Recommendations
As a student who pursues BSN in nursing, I fit perfectly into the IOM Future of Nursing recommendation 4 that states that the number of nurses with a baccalaureate degree should increase to 80% by 2020. If I finish my study successfully, I will be able to meet this goal together with other students who are currently pursuing a BSN degree.
As to recommendation 5, I am not sure that I will fit into the number of nurses who will receive their doctorate degree in 2020, but there is a high chance that I will consider pursuing it later after I finish my BSN. Thus, although I do not fit into this recommendation due to a time limitation that it places on me, I might still increase the number of nurses with a doctorate degree later.
Lifelong learning is a factor that affects everyone’s career and professionalism, not just that of nurses. Therefore, I plan to expand my knowledge by using scholarly journals, reviews of case studies, current research published in quality sources, as well as workbooks and tutorials published by other nurses to learn actively after I graduate. As stated by Şenyuva and Çalışkan (2014), nurses need to adopt lifelong learning so that they can adapt to ever-changing healthcare environment and developments that are characteristic of it. Furthermore, I believe that the nursing practice is also an excellent source of learning, as it frequently provides situations and cases that are both challenging and enriching. My aim is to study various approaches to the nursing practice more deeply (e.g., patient-centered approach, theory-based nursing practice, etc.) to determine which of such approaches is currently more suitable. I plan to transform my approaches together with changes in healthcare to ensure that my practice is based on recent research and evidence.
Level of Education
The importance of nursing education should not be overlooked as it directly relates to patient outcomes and even death rates. For example, Aiken et al. (2014) point out that “every 10% increase in bachelor’s degree nurses was associated with a decrease in” patient’s mortality by 7% (p. 1824). Thus, I as an educated nurse will be able to compete with other nurses who do not pursue BSN because there is a higher chance that my practice will be more effective, evidence-based, and beneficial both for the patient and the hospital. Furthermore, a degree also indicates that the job applicant is willing to expand her or his knowledge, learn using practical and theoretical examples, and improve their practice with the help of evidence-based medicine. With the rising shortage of nurses, such applicants remain valuable to the market and a potential employer.
As to the future of nursing, my decision to increase it, paired with other efforts of current students, is likely to improve the quality of practice provided by the new generation of nurses. They strive to make their level of knowledge and practice excellent, thus decreasing the likelihood of adverse events, mortality, and medical errors. On a greater scale, this education will directly target such serious issues as hospital-acquired infections that arise due to nurses’ lack of knowledge, wrong prescriptions or treatment due to human error that is likely to result in a lawsuit, and overall efficiency of care. Moreover, “improved nurse staffing in US hospitals is associated with significantly reduced readmission rates”, which mitigates the losses from penalties for excessive readmissions (Aiken et al., 2014, p. 1830). Thus, qualified professional nurses can not only decrease the mortality of patients in hospitals but also decrease business losses and increase the value of investments.
References
Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Bruyneel, L., Van den Heede, K., Griffiths, P., Busse, R.,… McHugh, M. D. (2014). Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: A retrospective observational study. The Lancet, 383(9931), 1824-1830.
Şenyuva, E., & Çalışkan, F. (2014). Lifelong learning perception metaphoric of nurses. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 152(3), 372-378.