The role of nursing is constantly evolving as nurses sustain greater healthcare responsibilities. Nurses are no longer bedside caregivers; instead, they play multiple roles in the complex health care system. There are currently three educational programs for registered nurses (RN): diploma program, associate degree in nursing (AND), and a baccalaureate of science (BSN) in nursing (Friberg& Creasia, 2016). All have to pass the state board examination to demonstrate competencies and earn the title of RNs. The evidence is supporting that higher educational level improves patient outcome and safety. This article will present three role expectations as a baccalaureate-prepared nurse.
BSN preparation focuses greater on evidence-based practice. Advanced technologies and disease complexities ask nurses to update their knowledge and skills. BSN prepared nurses should be able to incorporate evidence-based practice into patient care instead of simply following what has been practiced previously. In McEwen’s (2015) study of “The Differentiated Essential Competencies”, she articulates that applying research findings and evidence-based practice to nursing intervention is an
…show more content…
The signing of the Affordability Care Act of 2010 (ACA) had a significant impact on the healthcare system and it marked the beginning of healthcare reform in the United States (Hunt, 2013). With the signing of the ACA, healthcare is shifting toward outpatient settings. Besides symptom treatment, baccalaureate-prepared nurses should be able to consider the health of the patient holistically including the family, community, and environment. Addressing public health issues requires BSNs to be able to provide care to communities and families with unmet needs, utilize the nursing process to plan individualized care regarding health promotion and maintenance, and evaluate implemented learning outcomes for communities and populations (McEwen,
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010 with the goal of expanding healthcare coverage to all Americans by reforming insurance policies and practices (Tillett, 2011). The ACA upsurges the demand for an increase in primary care providers in order to supply quality care to the much larger population that will have coverage and therefore acquiring healthcare. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) through its report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health has generated a solution to the shortage of primary care providers by promoting a transformation of the nursing profession to fill the gap.
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 determine which educational path to pursue, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or Associate Degree in nursing (ADN). Most will initially be educated at the associate degree level, even though the American Organization of Nursing Executives (AONE) has recommended a baccalaureate level as a minimal for entry-level nurses. With the expanding number of RN to BSN programs available there is always the option to further one’s education at a later date. The benefits for acquiring a BSN over an ADN include a better knowledge for evidence-based practice, an increased advantage for promotion, and the necessary gateway for higher education.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs strive to ready student nurses for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) that tests not only pure knowledge, but the reasoning and application of that knowledge. These programs provide student nurses with the necessary knowledge base and ability to apply knowledge in practice; especially since the introduction of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has been integrated into didactics. EBP, along with hours of clinical placement, benefit student nurses by arming them with the clinical judgment skills called for in the workplace. However, if student nurses accrue more focused clinical hours in their areas of specialty, they will be better prepared for the situations they will face in their careers for which simulation labs or nonspecific clinical settings fail to adequately prepare them. With more hours spent in specialty areas, student nurses will be able to establish higher degrees of mental preparedness and hands on experience as well as understanding of the difficulties and demands of working as a nurse in a specific field as opposed to shifting between various focuses of nursing.
In fact, Researchers had shown the results of outcomes having different degrees of level. According to AACN, Today 61% Nurses in the United States have a BSN degree who works in health settings. In fact, BSN nurses reduce death rate mortality, and readmission rate by using clinical practice knowledge (AACN) . Having advance level of knowledge involves nurses to manage the patient level of care and monitor for progress. American Organization of Nurses Executives states that nurses who have a higher education level promotes safe nursing care and improves patient safety. Higher educational nurses prepare herself for clinical challenging and complex roles (AACN, page 1). They develop more ideas, better intervention, and focus more on clinical
Implementing care plans within legal, ethical, and regulatory parameters is a competency that all registered nurses but abide by. As stated before as a baccalaureate nurse you must include not only patients and their families but also the community and population (The Texas Board of Nursing, 2011). Following the nursing process the next competency include evaluate the results of the implementations that have occurred. Once again the biggest difference between the two degree plans is baccalaureate nurses will also include the community and population as well as the patient and their family (The Texas Board of Nursing, 2011). Education is a vital piece of nursing and must be completed at every possible opportunity. Educated patients and their families on promoting health and marinating health is a very important concept. Expanding this education to the community and population is a vital step in helping reduce risk for our patients (The Texas Board of Nursing, 2011). The last competency is the nurse’s role in coordinating human information and material management resources for patients and their families as well as the expansion to include communities and populations as ones transition to a baccalaureate nurse (The Texas Board of Nursing, 2011).
Nurse Residency Programs are one way to make nursing practice safer for the patient and to keep nurses from leaving the practice. The Affordable Care Act will increase the number of patients receiving medical care over the next several years. We, as a nation, will need adequate numbers of nurses to fill the void. Many hospitals and universities are constructing nurse residency programs to meet that need. The designation of these programs is to increase knowledge, confidence and job satisfaction of new graduate nurses in their first year of practice. The AACN and University HealthSystem Consortium support the concept of nursing residencies. In 2004, an outline for nurse residency programs became available through their joint effort. Currently, 30 states are currently using the model successfully. The funding for nursing residencies is an area that needs addressing, federal funding for nursing education should include nursing residencies ("Nurse Residency Program," 2012). The purpose of this paper is to describe how this issue can move into a “policy window” using John Kingdon’s Policy Stream Model.
There has been great debate in the nursing community for years regarding what should be the educational requirements for a practicing nurse. There are currently many options for men and women to enter the field through LPN, ADN, and BSN programs. More recently, programs have been popping up allowing accelerated BSN obtainment through second degree programs. The debate stems from the conflicting ideas of whether nursing as a whole is a trade, requiring an associate’s degree, or should be considered a profession, often requiring a Baccalaureate degree. In this paper this author will use past nursing history, current medical demands and advancements, and clinical patient outcomes to argue that the minimum education for a nurse should be a Baccalaureate degree.
There is a shortage of all health care professions throughout the United States. One shortage in particular that society should be very concerned about is the shortage of Registered Nurses. Registered Nurses make up the single largest healthcare profession in the United States. A registered nurse is a vital healthcare professional that has earned a two or four year degree and has the upper-most responsibility in providing direct patient care and staff management in a hospital or other treatment facilities (Registered Nurse (RN) Degree and Career Overview., 2009). This shortage issue is imperative because RN's affect everyone sometime in their lifetime. Nurses serve groups, families and individuals to foster health and prevent disease.
Nursing encompasses several levels of education and licensure. For decades the differentiation between these levels has been debated, primarily between the differentiation of the Associates degree in Nursing (ADN) and the Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing (BSN). The associate’s degree, which began with the intention of creating a technical nurse, has developed into being “equivalent” to a bachelors degree (Hess, 1996). The two degrees however are not equivalent, the bachelors educated nurse receives two years education beyond the associate, in the liberal arts and upper division nursing courses
There is only so much an individual can learn from a textbook or classroom setting when it comes to nursing. Although clinical practicums are mandatory with any nursing program one can only retain so much in such a short timeframe. Student nurses mostly focus on completing their care plans and any other mandatory assignment related to their clinical experience. With that being said new graduates become novice nurses on the level of clinical practice. Patricia Benner discussed the education and experience levels of nurses by utilizing five significant stages. These stages include novice, advance beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. The ultimate goal for all nurses should
The BSN program helps the nurses in many ways including utilizing the process to the full scale and it will encourage nurses to use their skills like educating the patient as we’ll as creating new nurses. Because of the new health care reform, the BSN program will also aid in filling the gap from the influx of patients. The baccalaureate degrees and BSN program helps prepare students for the significant part they are going to play in reinforcing the new healthcare reform. At present, I utilize and develop nursing care plans in the nursing process, even though it needs some corrections due to the nature of my work. The highest standards of nursing can only be achieved through better research and advanced training.
Healthcare in the United States (U.S.) continues to change and evolve due to multiple environmental forces such as changes in legislation and payment models, aging population, increased prevalence of chronic diseases, advances in technology, and pressures to lower the cost (Martin, 2013). Nursing has always been at the heart of healthcare, however, there is an impending shortage that has been projected by 2025 (Martin, 2013). We are moving from a volume-based to a value-based payment system through the MACRA legislation where providers will be reimbursed not necessarily by how many tests that are performed, but how well they care for a population of individuals based on quality measures and cost (“FAQ on MACRA,” 2016). Nurses are taking on
It is important that students have the ability of being competent in a clinical setting. To be deemed competent in skills according to nursing regulations and requirements. This is a challenging factor for many students, as they enter transition period. This is due to students feel they do not have the desired clinical competency that promotes the skills and authorities of a registered nurse (Harsin, Soroor & Soodabeh, 2012). Clinical research studies have found that students do have the required expected levels of knowledge, attitude and behaviour’s. However, the range of practical skills aren’t sufficient for the range of practice settings (Evans, 2008). This research has also found that other evidenced based studies found that competency in nursing skills is still lacking (Evans, 2008). These skills are lacked by students and newly graduated nursing how are in the first or second year of
There has been a drastic cut in both the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates. According to Robert (2012), “cuts of more than $360 billion to Medicare and Medicaid will be made over the next 10 years. The focus of nursing needs to emphasize more on wellness care and prevention rather than acute care” (McNeal, G., 2012). Nursing practice will need to shift more towards community and population focused nursing. Baccalaureate prepared nurses are provided with a curriculum that includes both community health and leadership skills that are not included in the associate program. By encouraging associate’s degree nurses to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing, an increase in the awareness of the needs of the community and population may be seen. The IOM report has outlined the anticipated obstacles that healthcare will face if changes are not made. By allowing nurses to provide care within their full scope of practice, quality care may be provided at an affordable cost to the population. The use of advanced practice nurses in primary care may provide quality, access, and cost efficient healthcare to high-risk populations and possibly decrease hospital admission rates, thus lowering the overall cost of healthcare. If nurses partner with doctors and other healthcare providers, it may improve healthcare by providing seamless transitions (Institute of Medicine,
To briefly summarize, the report identifies nurses as an important factor in enabling access to high quality, affordable health care. This was supported by the development of four fundamental recommendations. The first suggests that nurses be allowed to practice within the scope of their degree. This becomes evident in the differences in state laws that pertain to nurse’s who have acquired advanced degrees, such as the nurse practitioner.... ...