Baccalaureate Nursing Essay

The Journey from an Associate Degree Nurse to the Baccalaureate Nurse
According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is defined as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association, 2016). Nurses have many jobs and responsibilities and wear many different hats. Nurses can perform at many different levels depending on their scope of practice which is defined by the board of nursing in one’s state of residence. It is important as nurses to understand and follow

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).
The differences between an Associate degree

Baccalaureate nurses are responsible for providing and ensure our patients safety. The knowledge from others mistakes can help informs nurses of extra precautions that we can take to ensure our patient’s safety. Risk Analysis and Implication for practice course helped me understand the steps I as a nurse can take as well as the facilities I work for to help reduce the number of medication errors that occur. Interviewing the pharmacist help me get a better insight to what facilities already have in place to help prevent medication errors. However like most things you have to have educated and compassionate caring staff to enforce and follow the guidelines set in place.
Management and leadership are very important skills to have as a baccalaureate nurse. Through this course I was able to identify and understand the different styles of leadership as well as the style that best fits the characteristics I can offer as a member of an interdisciplinary team. After completing the multifactor leadership questionnaire I was able to better understand my strengths and weaknesses. Collaborating with each other as a team helps complete each other and provides our patients with the most positive experience in their times of