Barriers of Nursing Education

Steps to Becoming a Competent Nurse

A nursing education has its own procedure. You can’t just finish a certain course and be eligible for a nursing job. There are steps that you need to do for you to become a legitimate nurse.

First, you need to complete an accredited nursing program. This can be accomplished through nursing diplomas, associate programs for nursing and even a bachelor’s degree. This is your initial step before proceeding to a higher level of nursing education. After which, you need to pass the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCLEX-RN). The purpose of this exam is to assess how much you have learned after taking associate courses in nursing. This exam is crucial since it will pave the way for your nursing license.

And speaking of license, nurses should have proper licenses for them to function as legitimate nurses. It goes without saying that those who don’t have licenses of their own are not allowed even to diagnose a patient, let alone take care of them.

After completing these initial three steps, it is advisable that any nurse should get employment. This is the fleshing-out part of having a nursing degree. Unless you do this employment thing, your calling as a nurse is not so much complete. When you are employed, you have the opportunity to widen your options as well as developing certain skills like decision-making. Get training, if need be. This will further enhance your capability as a nurse and will increase your chances of getting promoted if you so desire to become a preceptor or a medical specialist in the future.

These are the steps to becoming a competent nurse. These may vary depending on the need of the hospital. But with these steps, your chances of becoming nurse are as sure as a waiting patient just outside your door.

Advanced Nursing Education is Empowering Nurses

Today, the role of nurses is rapidly evolving as they are tasked with an even wider range of health care responsibilities. The health care system is dealing with an increasing number of complex illnesses that means caring for the sick has gotten more complicated. Thankfully, nurses are rising to meet these challenges.

Advanced nursing education is empowering nurses to lead the way. With nursing education continuously advancing, nurses are not just caring for the sick anymore; they are also changing the notion of modern medicine and health care delivery.

Charles Tiffin, PhD, Senior Core Faculty at Capella University, said, “Nurses are giving TED talks, publishing scientific research, developing mobile medical applications, and actively addressing health care policy. They’re collaborating with their colleagues, from social workers and oncologists to hospital administrators and public safety personnel. The field is growing, and so are opportunities for nurse practitioners, DNP and PhD nurses, nurse educators, nurse-anesthetists, and nurse researchers.”

In addition, Tiffin said, “New health care technology is also creating opportunities for nurses. More and more aspects of the profession are electronic: Test results, X-rays, blood work, and ordering medication. An array of new technologies [such as] mobile devices, electronic medical records, cloud computing, and teleconferencing, invite nurses to be digitally ambitious.”

Nursing education is not what it used to be, even more, nursing has become more complex in ways that we could not have imagined a generation ago. More than great caregivers, nurses are becoming great innovators too. A new generation of thinkers who want to be agents of care and innovation are in high demand in health care. The nursing profession is for the intellectually curious, lifelong learner.

However, amidst the innovation and advancement of nursing education, the job of a nurse is first and foremost a caregiver and advocate for the most sick and vulnerable members of our communities.

Improving Nursing Education

Health care today is continually facing different challenges as the need for improvement in technology, effective approach and quality health care professional increases. As the American population increases and the number of senior citizen swells, the presence of nurses in hospitals and other health care facilities is in demand.

There is a shift in the country’s health care needs which is now more related to chronic conditions like hypertension, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and diabetes as well as mental health conditions. This is due to the increasing aging population and spread of obesity in the country. Though it is known that chronic diseases are predominant today, our health care system is designed in favor of acute illnesses and injuries.

This shows that there is a need to make a change in nursing education. Nurses in the 20^th century are educated in a different approach and the teachings and lessons are more into caring acute illnesses as well as injuries. Though it is still vital, it won’t be enough in the current health situation of the country. The patient health needs are more complex today than it was before; therefore nurses must acquire a more advanced and focused education.

Nurses today must acquire leadership qualities, evidence-based practice, research experience, improved teamwork and collaboration abilities as well as competency in particular areas like geriatrics and community and public health. Due to the development of health care technologies, nurses are expected to master technological tools and apparatuses as well as be prepared for expanding roles. That is why nurses are required to get higher levels of education. They must be educated in new ways and approaches that best suit the health care situation today. New and emerging competencies in quality improvement, decision making and team leadership must be included in nursing education.

Nursing Fulfillment

There are so many good things about selecting a nursing career. Choosing a course in nursing education may be challenging but rewarding. The nurse assists individuals on a regular basis, and more often than not finds the job to be really satisfying. Nurses have the ability to select their particular specialty, doing work in the field of nursing or medicine that meets their preferences. Nursing offers many options for development into management, in addition to having more employment opportunities, even in troublesome periods. Nurses are compensated well for the work that they execute. Nursing can provide a chance to travel in different states. Giving the leisure to see other places and meet new friends.

Nurses are capable of helping individuals achieve wellness on a regular basis. Many individuals see nursing as a noble profession, permitting the nurse to deliver care to others. The job is often quite fulfilling. Numerous nurses find great fulfillment in aiding patients as they regain their own health.

The profession of nursing permits the nurse to select her own niche. Nurses can choose to function in most of the many nursing fields accessible, and can also decide to become certified in a specialty of preference. Selecting a career in nursing can provide opportunities for leadership, and lots of times, nurses find their way into management in large healthcare corporations.

Even if job prospects are gloomy for the remainder of the industry, the requirement for nurses never diminishes, giving the job strong employment security. Nurses will also be paid well for their work, with many registered nurses generating well over the median salary of the United States for full-time employment.

You can find a great many possibilities to the nurse, and lots of advantages to selecting a career in nursing. Nurses discover great happiness in their profession, and are compensated well. They’ve got unlimited possibilities for improvement, and are able to travel to work in new areas. If you are heading towards nursing education, it’s a noble and decent course to take.

The demand for nursing staff across North Carolina is growing considerably. But so are the limitations preventing access to the right nursing education. More nursing centers require four-year degrees for RNs beyond the minimum associate’s degree. But higher education programs are turning away qualified candidates for lack of space. It’s a nursing shortage with no simple solutions. And just over the skyline, the healthcare industry can see a trend of as many as 32 million recently insured Americans who will get into the system on Jan. 1, 2014, as part of the national Affordable Care Act.

Now, universities and nursing centers are working together to fix the problem for themselves. Health care is changing in many ways. In the future, nursing centers will be the last resort for the most seriously ill people. Nurses will cure a variety of diseases, help manage such serious problems as diabetes and even recommend medicines for many conditions. Greensboro’s Cone Health utilizes about 3,000 nursing staff across five nursing centers. And based on revenues or new jobs, it can hire hundreds of nursing staff every year. Some 65% of the nursing staff now at Cone has four-year higher education degrees, bachelors of science in nursing. Cone wishes to boost that to at least 80% by 2020, under suggestions from the national Institute of Medicine.

Cone has mentioned a decrease of death rates after surgery for sufferers handled by nursing staff with bachelor’s degrees and even individual fulfillment ratings are higher, said the center’s top health professional, Theresa Brodrick, RN, Ph.D., executive vice president and primary nursing official for Cone Health. But getting that nursing education is not simple. Students have two routes to become certified nurses: They can start out in a four-year program without a nursing certificate or they can get into an associate’s level system at a community college. Both are extremely competitive. In some cases only 50% of candidates are accepted. Another program that allows a nurse to earn a bachelor’s degree may provide more nursing staff with bachelor’s degrees.