Introduction
Lately, questions about the minimum
qualifications for practicing nurses have been raised. Concerns particularly
emerged when a research conducted by Aiken et al. concluded that low level of
training may have a stake in postsurgical mortality rate. Consequently, most stakeholders
are advocating for adjustments in the minimum level of education before one can
be licensed to practice as a nurse (Spencer, 2008). Currently, practicing
nurses are either diploma holders, associate degree holders or baccalaureate degree
holders. AACN-The American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the
organization of professional nurses both concur with a recommendation submitted
by NACNEP-The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice that
required the more than 67 percent of all practicing nurses had a baccalaureate degree
as a minimum by 2010 (Spencer, 2008). The response has been enormous because by 2004
the number of nurses that were diploma holders had dropped to only about 17.5
percent while the number of baccalaureate degree holders had risen to about 30
percent (Spencer, 2008).
Importance
of Baccalaureate Education
Baccalaureate degree training widens the
understanding of ADN- Associate Degree Nurses of issues such as management,
theories, communicable diseases and handling of clients’ concepts that are not
taught at diploma and Associate degree levels. The essence of baccalaureate degree
is not to undermine the importance of ADN as this forms an important base in
articulating nursing skills to all nurses. Changing nursing profession
challenges are forcing practicing nurses to return to school for baccalaureate degrees.
Some of the motivators that have driven return RN nurses to undertake BSN are
fulfillment of personals goals, access to promotion and desire to shift from
clinical works (Spencer, 2008). However, some practicing nurses feel that the
program is demeaning their previous education as most of the courses provided
to RN-BSN students are deemed redundant and need to be replaced with other
professional like courses. Although there are 628 baccalaureate schools, the number
of return RN students has remained at its minimum and thus begging questions on
the viability of the present curriculum.
Articulating
Nursing Training Programs
Urgent measures need to be put in place
to encourage more RN students to undertake baccalaureate degrees. Many states
have accommodated articulation process that encourages RN students to undertake
BSN programs. Articulation falls into three categories; personal, mandated and
statewide (Spencer, 2008). Statewide articulation aims at encouraging voluntary
enrolment of RN students through collaborative measures from educators,
legislatures and regulators. About 24 states are currently enhancing statewide
articulation with participation from even public institutions. On the other
hand 18 states have not embraced either statewide or mandate articulation and are
rather developing individual agreement which is mainly determined by geographic
regions and lacks consistency.
RN-BSN
Curriculum
Spencer’s
(2008) many states have not fully articulated these RN-BSN programs into their
nursing schools; the current trends have a few common courses. Currently, RN-BSN
curricula offer five categories of course; pre-licensure courses, bridge
courses, core courses, service learning, innovative courses. (p.310)
Although common courses are taught
across all states, there exist numerous differences in the core concepts
delivered in different institutions that need to be streamlined to ensure
consistence across the nursing profession. National League of Nursing has been
actively trying to establish homogeneity across all states; this process encompasses
incorporation of all proposed adjustments by RN-BSN students and other
stakeholders. One of the concepts under review has been cutting down the
programs completion duration to the minimum; most of the participants are no
longer youngsters and do not want to waste much more time schooling and to
retain them in classes, the RN-BSN curricula should be compressed as much as
possible.
Conclusion
Coming up with a curriculum that will
suite everyone’s needs is very difficult, however all involved stakeholders
should make urgent adjustments that will enhance the program’s popularity and
achieve the initial goals. Research has
indicated that nurses with education skills below BSN are not as efficient as
their counterparts that have trained beyond BSN level and it’s paramount that
more nurses achieve the desired level of competence. Spencer 2008 presents a
genuine argument that only reminds everyone the need for streamlining the
education levels of professionals with the requirements of their calling.
Nursing, just like medicine is sensitive professions that can help
improve/reduce the general mortality rate of the society. Although not everyone
will welcome the idea of RN-BSN program, the results from nurses that have
undergone the program are a testimony. This article and others that have been
directed towards challenging the concerned stakeholders should be taken more
seriously.
References
Spencer,
J. (July 2008). Increasing RN-BSN Enrollments: Facilitating Articulation
through Curriculum Reform. The Journal of
Continuing Education in Nursing. 39(7): 307-313
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