According to Dr. Christopher and colleagues in Health Services Research (2008). Nursing education level has significantly associated with patient outcomes. Nurses that are prepared at the baccalaureate level have a lower mortality rate than nurses that are prepared at the ADN level. A nurse workforce in which a higher…
With the help of the state, the federal government, and of course the healthcare professionals, particularly the nurses, the nation will definitely advance in its rapid changes in healthcare reform.…
As society’s pushing for a demand in higher education, we are seeing the requirements for nursing increase as well. As most facilities are phasing out the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), the Associates degree RN is becoming the entry level of nursing. Many facilities are already requiring a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree for nurses before even considering them for hire. I feel one of the major setbacks in nursing is its lack of educational requirements. Often times the nurse being the primary care giver is the least educated in the patients’ healthcare team. As of right now, the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree is not a requirement for bedside nursing. It isn’t until recently that the push for the BSN has become more prevalent.…
Therefore, the group is calling on policymakers to modify federal funding priorities in favor of supporting more baccalaureate level nursing programs. This call was confirmed in a new statement in March 2008. The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) released a statement calling for all for registered nurses to be educated in baccalaureate programs in a strength to adequately prepare clinicians for their challenging and multifarious roles. AONE’s statement, titled Practice and Education Partnership for the Future, represents the view of nursing’s practice leaders and a desire to create a more highly educated nursing workforce in the interest of improving patient safety and providing improved nursing…
Because the baccalaureate prepared nurse learns leadership skills, he or she is better prepared to make assignments according to patient acuity. According to the AACN (n.d., para. 11) in a study released in the Journal of Nursing Administration “every 10% increase in the proportion of BSN nurses on the hospital staff was associated with a 4% decrease in the risk of death.” The baccalaureate prepared nurse is prepared to take leadership roles in organizational committees. There have been studies that show that “more-educated nurses act more independently, take responsibilities for judgement, and take on…
According to the factsheet on the impact of education on nursing practice by the AACN, baccalaureate prepared nurses have had “a more in-depth treatment of the physical and social sciences, nursing research, public and community health, nursing management, and the humanities” (2012). This gives them a more well-rounded education than their associate prepared colleagues and they show a greater ability to apply knowledge and scientific reasoning (AACN, 2012).…
When considering the impact on nursing due to the report on The Future of Nursing (IOM report, 2010), the need for increased nursing education becomes even more relevant. The nursing profession constitutes the largest segment of the medical field. Thus, nursing will undoubtedly have a vital role in the development of the medical field. However, according to the IOM report, “A number of barriers prevent nurses from being able to respond effectively to rapidly changing healthcare setting and the evolving health care system” (IOM report, 2010).…
With the United States (US) and the world facing a multitude of issues, the nations healthcare concerns continue to take high priority. Finding timely solutions to health care reforms became the inspiration of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the IOM created the RWJF Initiative on the Future of Nursing, which according the IOM (2010, p.ix) looks at the possibility of strengthening the largest component of the health care workforce – nurses – to become partners and leaders in improving the delivery of the care and the health…
As time goes on, the nursing profession is becoming more and more popular. The number of new graduates becoming licensed year-to-year evidences this. In addition to becoming more popular, nursing practice has changed enormously over the past 20 years. In order to stay current with the continuously evolving healthcare system, nurses have to evolve as well. The 2010 IOM report offers its recommendations to maximize the quality, availability, and accessibility through improving nursing education, providing opportunities for leadership positions, and ensuring…
This article discusses the difficulties and steps to reaching success that the Registered Nurse has to take into consideration in the transition from RN to BSN. There is an increasing focus for nurses to be BSN prepared by 2020 with the goal being 80% of the practicing nurses. This encourages nurses to get their BSN and advance their education in order to be able to survive the nursing challenges, and be aligned to compete for job security and advancements. The transition from RN to BSN does not come without challenges however the achievement is worth it.…
One of the topics discussed in this report is the future of nursing education. The changes being made to our country’s healthcare system must include changes in nursing education prior to licensing and post license practicing nurses. With this change comes the need for a larger amount of nurses entering the workforce to have a bachelor’s degree or obtain it very early in the career. This report states that nurses must be adequately trained to care for a diverse population and to provide all patients safe and quality care and to perform as a leader. Nurses also must be prepared to care for patients in different care settings, such as, community and public health settings. The baccalaureate nurse receives this education whereas an associate’s degree nurse does not. Nurses should continue to educate themselves throughout the career with physicians and other healthcare professionals. A better educated nurse leads to better education for the patient thus possibly keeping them from an…
By having the theory of disease process, understanding of history within nursing, and in depth patient care, BSNs have an advantage over associate degree nurses. In February 2013, an analysis of 21 University hospitals was done by Mary Blegen and colleagues for the Journal of Nursing Administration. This study looked at the association between RN education and patient outcomes. “The researchers found that hospitals with a higher percentage of RNs with baccalaureate or higher degrees had lower congestive heart failure mortality, decubitus ulcers, failure to rescue, and postoperative deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and shorter length of stay.” (Baccalaureate Education in Nursing and Patient Outcomes, 43(2), 89-94) This study found that the nursing practices of advanced degree nurses promoted health greater than those without an advanced…
4. Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure (Institute of Medicine, 2010, p. 4).…
BSN graduates bring exceptional skills to their work as nursing clinicians and play an important role in the safe patient care. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that surgical patients in Magnet hospitals had 14% lower chances of inpatient death within 30 days and 12% lower chances of failure-to-rescue compared with patients cared for in non-Magnet hospitals. These study states that these effects were creditedin large part to investments in highly qualified and educated nurses.Studies have also found that baccalaureate nurses have stronger communication and problem solving skills and a higher ability to make nursing diagnoses and for nursing interventions. The federal government, the military, nurse executives, health care foundations, nursing organizations, and practice settings recognize the exceptional value of baccalaureate-prepared nurses and advocate for an increase in the number of BSN nurses across clinical settings.…
Nursing is a profession where people are brought together, usually at a time of vulnerability. Nurses, like the patients they care for, are constantly facing challenges, yet for nurses those challenges are often directed at their academic and skill capabilities. Due to individual and general population health needs changing, our health care system is consistently expanding, and it is necessary that nurses know more and be effectively trained to provide care in a revolutionized organization. A modest, but expanding, amount of hospitals are requiring all newly graduated nurses to have a bachelor’s degree in nursing or higher at the time of hire and indicators are that many more hospitals will require the same in years soon to come (ANA, 2013).…