How the Level of Education (Associate Vs Bachelor) Affects the Quality of Patients' Care?

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Recommended: Role of nursing in advanced practice settings

Nurses make a considerable contribution to a labor budget of any hospital. 40% of direct care costs, as well as additional 25% or more of funds allocated to operating expenses annually (Aiken et al, 2011). The role of nurses in health care system is critical. Not only RNs deliver direct care to the patients, but they also provide teaching, education and safe environments. In this regard, nurses must possess the required knowledge and proficiency in order to avoid medication errors, adverse events, preventable patients’ death, and deliver the highest standards of care. Additionally, nurses are expected to help keeping the costs of health services under control by monitoring their patients, using evidence-based practices and preventing sentinel events. Better patient outcomes, such as lower hospital mortality rates, are allied with better nursing education. Therefore, choosing the correct education and degree is essential. Many studies have been conducted in order to research the significance of education and discover the relationship between reduction in the probability of inpatients` death and increase in the number of nurses holding bachelor’s degrees. This essay discusses the importance of associate, as well as the bachelor education programs in relation to patients care. It also highlights the implications of nursing education in the areas of practice, academic, and research.
Currently, registered nurses can enter the workforce with different education levels and degrees, including bachelors, associates, and “entry” level diplomas. There are many studies conducted which evaluate positive as well as negative effects different levels of education have on patients’ safety and health outcomes. Several registered nurse practition...

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...ovement, teamwork and collaboration, as well as competency in community and public health and geriatrics. Nurses also are being called upon to fill expanding roles and to master technological tools and information technology systems while collaborating and coordinating care across teams of health professionals. To respond to these increasing demands, the IOM committee calls for nurses to achieve higher levels of education and suggests that they be educated in new ways that better prepare them to meet the needs of the population in the 21st century (IOM, 2011).
To answer these increasing healthcare demands placed on RNs, Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree is going to be an essential educational tool, enabling nurses entering the workforse to meet the challenges, expedite recovery, and ensure patients’ safety, comfort and increase the level of care (AACN, 2014b).

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