The nursing role is shifting from good cooperation with other medical professionals to managed care. This is because the most valued education and training are those that focus more on clinical experience in nonhospital settings.
The training, other qualifications, and advancement statistics indicate that the higher levels in nursing education emphasize on furnishing the nurses in areas that are somewhat outside the actual therapy (USDL, 2011). These include areas on psychology, nutrition, and management. Indeed, other qualifications involve personal attributes that promote interaction between a nurse and the patients. On the other hand, it is easier for a nurse who has nursing experience than one with technical savvy.
It is a fact that the demand for nurses is more than the supply and this trend is expected to continue. Job outlook statistics indicate that the employment of nurses is glowing such that employers are unable to retain nurses. Technological advances are playing a big role in expanding the role of nurses.
The more the nurses learn on the emerging needs, the more the opportunities to work in other related fields. Moreover, the scarcity of qualified nurses will continue as the aging workforce leave the profession and the failure for the education facilities to be sensitive about the nursing education (USDL, 2011).
A new fact learned from the nursing statistics is that the nursing professionals earn lower wages than any other medical profession in the United States. Looking at the earning statistics, the nurse wages is almost half that of the physicians. This might affect not only individual nursing professions, but the entire health care.
Now that the nursing fraternity is becoming the center of the whole healthcare system, individual nurses will have to work more. Under the same pattern of pay, individuals like me might consider shifting from employment to working independently.
Nursing education
Nursing education is facing new trends that affect both the curriculum taught, the nursing professions, and the delivery of the nursing services. These trends emerge as the healthcare climate evolves as a result of political and policy consequences, fueled by factors like the economy and new policies being set by sensitive legislature.
Rapid technological growth is triggering an evolution of the information systems in healthcare industry which brings about the need to expand technology training in nursing education. In the current information age, nurses must be prepared during their education to face the needs that emerge with the increasing use of technologies within healthcare facilities.
In addition, nursing education is required to prepare nurses for the complexities involved with population-based care. Allen (2011) observes how older people with specific medical problems are causing a new shift in health care delivery focus on population-based care and away from the conventional pattern of individualized care.
As the trend towards population-based care becomes more apparent, nursing education is required to provide nurses with interdisciplinary knowledge. Managed care involves more than just working cooperatively with other medical professionals.
Furthermore, a new trend emerges as the continued shortage of nurses, impact deeply on the quality of healthcare in acute and long-term settings. Hence, nursing education is tasked with the creation of awareness about this shortage, work to prepare quality individuals into the profession, and change the lingering discernments about the role of nurses.
Nevertheless, nursing research field has continually failed to provide valuable data on the provision of quality care (Judd et al., 2010). It is the role of nursing education to inspire nurses to carry out relevant research in order to improve health care outcomes. The positive change in the nursing research paradigm should be reinforced by nursing educators through continuous support of the research initiatives.
References
Allen, J., E. (2011). Nursing Home Administration. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Judd, D., M., Sitzman, K. & Davis, M. (2010). A history of American nursing: trends and eras. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
United States Department of Labor (2011). Occupational outlook handbook. Web.