Evolution of Nursing Discussion Responses

please answer to this DQ within 150-200 words.

Sara Kunz (dq1)

Nursing is a constantly evolving profession. There is no way around it. This is a good thing, but it can also present challenges. With changes in technology, advances in education, and the use of evidence-based practice, nursing care is completely different now than it was 100, 50, 20, even 10 years ago. Nurses are required now to expand their horizons and learn new skills, learn about technology that they might not be comfortable with, and hold higher responsibilities than they once did. According to the Institute of Medicine (2011), “an improved education system is necessary to ensure that the current and future generations of nurses can deliver safe, quality, patient-centered care across all settings, especially in such areas as primary care and community and public health”. This means nurses must take on more responsibility, more education, and more training than they once had to because their role is expanding, and we are using new ways to practice and that involves constantly learning and growing. Things are completely different in the 21^st century than they were in the 20^th century. For example, we have a better understanding of the transmission of infection. We have precautions now that protect both us and our patients and that understanding was not there in the 21^st century the way it is now. As things constantly change around us, we must be able to adapt to the changes that come with an increasingly complex healthcare system. “Professions were identified not only for having great knowledge but also for doing something important with that knowledge that made a difference in the world” (Stolley, 2000).

References

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. 1, Key Messages of the Report. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209881/

Stolley, J. M., Buckwalter, K. C., & Garand, L. (2000). The Evolution of Nursing Research. Journal of the neuromusculoskeletal system: JNMS : a journal of the Ameri

DQ responds within 150-200 words

Angela Vilasi (dq1)

The role of an advanced registered nurse bridges the gap between a registered nurse and a nurse seeking to grow academically and professionally. The proliferation of advanced registered nurses has been influenced by a multitude of factors including, but not limited to, goals of improving quality healthcare, making healthcare services more affordable for disadvantaged populations, the need for specialists, and the ever-growing geriatric population. The last two reasons mentioned work in tandem. The demand for nurse specialists is at an all-time high due to the “rise in chronic disease among Americans and significantly so among older Americans” (Salmond, 2017). Our aging population and the complexity of the chronic diseases and conditions we see today requires specialized quality care that advanced practice nurses are experts at providing.

The professional roles that stem from the umbrella term of advanced practice registered nurses, or APRNs, have greatly developed in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. It appears that in many cases, these roles were born out of a need that physicians could not fill because there were not enough of them or because it involved specialized care that they were not trained to provide. APRNs “can be used to address the primary care shortage and free physicians to care for more complex cases requiring their expertise” (Reinhard, n.d.). As nurses receive higher education and training, our scope of practice expands, which is why defined roles for certain positions can become confusing, even among nurses.

References

Reinhard, S., & Hassmiller, S. (n.d.). The Future of Nursing: Transforming Health Care. Retrieved from https://www.advanced-care.us/the-future-of-nursing…

Salmond, S. W., & Echevarria, M. (2017). Healthcare transformation and changing roles for nursing. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC52664…

DQ response with 150-200 words

Sara Kunz: DQ 2

After reading all of the recommendations to transform the nursing profession, the two that I found that would be the most important to me are, first, ensuring that nurses continue their education and learning, and second, expanding opportunities for nurses to lead and collaborate with all members of the healthcare team (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The reason I chose continuing education for nurses as the first critical point is that, from my own experience, I have seen how quickly things are changing. For example, during the time of Florence Nightengale, her goal was to keep things as clean as possible. According to Karimi and Masoudi (2015), “the Florence interventions were simple. She tried to provide a clean environment. She provided medical equipment, clean water, and fruits. With this work, the mortality rate decreased from 60% to 42% and then to 2.2%”. In the 21^stcentury, we cannot only keep things clean but we can sterilize things. We have such a better understanding of the spread of disease and treatment for disease than we did in the 20^th century. I have worked on the same floor for two years and in those two years, our charting system has changed, bar-code scanning has changed, Code algorithms have changed, medications and the protocols have changed, safety plans have changed, and my list could go on. Just in two short years so much has changed. If we aren’t constantly expanding our knowledge and participating in the continuation of education, we are going to be unsafe in our practice. It is of utmost importance that we stay current and up-to-date with the most recent recommendations on an array of matters and subjects, to keep not only our patients safe but ourselves as well.

The second recommendation I felt was very important was that nurses should have the opportunity to have leadership roles and be included in the collaboration of the healthcare team. As nurses, I feel like we are the ones that get the best picture of where our patients are and what they need because we are so hands-on with our patients. We can give so much insight and information from our standpoint that people who do not see the patient have. It is critical that nurses be involved and be a very active and respected role in the collaboration of disciplines because we are typically the ones who best understand the situations of our patients. I do agree that the role of the nurse is evolving and we as nurses must be constantly willing to adapt and adjust to change and expand our knowledge base.

References

Karimi, H., & Masoudi Alavi, N. (2015). Florence Nightingale: The Mother of Nursing. Nursing and midwifery studies, 4(2), e29475. https://doi.org/10.17795/nmsjournal29475

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209880/doi: 10.17226/12956