Nursing is a field where there are high levels of autonomy due to the nature of the job. However, this autonomy also increases the risk of harm to the general public if practiced by an unqualified nurse. In order to minimize that harm, it is important for nurses to undergo licensure and certification. Licensure is the legal authority granted by the state to practice within the scope of nursing whereas certifications are issued by non-governmental organizations which acknowledge that a nurse is qualified and competent in a specific field.
Obtaining a nursing licensure hold many positive aspects. One important aspect is the legal right to practice nursing. This allows licensed registered nurse to work in hospitals within the scope of practice. The title registered nurse (RN) demonstrates a professional achievement and tells patients that you are qualified and have met the standards set by Nurse Practice Act (NPA) to practice quality and safe nursing. Other advantages of licensure include more opportunities for advancements, greater earning potential, and the satisfaction and confidence of both patient and nurse. Acquiring a licensure opens many career paths such as medical surgical nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, cardiac nurse, and more.
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As nursing is constantly changing, certifications keep nurses on the forefront of new medical advancements including techniques and technologies. Certifications give nurses the opportunity to demonstrate their competence and capability while enhancing credibility and validating specialized knowledge. Knowledgeable nurses are better equipped to assess patients, recognize problems and intervene. Although there are many benefits to obtaining a nursing licensure and certifications, they also have some
An ongoing debate for the requirements to become a Registered Nurse (RN) has been unsettled. Several different educational pathways lead to an RN licensure; however, the minimum educational requirements must be standardized at the baccalaureate level for several reasons. Spetz and Bates (2013) published that a growing number of hospitals prefer hiring nurses with a Bachelor Science in Nursing (BSN) as this increases the status of the nursing profession (p. 1). Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), as well as a certificate on-the-job training Diploma are two other educational pathways to become an RN, which can be disadvantageous to the nursing profession in several ways (Tollick 2013; Spetz and Bates 2013). If entry-level nurses
Healthcare systems and the way safe, quality health care is delivered are continually changing to better serve patients and communities. Professional nursing practice is a large component in the healthcare system today. Back in the 1960s, professional nursing leaders tried to adopt the bachelor degree programs as the only educational track to become a registered nurse (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). Due to nursing shortages and demands this motive did not hold fast. Individuals entering the nursing profession today must first decide which educational pathway to take to become a Registered Nurse (RN).
Nursing is a crucial field, which affects the lives of people. The public does not have enough information pertaining those who practice nursing this led to the introduction of nursing licensure to protect the public from unqualified persons. This license sets qualifications and competence of nursing professionals. Compared to state nursing licensure, national nursing licensure advocates for a more effective practice for nurses. It reduces or lessens nursing shortage by promoting mobility of the nursing professionals. National nursing licensure has a number of advantages over individual state nursing licensure. These include enhanced patient access to quality nursing care, improved discipline and information distribution amongst the states, physical and electronic provision of care by competent nurses, and ease of employers to more movable and proficient nurses (Fraziea, 2012).
Education has a strong outcome on everyone, and nursing is a profession that makes sure that everyone that is being called a nurse goes through the best kind of education that is available. Nursing helps to nurture human by providing humane services for all. There are different levels of education in nursing; an associate’s degree, a baccalaureate degree, master’s degree and so on. So it is very important to understand the differences between all these degrees since each certified nursing program carries educational and professional requirements that are expected to be carried out. The following paragraphs are going to explain the differences in competencies between nurses that are
Becoming a licensed practical nurse is a rewarding job that allows a nurse to care for other people and it has a rewarding salary, while the disadvantages is the lack of sleep and the multiple hours that a nurse has to spend on his/her feet. Cathy Parker is a licensed practical nurse and also a clinical director at Bay Springs After Hours Clinic in Bay Springs,M.S. She has been a licensed practical nurse for twenty-eight years and a clinical director for thirteen years. Cathy has several reasons why she chose her career to be a licensed practical nurse. She says the main reason she chose to be a nurse is because one night at church a little boy had cut his arm and as she bandaged him up God called her to be a nurse. Her second reason she became a nurse is her love for people and wanting to see others properly cared for. As she cared for her elderly grandmother when she was a teenager it made her feel helpful to see someone smile while being cared for. Her favorite part of her job is to see someone who has been in pain, smile after being cared for.
Nursing is about providing the best possible holistic care for the patient and family. At the same time there’s an imbalance of patient care regarding education and knowledge being provided by nurses. As a nurse I believe we all owe it to ourselves, the profession, and the patient to provide the best possible care. According to American Nurses Association (ANA) online article “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.” In order to better achieve the nursing ideals of the American Nurses Association we must improve patient care by requiring hospital nurses to become BSN nurses.
Quality patient care relies on having an educated workforce. There is a growing body of evidence that shows that the Bachelor of Science Nursing graduate brings unique skills to their work as nursing clinicians and play an important role in the delivery of safe patient care. In addition to having basic nursing fundamentals nurse’s today are expected to take a huge part and lead professional initiatives that drive towards improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of care that is delivered to patients.
Nurse practitioners must maintain certification as an FNP as well as maintain licensure as an APRN to be able to practice. As a new graduate, this process may seem laborious. However, the South Carolina licensure website does a great job at simplifying the process and provides a checklist of the requirements for the APRN license application. The application may be completed online or sent to the board by mail. The requirements to be sent to the board include: APRN licensure by endorsement application, proof of current RN license, masters degree from an accredited program approved by the board with official transcripts, application fees, supervising physician info if applicable, passport-type
To have any nurse¡¯s licensure status verified quickly proves valuable to both nurses and boards of nursing. Endorsement into a compact state becomes much more efficient.
Yes, Tennessee is a Nurse Licensure compact state since July,1,2003 ("Tennessee State Board of Nursing | NCSBN," n.d.). The implications are, a nurse who resides in the state of Tennessee and holds an unencumbered Tennessee multistate nursing license can have the ‘multistate privilege to practice’ in any of the other compact states unless the privilege has been disciplined or otherwise restricted. The Nurse Licensure Compact allows the nurses to practice in multistate without obtaining an additional license. However, “It is important for the nurses to understand that the Nurse Licensure Compact requires the nurse to adhere to the practice laws and rules of the state in which the client(s) receives care” ("Board of Nursing - TN.Gov-State of
Over the years there have been vast changes in healthcare that require nurses to go above and beyond in their level of expertise in technology and scientific knowledge (Palos, 2014). Nurses have to evolve with those changes, therefore they must utilize educational tools and develop skills to stay current with the advancements that hospitals require for practice (Palos, 2014). Palos (2014) also found that nurses have a responsibility to use their critical thinking skills, make sound clinical judgments, and apply evidence-based nursing
Attaining a high level of education will improve the healthcare system only if nurses are fully utilizing their knowledge and abilities. Many times nurses face challenges in exercising their abilities and knowledge due to institutional policies or government regulations,
A lot of hospitals in the area are requiring a nurse with an Associate’s Degree in nursing to attain a Bachelor’s of Science in nursing within a certain time frame. On top of that, depending on the job, the nurse can also be required to take an ECG class and/or obtain ALS certification within the first year of employment. Education is not only important and beneficial for the patients to know that the nurse taking care of them has most up to date the knowledge and training that is
With a consistent change in modernizing medicine, along with the continuing advancement in technology, continuing education in nursing is essential for a variety of reasons. The nurse’s main concern is providing safe, efficient, and effective patient care with positive patient outcomes. This paper will examine the differences in competencies between nurses prepared at an associate-degree level versus a baccalaureate-degree level, in order to provide an evidenced-based understanding of the variation in the educational preparation of nurses.
As a brand new nurse coming out of nursing school, you may be thinking that you have completed your education and that you are ready to start practicing as a Registered Nurse. As a new professional this is partially correct, but you still have many years of continuing education. There are two different aspects of continuing education for a nurse: advanced educational programs or specific continuing education courses. Throughout this discussion I will be focusing on the importance of continuing education for nurses. The American Nurses Association defines continuing education (CE) as “learning activities designed to augment the knowledge, skill and attitudes of nurses and therefore enrich the nurses’ contributions to quality healthcare” (as cited in Schaeffer, 2015, p. 13). Continuing education courses are not only important for the individual nurses competences and professionalism, but it is also important in regards to the care delivered to patients and the patient outcomes. Throughout this discussion I will explain the importance of CE, how it is beneficial to the nurse, and how it effects the patients we are giving care to.