In 1964, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has been advocating baccalaureate education as the educational foundation for professional nursing practice. ANA believes that baccalaureate nursing education is necessary to prepare the nursing workforce for the challenges of a complex and changing health care system. The first 4 states that implemented the BSN as entry level of practice include Oregon, Montana, Maine, and North Dakota. In Oregon, the legislation was stripped out by the Community College Association. Strong oppositional groups also worked to stop the implementation of the proposal in Maine and Montana. In 1977, North Dakota was the only state that has passed legislation implementing the BSN as an entry to practice. In 2003, however, …show more content…
In 2013, about 55 percent of the RN workforce holds a bachelor’s or higher degree. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the Employment Projections 2012-2022 in December 2013 stating that Registered Nursing (RN) is listed among the top occupations in terms of job growth through 2022. The RN workforce is expected to grow from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022, an increase of 526,800 or 19%. The Bureau also projects the need for 525,000 replacements nurses in the workforce bringing the total number of job openings for nurses due to growth and replacements to 1.05 million by 2022. One factor that impacts nursing shortage is the shortage of nursing school faculty that restrict nursing program enrollments. According to AACN’s report on 2012-2013 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away 79,659 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2012 due to insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints. Since BSN-prepared nurses are more likely than nurses with associate degrees in nursing (ADNs) to eventually attain graduate degrees, an expanded pipeline of BSNs will contribute to solving the nurse faculty
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.
Megginson, L. (2008). RN-BSN education: 21st century barriers and incentives. Journal Of Nursing Management, 16(1), 47-55.
The topic of "ADN versus BSN" is one that has plagued the nursing profession for decades. Does a nurse’s level of education really matter? Can ADN nursing graduates perform their duties as well as BSN graduates? These are the types of questions that continue to be debated by policymakers, educational organizations and associations, and the general public. This may be because nurses are now one of the least educated health care roles when compared to other health care professions that are now requiring bachelor degrees or higher for entry. A more likely reason is undoubtedly due to the growing body of evidence suggesting that BSN graduates are more prepared when entering the workforce than their ASN counterparts. These findings have made some hospitals decide to only hire BSN prepared graduates or higher. Linda Aiken, director of the center for health outcomes and research at Penn State, recently stated "the evidence base is growing, and a number of hospitals are acting on it” (Burling, 2010). If employers prefer BSN prepared nurses, why don’t more of them offer pay differentials or other incentives to return to school? The answer to that question is still unknown. The Veterans Administration (VA) is one exception. The VA leads the country in employing the most registered nurses according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2011). The VA made the decision a decade ago to establish the BSN as a requirement for new hires. The VA devoted $50 million in approximately five-years to help
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended in a 2010 report that eighty percent of registered nurses (RNs) hold a baccalaureate degree by 2020. This is not a new goal, but rather one that has yet to be realized, despite being first recommended in 1965 by the American Nurses Association. Healthcare has made significant advancements since that time, but nursing standards to entry and licensing regulations have not reflected these changes (Hess, 1996). Students of both Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) programs and Baccalaureate Degree (BSN) programs sit for the same national licensing exam, the NCLEX-RN. This is a disservice to the entire profession. Associate degrees are publicly perceived as 'technical' degrees. This influences public opinion on the competency and skill of all nurses (Jacobs, et al., 1998). In addition, the lack of differentiation of graduate degrees equates different educational levels and blurs expectations and requirements of the individual nurse. It also fost...
Is Nursing Shortage Really Faculty Shortage? Potential Solutions As the United States’ population ages and the Affordable Care Act continues to be implemented, the need to address the shortage of nurses and faculty is more pressing than it ever has been. However, this is a multi-dimensional problem, to get to the crux of it one has to ask what the major contributing factors to such shortages are and what can be done to prevent them? Perhaps the most significant influence to the nursing shortage is the fact that each year a large number of qualified applicants are denied entrance because of a lack of prepared nurse educators (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). Equally troubling, if not more so, is that according to a 2014 survey by the AACN there is already an 8.3% faculty vacancy, coupled with the age of professors with doctorates being 61.3 and master’s degrees 57.2.
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.
Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Celia George. Celia works for Troy Beaumont on Cardiac Progressive Care Unit (CPCU) as Registered Nurses (RN) with her bachelor’s degree (BSN). Celia job title at Troy Beaumont is Clinical Nurse 1. Celia is an amazing co-worker to me. She is very helpful and full of knowledge. This is why I choose Celia to interview on Saturday March 17, 2018. Currently, Celia is enrolled in Chamberlain for her Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) degree. I hope to follow in her foot steps this Fall and enroll to get my masters in FNP.
For many years, the nursing shortage has been a relevant topic in today’s society. The nursing shortage is defined as a lack of trained nurses to provide care for ill individuals. Nursing schools inability to grow programs quickly enough to meet demands (Nursing Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). The shortage is not only an issue in the United States but all over the world. This problem affects a wide range of people from current registered nurses, patients, and other members of the healthcare team. According to the Nursing Association of Colleges of Nursing (Rosseter, 2014), the nursing shortage is due to the expansion of healthcare and nurses who are baby boomers beginning to retire. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment reports,
Despite the nurse shortage, the nursing profession is being elevated to the next level. Although diploma nursing was the standards of yesterday, the new nurse workforce will shine with the majority being BSN prepared nurses. With increasing patient acuity, the hospitals and chronic care setting institutions are in need of nurses that can accept the challenges and complications involving the complex healthcare issues. The BSN prepared nurses would successfully meet the challenges of coordinating care among other multidisciplinary team members and the ability to utilize available resources to deliver safe, effective, quality care (Institute of Medicine, 2011). To my dismay, I came to learn about the BSN preference when I tried to obtain a school nurse position few years ago. Incidentally, the areas of public health, school...
Recent literature reports that there is a nursing shortage and it is continually increasing. Data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2011) projects that the shortage, would increase to 260,000 by the year 2025. AACN (2011) also reported that 13% of newly registered nurses changed jobs and 37% were ready to change within a year. A study conducted reports that there is a correlation between higher nursing workloads and nurse burnout, retention rates, job dissatisfaction and adverse patient outcomes (Vahey & Aiken, 2004). Among the nurses surveyed in the study, over 40% stated that they were suffering from burnout while 1 in 5 nurses intended
Historically, in times of nurse shortages, the government as stepped in and provided small amounts of money to subsidize nurse education (Penn Nursing, n.d.). Moreover, the use of licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and nurses’ aides (NAs) has been heavily relied on as they are able to complete required education faster and support RNs during times of critical need, such as during war time (Penn Nursing, n.d.). Given the need for RNs to fill many roles in healthcare today and the medical complexity of patient care, LPNs and NAs are likely not the answer to address our current nurse shortage. Rather, the US should put effort into addressing the nursing shortage by promoting a career in nursing, enlarging the student body, increasing compensation, and encouraging professional growth (Penn Nursing, n.d.). For example, many HCOs place high focus on staff education and transition programs in an effort to encourage RNs to develop their careers and continue to work within a healthcare system (Gooch, 2016). A health system in North Carolina, offers financial incentives such as sign-on bonuses, referral bonuses, and scholarship programs (Gooch, 2016). Additionally, many HCOs are offering tuition reimbursement in exchange of a work commitment, partnering with schools of nursing, and providing flexible nurse work schedules
Although there are several educational levels of nursing for this dissertation we will just be addressing Registered Nurses. Although there are still Associate Degree or ASN programs available in the United States, many states have law makers that are pushing for nurses to have a bachelorette degree to maintain their license, “legislators in New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have propositioned making it a statewide requirement” (Painter, 2014). The 2010 “Future of Nursing” report by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine recommended that 80 percent of U.S. nurses have bachelor’s degrees by 2020 and that the number of nurses with a doctor of nursing practice be
Spencer, J. (2008, July). Increasing RN-BSN Enrollments: Facilitating Articulation Through Curriculum Reform. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39(7), 307-313. Retrieved from EBSCOhost
“At 2.5 million registered nurses, 82.5 percent of whom are employed in nursing, we are the largest number of health care professionals in the United States” (Peterson, para. 4). Since registered nurses can practice in all health care settings, the demand for individuals with a degree and experience within this career is very high. One major problem facing present day nursing is, unfortunately, the shortage of them. A nursing shortage is a lack of educated and trained nurses.
BSN nursing education incorporates the roles of assessing, critical thinking, communicating, providing knowledge and impacts decisions and interactions. ”BSN prepares the graduate for a broader scope of practice, and creates a more highly qualified nursing workforce. May 2008 issue of the Journal of nursing administration 10% increase of BSN nurses in a workforce