Hospital Care--Does Nursing Education Make a Difference!

How do we raise the standards of nursing education in the United States and at the same time increase the number of qualified and competent nursing practitioners? Does nursing education make a difference? Beverly Malone, CEO of the National League for Nursing, explores these questions in an article Choosing Sides in the January 14, 2010, version of Inside Higher Ed. She quotes recommendations from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the book Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation where Carnegie recommends a requirement that nurses have a bachelor’s degree before entering into practice. While Malone largely agrees with much of the Carnegie recommendations, she disagrees with the requirement that nurses have a bachelor’s degree before being able to practice. A major factor for this disagreement is due to the fact that “. . . more than half of all registered nurses are ADN-credentialed only.” With such a huge percentage of registered nurses to work with, how could this radical recommendation be implemented in a timely fashion without affecting the care of patients? All in all, however, there are some very intriguing key findings and observations in this book; and I highly recommend reading the book highlights; just click on the above link.

Whether or not practicing nurses should have more education than an Associate Degree of Nursing has been an issue of debate for several decades, but not much progress has been made in moving the ADN practitioners into higher degrees such as Bachelors of Science in Nursing or Masters of Science in Nursing. After all, it’s a big job—there are almost 3 million nurses today. But let’s try to remember—it’s our health care we’re talking about, and more opportunities for health professionals can lead to better health care for us. Watch for results from President O’Bama’s 2010 Budget Proposal for $125 Million for Title VIII Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program. And let us know what’s happening on your campus in the field of educating nurses.