Goals Of Professional Socialization

Nurses actively preserve the dignity of people through practiced kindness and respect for the vulnerability and powerlessness of people in their care… This vulnerability creates a power differential in the relationship between nurses and persons in their care that must be recognised and managed.7 A diagram representing a continuum of professional behaviour provides a picture of therapeutic versus non-therapeutic behaviour in the relationship between the nurse and the persons in their care.8

In today’s healthcare system, nursing is a challenging field as a result of rapid technological advances and changes in healthcare policies. As a dedicated nursing professional, with a great passion for learning, I strive to stay on top of these changes. I am determined to increase my knowledge to be an instrumental part of providing quality healthcare. The demands of nursing are high; however the rewards are even higher. Nursing requires both a supreme understanding of the science of health, and a caring bedside manner befitting only those who seek a position of such a personal involvement in the well-being of a patient. Academically, I will put forth all of

The need for continuing education in nursing has been accentuated in response to rapidly changing health care environment. Expanding knowledge by pursuing higher education allows nurses to enlarge one’s practice. Furthermore, higher education in nursing has been shown that a nurse’s level of education can become a critical factor to the patient-centered quality of care. This essay describes increased demand for higher education in nursing and emphasizes the necessity of continuing education to provide optimum patient care in various setting.

Registered nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system, and make up the largest number of healthcare professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) “The employment rate for registered nurses is expected to grow by 16% between 2014 and 2024”. This is more than double the average rate of growth for a profession. The rapid growth rate can be attributed in part to better management of chronic diseases and the baby boomer generation. The growth in the nursing profession is paramount, however the demographics of the nursing population does not mirror the demographics of the population served.

Over the past few decades, many drastic changes occurred in U.S health care delivery.   Our current healthcare trends demand nurses to take more active role in the health care decisions in hospital setting, long term care setting and in community healthcare setting. Since “nursing is based upon a body of knowledge that is always changing with new discoveries and innovation” Potter and Perry (2005), nursing profession is compelled to grow from being just a traditional bedside nurse. IOM’s future of nursing report which is released in 2010 calls nurses to be “more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce”.

The Carnegie Foundation reports that nurses today “are undereducated for the demands of practice” (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2009, ¶ 17). Education of the ADN centers around the hands-on skills needed to care for a patient at bedside and less on the scientific theories that allow the holistic treatment of a patient. A report by the Milbank Memorial Fund in 2001 reports that nurses educated at the ADN level have a higher incidence of mistakes made while performing their duties (Rosseter, 2011, ¶ 24). Registered nurses who graduate with the two year degree lack research skills, leadership and managerial skills as well as informatics needed to deliver quality medical care within today’s health care system (Orsolini-Hain & Waters, 2009, p. 269).

However, stakeholders like the ANA and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) continuously demand higher education for health care professionals to meet the high demand and the complexity of our health care system today. For an example; the ANA highly encourages for all registered nurses to achieve a bachelor's degree.

214) “The ACA and the need for APRNs, nurse faculty, and nurse researchers would have increased dramatically under any scenario.” (L R Cronenwett [RWJF Iniative on the Future of Nursing], 2010, table 1). “Not only must schools of nursing build their capacity to prepare more students. Nursing need to focus on fundamental improvements in the delivery of nursing care to improve patient safety and quality is key.” (IOM, 2010, p. 208)

Due to innovations in technological tools and information management systems while collaborating and coordinating care with other health professionals, nurses have been called upon by the IOM committee to acquire higher levels of education to help them meet the needs of the population. The educational systems to prepare nurses for the work force today, needs to be geared towards community settings like primary care, public health, and long-term care. Nursing curricula in schools, need to be reviewed, updated, and adaptive enough in science, technology, research, and rich fundamental concepts that will enhance decision making skills, involving dynamic clinical situations in all settings to meet the ever changing needs in health care according to the IOM committee.

Attaining a high level of education will improve the healthcare system only if nurses are fully utilizing their knowledge and abilities. Many times nurses face challenges in exercising their abilities and knowledge due to institutional policies or government regulations,

There needs to be more emphasis on community health, long-term care, and coordination of care. In addition, the curriculum should include more leadership, systems thinking, and quality improvement. The IOM also recommends having incentives for nurses who wish to achieve higher levels of education such as tuition reimbursement, expansion of grants and loans, and more scholarships. As the number of students is expected to increase, educational institutions need to hire and retain faculty by creating competitive salaries and benefits. The IOM suggests doubling doctoral level nurses by 2020 (Institute of Medicine, 2010). The committee further encourages life long learning in order for nurses to practice to their fullest potential. The emphasis of improving the education system will produce a highly educated, well-rounded workforce who is equipped to effectively meet the health care needs of Americans today.

In today’s society, the medical field is constantly thriving with technological improvements and the growth of educated individuals that contribute to the well-being of others. Nurses make up the largest majority of the industry, and with that, nursing is the fastest growing occupation. Nursing is a job that allows people to not only take care of the sick but also to experience, learn, and further their interests of the human body.

Nursing is one of the most popular professions in healthcare. To become a professional nurse, one must acquire certain level of education, whether it is at associate or baccalaureate degree level. Once becoming a nurse a number of professional standards must be maintained to stay abreast with the profession. In that respect, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its 2010 report had suggested many recommendations focusing on the future of nursing. The aim of the report is to put forth recommendations that allow nurses to “(1) ensure that nurses can practice to the full extent of their education and training (2) improve nursing education, (3) provide opportunities for nurses to assume leadership positions and to serve as full

Nursing education has progressed throughout history from one of uneducated lay persons to the current standards we know today. As the career has progressed it has become apparent that there is a need for a skilled labor forced trained to deal with the sick and dying, “the provision of nursing care by American women…demonstrated the effectiveness of skilled nursing on improving outcomes for sick and injured soldiers” (Creasia & Friberg, 2011, p. 4). However, as the career progresses so does the need for more specialized training amongst nurses to help them deal with the changing atmosphere of patient care. The future

In November of 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health”. This special report examined the current state of nursing and changing landscape of the American healthcare system and offered recommendations for the future role nurses should play. The committee that released the report, Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, divided it into three parts. Part II of the study, focused on transforming the nursing profession in order to improve America’s healthcare system. In order to achieve this transformation, the committee recommended that nurses attain higher levels of education and training, practice to the full extent of that education and training, and assume more