The Importance Of Nursing Education

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).

With an ever-increasing body of knowledge in the field of nursing, more education is being required to enter the field of nursing. Many healthcare institutions are raising the educational requirements in order to become employed or maintain employment in their facilities. Healthcare organizations are transitioning to hiring registered nurses (RN) who have a higher level of education, such as, a graduate from a Baccalaureate Degree Nursing (BSN) program. The goal of these institutions is to have nurses with a broader array of skills that can meet the growing demands of our patient population. BSN prepared nurses are recognized for their well-rounded skills in critical thinking, management, case management and health promotion versus Associate Degree nurses (ADN)/Diploma nurses that focus on direct patient care.

Slide 1: The expectations of nurses today are higher than ever with goals such as achieving top percentiles in nursing and patient satisfaction, to being among the top leaders in quality outcomes, and to build productive work relationships and environments. Nursing leaders serve as the primary link between staff, physicians, and the community. They are expected to be innovative, highly skilled, possess a certain degree of nursing knowledge, and produce qualified individuals to care for the growing population. According to Lorber, Treven, and Mumel (2016) “nursing leadership is pivotal because nurses represent the most extensive discipline in health care”. Because of this growing need for diversity in leadership and my background in the military, I decided to focus on the MSN Executive Track at Chamberlain College of Nursing.

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

The demand for Advance Practice Registered Nurses over the next ten years anticipated growth to be 31%, according to The Occupational Outlook Handbook. The relativity of the growth can be contributed to adults living much longer lives, preventative health care, and changes in health care laws. As of 2014,

The United States healthcare industry faces many challenges everyday, such as the rising cost of care, medical errors, access and quality problems etc. Within the next few years, the United States will experience a shortage of Register Nurses (RNs). “Registered Nurses are considered one of the largest health professions in the health care industry. The Nurses duty is to provide direct patient care and can be done in a hospital, public health facility, nursing home and many other different settings. Other services included are patient education on disease prevention, administering treatments and promoting a healthy lifestyle.” ("The Future of the Nursing Workforce: National- and State- Level Projections 2012-2025”) The shortage will occur due to Baby Boomers aging and the demand for health care will dramatically rise. With the baby boomers aging, Registered Nurses are at the top of the list for demand in health care. Unfortunately the supply and demand does not meet. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2012-2022 released in December 2013, RNs will increase of about 526,800 within that time frame but will still have job openings of 1.05 million by 2020)”("Nursing Shortage") Indicating that there is no growth between 2012- 2022. There are multiple factors to this shortage and one of them is that nursing schools across the nation are struggling to increase the capacity of students to meet the rising demand. Considering the fact

Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine; Institute of Medicine. (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. [The National Academies Press]. Retrieved from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=R1

Nursing career is one of the few fastest growing fields in the health care industry not only in the United States but also in the world. Nurse practice has drastically changed in the last decade and as a result the need for changes in nursing practice is becoming more and more important. The Institute of Medicine report discusses so many aspects in nursing but this paper requires detailing the impacts on Nursing Practice (Transforming Practice), Nursing Education (Transforming Education), and the Nurse’s role as a Leader (Transforming Leadership). These three key aspects are discussed in the following pages.

In the increasingly complex, ever changing environment of today’s healthcare, effective leaders are essential to help drive positive change resulting in increased access to care with positive outcomes for as many as possible. In its 2010 report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recognized that nurses are well positioned to play a key role in the transformation of our healthcare system in the United States (U.S.) (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010). In The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) specifically identifies organizational and systems leadership as a core competency for advanced

According to the IOM report, the nursing profession is undergoing fundamental changes within the underlying operations of the field. A new regulatory environment coupled with increased scrutiny of the profession will dramatically impact the nursing profession. As the report indicates nurses, in the near future, will have job requirements that are business oriented. Nurses will need to have a better understanding of quality management methods in addition to overall concepts of management. As the health care system continues its rapid reform nurses must also be cognizant of the effects these changes will have on their overall roles and responsibilities. This involves a transformation of the roles and responsibilities of nurses as they enter the profession. As the health care landscape continues to change, so too must the nurses of the future. A dedication to continual learning is therefore needed to help diminish the influence of antiquated and obsolete knowledge regarding the profession.

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

Changes in the Health Care System and the Practice of Nursing have become complex. Technological changes, complicated client needs, short hospital length of stay, and departure from acute care to community based care, all these changes have underscore the need for professional nurses to think critically in order to provide safe and effective client care. A better educated nursing workforce can provide good health education to patients and their families. The affordable care of 2010 has required the need for nurses to expand their role of practice to meet complicated patient demands. This has prompted the Institute Of Medicine to review the “Future of Nursing, Leading change and Advancing Health”. {Creasia & Fribery,2011}

There are various factors that are contributing to the current nursing shortage and turnover. Apparently the major contributing factors in the USA are a population of nurses that are getting older without adequate replacement, there are fewer than expected faculties dedicated to nursing, there are more career fields opening up particularly for women hence the alternative choices instead of nursing, federal government's failure to fund the nursing education across the country, generally unpleasant working conditions and terms, poor retention of the nurses as well as an overstretched hence overworked nursing staff.

Patient education plays a vital role in nursing, and as first year nursing students it is important to our career to develop skills in the process of teaching as well as developmental theories. To practice this teaching process, we conducted two interviews with a 19-year-old female currently in the early adulthood stage. Ghorbani, Soleimani, Zeinali and Davaji (2014) state that patient education has been shown to reduced anxiety of patients and improve the satisfaction of health care. Client education is also said to improve the quality of life, helps to reduce illness complications, maximize independence and ensures that continuity of care is present (Bastable, 2014). Although within the health care system things preventing or decreasing the effectiveness of patient education may include nurses not have the knowledge of what to teach or how to teach it and lack of time and resources (Ghorbani et al., 2014). To understand further the important of patient education we must possess a knowledge of the education process including assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation (APIE) (Bastable & Alt, 2014). Throughout this paper, we will evaluate our use of the educational process by teaching the learner about caffeine.

There is no doubt that the health care system is constantly changing and working to improve its flaws, to the best of its ability. Whether nurses like it or not we are a part of the ever changing health care system. “With more than 3 million members, the nursing profession is the largest segment of the nation’s health care workforce” (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 1). The Institute of Medicine believes that nurses should be active in transforming the profession of nursing, along with the health care system. Regardless, of backgrounds, race, and age all nurses can contribute to the future of the nursing profession. The following paper will discuss the Institute of Medicine’s nursing expectations and recommendations, as well as the opportunity to becoming a clinical nurse instructor.