It’s Time for the School Nurse to Retire Essay

Current literature continues to reiterate the indicators of a major shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States. The total RN population has been increasing since 1980, which means that we have more RNs in this country than ever before (Nursing Shortage). Even though the RN population is increasing, it is growing at a much slower rate then when compared to the rate of growth of the U.S. population (Nursing Shortage). We are seeing less skilled nurses “at a time of an increasingly aging population with complex care

The webinar titled “Succeeding as a Nurse Educator” was presented by Diane Billings, EdD, RN, FAAN. The three objectives for the webinar were to be able to “differentiate between the roles of faculty appointment: teaching, service, and scholarship; implement strategies for working smarter, not harder; and develop a career plan for success as a nurse educator” (Billings, 2013).

As of 2008, there were about 753,600 Licensed Practical Nurses and 2,618,700 Registered Nurses in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). In the year 2018, the LPN employment percentage is expected to rise 21% while the RN rate should be approximately 22% (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). This may not seem that high, but it is, when one considers that the expected employment rate for a Dentist is only expected to be 16% (U.S Department of Labor, 2010-11). Nursing is a highly respected and sought after career because every person that enters this profession is able to make a difference and is needed by the general population for his/her skills and contributions to the medical field. When a person is contemplating entering

The US healthcare system is no stranger to nursing shortages. It is a recurring problem we have been faced with for the past seven decades. However, what we will be faced with between now and 2025 is a predicament of far greater proportion than ever encountered before. “Considering the impact this prolonged shortage will have on the USA health care system, nursing and other health-related organizations have even brought their concerns to lawmakers in the central government for immediate consideration” (Janiszewski Goodin 335). This quote is from 2003 and sadly, the state of today’s nursing shortage is still blatantly apparent. Not necessarily because nothing was done back in 2003 to fix it, but

Germs and many other diseases spread primarily through airborne particles, skin to skin contact, and or touching objects such as door handles, hospital buttons, or by sharing patient possessions. Nurses and other health care clinicians are constantly in physical contact with many different patients, who all have varying illness’ and diseases themselves. Many may also carry a

During this last visit, Dr. M made some mistakes which may have played a crucial role in Jacob acquiring an infection, or, in the least, contributed to negligence. After removing Jacob’s cast, Dr. M did not complete his examination of Jacob’s leg before he left the room to exam another patient, Sarah, in the room across the hall. Upon entering the room, he did not close the door. The most obvious mistake the doctor did was not washing his hands after his examination of Sarah, who has osteomyelitis, after which he returned to the first exam room to continue his examination of Jacob’s leg. Hand washing plays a major role in preventing cross-contamination when caring for patients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2014), washing hands is an extremely important way to prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient or patient to health care professional. It is essential that all health care providers practice hand hygiene even if gloves are worn. There

A campaign called, “Clean Hands Save Lives” endorsed by the CDC in the year 2015 put an emphasis on five simple steps to avoid or reduce illnesses. The steps are the following and to be carried out in that order: wet, lather, scrub, rinse, and dry (Potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall, pg. 458). In addition to performing hand hygiene, gloves must also be used when handling any type of specimen. The use of PPE or Personal protective equipment is important as it protects the wearer from any type of injury or infection. (PPE) Healthcare facilities disclose the type of contact precaution outside a patient’s door. For example, a label for Airborne Precautions indicate that a respiratory protection device (N95 respirator) must be worn in order to enter the room and while interacting with the patient. A room with Droplet Precautions requires the use of a mask or respirator. On the other hand, a room with Contact Precautions indicates the use of gloves and gowns, and a room with category Protective Environment requires protection with HEPA filtration, mask, gloves, and gowns (Potter et al., pg 459).

How would you like knowing that one simple thing such as educating someone or something as simple as wiping down the counter could save someone’s life? Dena Gray is a twenty-eight year old RN who had that opportunity. Being a nurse, saving someone’s is an everyday challenge. In nursing school students learn that one of the jobs that comes along with being a nurse is also to be an educator, and that’s one of the things that Dena failed to do. When Kelly approached Dena, Kelly had her gloves on. As a nurse that shows this person may need education on how to use the gloves properly and help a safe and clean environment.

A discussion regarding the health care reform or even health care in general can be somewhat controversial. The definition of health is drastically different depending on whom you speak to. Many would define health as " a person's absence of disease, others would describe good health based on the status of mind, body & social well-being" (GCU Lecture, module 2, 2012). According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, health is defined as "The overall condition of an organism at a given time". An individual's overall health affects the nation, this is where stakeholders come into value. According to Keele, Buckner & Bushnell a stakeholder is either an individual or an organization that either invest time and

The debate to find the perfect balance of nurse to patient ratio continues between healthcare workers and legislators. According to an article in Modern Healthcare magazine, “Got enough nurses?” Nurse groups cite a Kentucky case to support push for staffing ratio laws,” nurses attending to a dozen or more patients at a time is “physically impossible” (Rice, 2015). Rice reports statements made by Gerard Brogan, lead nursing practice representative for the California Nurses Association, Pamela Cipriano, president of the American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association, Jan Emerson-Shea, vice president of external affairs for the California Hospital Association, Peter Buerhaus, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Doctor Christine Cassel, CEO of the National Quality Forum, Bonnie Castillo, director of the Registered Nurse Response Network for National Nurses United union, Linda Aiken, director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania, discussing research and other insights into the hardships of large nurse to patient ratios. As nurses continue to research and present data to contest the high patient to nurse ratios, hospitals push back with confronting data and research; both unable to reach an agreement.

The merits of double-gloving are obvious to many individuals; it provides two layers of protection instead of one, for instance. Greater protection from pathogens is implied in this system. One might assume that in clinical settings, it would be foolish not to require healthcare workers to double-glove. There are, however, downsides to the double-glove system, as well as lack of improvement in preventing the spread of pathogens when comparing double-gloving to single-gloving. These factors must also be explored before double-gloving can be crowned as a superior method for protecting both patients and clinicians from the spread of pathogens.

It is likely that most people have heard about the nursing shortage for years now, and perhaps they believe it’s been fixed. However, the nursing profession is experiencing a reoccurring deficiency. According to Brian Hansen, (2002), there was a nation wide shortage in 2001 of 126,000 full-time registered nurses, but the shortage will surge to 808,000 by 2020 if something isn't done. This pattern is a persisting cycle of high vacancies followed by layoffs and a high over supply of registered nurses. Various factors contribute to the lack of nurses within the health care facilities, but today’s shortages are a little different. Many feel that this scarcity is severe and long-drawn-out. The four major issues contributing to

The waiting lists for nursing programs are very long. Sometimes students have to wait 2-3years to start that program, on another hand nurses always complain they are short stuff. According to Moore (2015), the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 526,800 more nurses will be needed by 2022 -- an increase of 19.4 percent from 2012 -- to help keep up with patient growth and replace those who leave. One of the reason for the future nursing shortage is that there are not enough faculty to teach incoming nursing students.” Either faculty are leaving due to retirement -- like their counterparts in health-care settings, they too are aging – or they’re gaining higher salaries elsewhere in practice settings other than teaching.” (Moore, 2015)

While hospital staff members comply most of the time with wearing PPE, one study found that only 33% of visitors wore gloves, a form of

Upon considering the past and future of nursing, many changes have already taken place, and even larger changes are expected. With the recent rate of technological development, the heath care system is certain to follow in its advances at nearly the same pace. Many predictions for the future of medicine are based on computerized technology. The use of telemonitoring, video and “smart houses” are already being used by some companies today, and will be utilized more frequently in the future. This will enable one nurse to care for many more patients than he/she is capable of safely caring for currently. This is very important due to the baby-boomer generation growing older and the