Objective Response

Baccalaureate nursing practice incorporates the roles of assessing, critical thinking, communicating, providing care, teaching, and leading. (Grand Canyon University College of Nursing [GCUCN], 2011, p. 2) A nurse providing

I am a recent baccalaureate graduate of Charleston Southern University. I received my Bachelor of Science in Nursing in May of 2015. On June 20, 2015, I received my NCLEX-RN results and became a registered nurse in the state of South Carolina. After considering my options for a graduate program, I happily accepted my offer from Case Western Reserve University and moved to Cleveland to pursue my graduate studies. Over the course of my undergraduate career, theories were included in the curriculum but not in depth. It is for this reason that I am excited to partake in this course – to learn the foundational and applicable theories of the nursing profession.

Today, more than ever, the importance of having highly skilled nurses within the hospital and various other settings is a priority. The passing of the Affordable Care Act increases the amount of clients being seen in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Therefore, it is prudent to educate nursing students in a way that prepares them for this increasingly complex health care system. In 2010, Mill, Astle, Ogilvie and Gustaldo wrote about linking global citizenship, undergraduate education and professional nursing in the 21th century (E1). They believe that linking global citizenship to transform nursing curriculum will aid in better-prepared nurses. Benner, Sutphen, Leonard and Day (2010) believe transforming curriculum involves integrating knowledge, skilled know-how, and ethical comportment to increase the effectiveness of nursing education (p.12) I think both approaches can be beneficial in changing the landscape of nursing education.

“Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles” (ICN 2010)

In addition, a DNP degree will help me better serve my community by advocating for quality and safety healthcare system. Once attained, I would seek employment at either a school or university with the mission of educating nursing students to practice the highest quality of patient care. One of the major issues facing the nursing profession today is the lack of advance nursing practices. The medical field is in crisis. Doctors are stretched to the limits, and patients are demanding more advanced care. To alleviate some of the concerns facing medicine in the 21st century, advance nursing practices is a vital area in the contribution of understanding and working within the bounds of a team structure, and the promotion of communication between the interdisciplinary health team. The mission of the advance nursing practice is to help individual patients, and their families, determine and achieve optimum physical, mental and social potential, and to do so within the challenging context of the environment in which they live and work Nurses are among the largest professional care group within the healthcare service industry. We are responsible for providing quality care and assisting patients towards independent and healthy living. Considering the changing working environment, health care practitioners like nurses are

In the article “What Do Nurses Really Do?”, Suzanne Gordon explores what nurses truly do. She concludes that nurses “save lives, prevent complications, prevent suffering, and save money” (Gordon 2006). Nurses provide care for their patients in the physical and emotional sense. Emotionally caring for a patient and being sensitive to his or her needs result from interacting with patients while performing the skills and using the knowledge that nurses learned in school. Nurses grow in their skills, knowledge, and attitudes through practice. Quality and safety education for nursing incorporates competencies that all nurses must use in their practice. These nursing competencies include evidence-based nursing practice, quality improvement, safety, teamwork and collaboration, patient-centered care, and informatics.

A nurse is a caregiver, a patient’s advocate, an educator; being a nurse is caring. There are basic components that all nurses should meet or should accomplish. The Mississippi Nursing Competency Model is a model that allows nurses to enhance their education and practice. This model exemplifies what core competencies a nurse of the future should represent, by her skills, attitudes, and knowledge. These core competencies include: patient-centered care, safety, professionalism, systems-based practice, informatics and technology, communication, teamwork and collaboration, leadership, quality improvement and evidence-based practice. Because I am still learning, there are still certain competencies that I was not able to either accomplish or accomplished

The BSN curriculum fosters the development of these skills. The nurse obtains knowledge regarding public health and community issues. Additionally, the nurse develops skills in nursing administration and research in order to provide optimum health care for the patient and organization, thus carrying out expert assessment and evaluation (Forster, 2008).

Nursing can be a demanding career, but the benefits far much outweigh the challenges. Most importantly, it’s the rewards it offers by allowing an opportunity to make a difference in another person’s life through the provision of care when they need it. Just as Patricia Benner theorized in her book “Novice to Expert,” nursing encompasses both educational knowledge and extensive clinical experience acquired throughout one’s career. This far, I continue to acquire knowledge and clinical knowhow which will promote proper and efficient care to patients. Since I began practicing one year ago in a long-term healthcare facility, I have interacted with patients, families, physicians and other members of the healthcare team to coordinate patient’s care which has enabled me to gain confidence in myself. While I cannot deny that it was difficult to transition from a student to a licensed nurse, I learnt to overcome these challenges and focus on my strengths. Practicing as an LPN has provided a platform to learn and gain experience even though the duties and responsibilities are limited by the scope of practice.

Healthcare and the nursing profession are continually changing, and curriculum will have to evolve to ensure that nursing students are being taught the most relevant information. Iwasiw and Goldenberg (2015) illustrated curriculum work, change, and faculty development as an intertwining and infinite process. Nurse educators and faculty need to participate in curriculum design, implementation and evaluation otherwise nursing education does not change and progress is limited (Iwasiw and Goldenberg, 2015). The National League of Nursing (2016) identifies participation in curriculum design and evaluation of program outcomes as a nurse educator core competency that entails the responsibility of preparing graduates to work in the health care field

There is a lack and shortage of nursing like sever in the United States and keeps worse. By 2020, the shortage mainly could increase gradually to be more than 1 million full-time equal registered nurses (Health Administration, 2012). NCLEX-RN tests can determine both success and failure. The aim of the quantitative retrospective that already used is to study wand compare the results of NCLEX-RN tests results on 10 divisions of undergraduate nursing students at a Southern California university.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) published report titled The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing (2011), where the core framework for all masters educated nurses is laid out to prepare for the dramatic changes seen in the delivery of healthcare today and in the future (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2011). I am excited to be with Walden’s vision to implement some advanced practice into the MSN in

Furthermore, licensing and accreditation standards must be heightened to insure the quality of the nurses that enter the workforce. Certifying organizations must therefore mandate the proper demonstration of core competencies and skills prior to endowing students with the nursing title. The nursing profession, according to the IOM report, must undergo fundamental changes within the overall education of nurses. In many respects the basic

The NLN CNEA’s fourth standard is stated as “Culture of excellence and caring – students” (p. 5). This is outlined as a student centered learning environment that embraces diversity with support. (p.5). This may be evaluated by attrition rates, student centered learning activities, counseling services available to students, and a wiliness of faculty to encourage student success. This criteria would incorporate not only the nursing faculty but for success it would have to incorporate the entire institution.

The Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies (NOF Core Competencies) were selected to show the correlation of competency based education and practice partnership. This is being done nationwide so new student nurses would be more prepared with critical thinking and competent learned skills during clinicals. It encourages many nurses to continue their education with some becoming Doctors of Nursing, Nurse Practitioners’, Educators, Managers, and many more specialties.