The Importance Of Academic Challenges In Nursing

The transition from student nurse to registered nurse can be exciting, stressful and challenging and reality shock can be experienced (Kaihlanen, Lakanmaa, & Salminen, 2013). The skills knowledge and values learned during the 3 years period of the undergraduate program should be demonstrated while working as a Registered nurse. The transition from nursing student to professional nurse is complex and multifaceted experience (Clark & Springer, 2012). Therefore, it’s essential to guide the student during their learning process for their professional development. It is difficult for the student nurse to work on their own unsupervised right after completing their program. Being independent registered nurse will take lots of practice skills wise and knowledge wise. The transition from student to staff nurse ‘is a common rite of passage that marks the end of initial educational preparation in the discipline and the

First Year Seminar is a beneficial, getting started-like course provided by West Coast University during the first term of the program. Since the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is very rigorous this course is helpful in adjusting new students, such as myself, to a very demanding, fast-pace program. This class focuses on topics that help students organize and understand oneself and the mission of WCU mission to achieve the greatest success as a student. In my Signature Assignment term paper I will focus on my experience with FYS and what information I’ve gained to help me understand my learning style, strengths and weaknesses I have as a student, how working collaboratively benefits me and how I will go about achieving success at WCU.

In my current role as a nurse educator I feel the desire to pursue my dream of obtaining a master’s degree, specializing in nursing education. It has been 27 years since I have sat in the student chair in a classroom; therefore, I anticipate a number of challenges and barriers to overcome. In this paper I will present and describe three challenges that I expect to be faced with over the next two years. I will also discuss the strategies I plan to use to address these challenges.

The beginning of a new graduate nurses career rarely begins easily, there seems to be a distinct disconnect between the fantasy of what it means to be a nurse and the reality of bedside nursing. Nursing school seems to feed into this disconnection, in that it does not prepare the new graduate registered nurse (NGRN) for their professional practice. What nursing school does is give the NGRN the basics, a peak into what is to come. The NGRN has to find out for themselves what the true meaning of being a nurse is and if it fits their preconceived ideas.

As I began the RN-BSN program, I felt that much of the work was redundant and very time-consuming. As I moved through the program, I realized that I was learning more than I expected. I had never looked up nursing articles, nor used them to help my nursing practice. The class, Transition to Professional Nursing, was my first introduction to reviewing, researching, and using articles to support my essays (Poster, 2015). This opened the flood-gates for my love of nursing and my curiosity. I wanted to review more and research other topics. I had surprised myself because it sparked a bigger desire to learn more about the topic I was researching and to understand nursing interventions

Throughout the history of nursing, nurses made vast strides to help it grow into the profession it is known to be today. Without clearly defined education and roles, the role of caring for the sick aimlessly moved amongst different groups of people from deaconesses, knights, nuns, and inmates until institutions were established for organized teaching programs. Today, individuals are eligible to take the Registered Nurse (RN) licensure test as soon as they complete the minimum of an Associates Degree in Nursing. However, there has been an increasing push for “making the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), or equivalent degree, the standard for entry-into-practice” (Altmann, 2011). Aiken et al. reported that recent studies indicate a decrease in morbidity, mortality, and failure-to-rescue rates in hospitals that employ larger percentages of baccalaureate prepared nurses (as cited in Altmann, 2011, p. 257). In addition, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently released a report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, and recommended the increase of BSN prepared nurses from 50% to 80% by 2020 (2011). In order for nurses to advance in the healthcare environment as professionals, they should be educated to the appropriate degree and be committed to lifelong learning. This paper will discuss professional identity in nursing and the implications of a bachelor prepared nurse.

My ambition is to graduate St. Francis College as a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor’s degree in the upcoming years. Although majoring in nursing will not be easy, I feel I am prepared for the challenge. At this time in my life I cannot see myself majoring in anything else. As a young girl, with a mother working in the medical field, I was always fascinated going to work with her. Working in a doctor’s office these past two and a half years myself has given me much experience with patients and has made it more to clear to me that this is what I want to pursue as a career. I wish to be a nurse because I seem to get a feeling of warmth and internal satisfaction when helping those in need. I have begun to learn that medicine is not the only cure for people’s ailments. It is the care they receive by those around them whether it is in a hospital, nursing home, or even their own home. This is where I believe that I can make a great difference in people 's lives by helping them recover.

“While you may not realize it, you are helping to exemplify many of the reasons that we are going back to school for our BSN’s. Because higher learning really does improve our nursing practice and cultivate the learning culture of nurses in our institutions.

With the increasing demands in Healthcare needs, newly licensed competent nurses are a commodity that simply do not exist. Every year there are new nurses graduating from associate and bachelor’s degree programs that enter the work force. Nursing students whom complete their degree program, whether it be an associates or bachelor degree sit to take the same state sanctioned nursing licensure exam. Upon successful completion of this exam a student quickly transitions from student to professional, in as little as two days, and is now deemed competent to practice safely and effectively. Unfortunately for new nurses whom enter the workforce, they are subjected to an environment that nursing schools simply cannot simulate accurately, and therefore not prepare students for. New nurses are expected to come out of school, especially by the patients they tend to, with competencies that are unrealistic. The reality is that new nurses lack skills that allow them to perform at a truly competent level. What this paper will discuss are the competencies that new graduate nurses enter the work force with compared to what is actually required in order to be proficient in this professional field. This paper will also discuss how the transition from student to professional can be facilitated through extensive orientation programs that have been proven to elevate nurses from novice to professional.

Some people think a nurse is a doctor’s assistant or even someone who gives injections. However, healthcare system has been changing over the last few decades, which has caused nurses’ roles to change and expand. The needs of patient care require a holistic approach, therefore challenging and requiring the profession to have a broad nature of discipline. In order to offer that specialized service to society, the nurse is required to obtain a bachelor’s degree and keep learning throughout his or her career. For that reason, this paper will discuss three major roles of baccalaureate nurse as defined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Multiple researchers have shown that Baccalaureate-trained nurses significantly resulted to improved nursing care compared to the Associate degree level of nurses as BSNs are trained to meet the ever-changing needs of the high demanding health care system. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the national body for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, “education has a very important impact on the knowledge and competencies of the nursing clinician”. The Bachelor’s degree empowers its graduates to respond to the continuously growing patient needs in the society. Associate degree nurses are more concerned with the technical aspects of the nursing profession, and tends to focus more on skills proficiency,

The conventional role as the nurse has been the hospital bedside caregiver. However, the U.S. is unable to finance a health system that requires expanded delivery of outpatient and primary care throughout the nation. Furthermore, citizens need a greater number of clinical specialists to treat an array of acute and chronic illnesses. The populations require a wider use of nurse practitioners and other advanced generalists to provide more available and cost-effective care, especially in under-served areas. Even so, producing more direct-care professionals will be insufficient to meet the growing need for nurses in other areas, such as health development and disease prevention, case management, and governed care settings. To meet the developing needs of the United States, students should obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).

I once heard someone say, “Find something you love to do and you’ll always be successful.” If you want to be in a field where you are continually learning, nursing would be the top pick. This paper will reflect the journey I have taken from Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with the incorporation of my learning objectives from my clinical course.

When people think of nursing school, they usually think of bedpans and needles. Thats only a small part. I learned that nursing school was going to be some much more than bedpans and needles, when I attended my first day of class then my first day of clinical. Nursing school sure has change my outlook on how hard I am on myself.

I am striving to achieve professionalism and growth in roles and values while going through the bachelor’s degree in nursing program. I plan on taking each class one at a time, try to do my best, and gain the knowledge needed to grow in the nursing profession. By October 2010, I should obtain my bachelor’s degree in nursing, which will provide new opportunities, such as management, and educator positions. A bachelor’s degree in nursing will provide the opportunity to further my education to a master’s degree level.