, to find out if it is valid, reliable and applicable (Moule and Goodman, 2009). The following article to be critiqued is “A Nutritional Formula Enriched with Arginine, Zinc, and Antioxidants for the Healing of Pressure Ulcers” by Cereda et al. (2015).

The health care issue that I have chosen to research is how we should address the shortage of nurses. I have chosen this topic because I work in a hospital and it is very difficult to recruit new nurses especially in specialized areas. Nurses in the workplace are the largest population of health care employees at 2.7 million nurses employed in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is almost double the nursing assistants employed at 1.4 million which is the second leading health care occupation in the United States. The nursing profession has the largest job growth from 2008 to 2018 with a total of projection of more than 581,500 new registered nurse positions to be created. It is also projected by 2025 to have a nursing shortage that will grow to more than 260,000 registered nurses (N.d.), Overview of BLS Statistics by Occupation, http://www.bls.gov/bls/occupation.htm

In order to even consider this career student need to have certain calcifications for this career. If you are pursuing a career in nursing there are few prerequisites that are needed to even qualify for this job. For instance you must have graduated from a high school or obtained a GED if you did not finish high school. If a high school students has advanced placement classes in sciences it is a bonus for them because students will have experience in how these classes will be and the potential that is needed in order to pass this classes of nursing. Another qualification to be a registered nurse is either to go to school and get a diploma for nursing, go to a community college and obtain an associate’s degree that can take up to two years to complete or go straight inn to a cal state university or a university of California which can take four ears and you will earn your bachelors degree when finished with those four years.

In November of 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health”. This special report examined the current state of nursing and changing landscape of the American healthcare system and offered recommendations for the future role nurses should play. The committee that released the report, Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, divided it into three parts. Part II of the study, focused on transforming the nursing profession in order to improve America’s healthcare system. In order to achieve this transformation, the committee recommended that nurses attain higher levels of education and training, practice to the full extent of that education and training, and assume more