Nursing
is widely accepted as one of the most important professions in healthcare.
Nurses are patient-facing, meaning they are the first people you are likely to
see when you visit a hospital. They are also the backbone of our healthcare
systems, and they play a massive role in the development of healthcare and
treatment solutions. Although many nurses still work in similar environments to
the ones they used to in past decades, there have been a lot of changes in the
field, particularly in nursing practice and education. There are also many
changes coming to the profession in the future. This article will examine changes
that have occurred in the field in the past and see which trends will keep
impacting the profession into the future.
Changes in Education
As changes in nursing practice
pointed to the inevitability of changing the way nurses are educated, nursing programs
had to adjust how nursing is practiced. This led to a demand for highly
educated nurses, and this led to the development of the Associate’s Nursing
Degree. Although this degree has been popular for decades, its popularity and
marketability are fading in favor of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
Nurses who want to go even further
also have the option of enrolling in a master's or doctorate-level degree in
nursing and various nursing specializations. Many of these advanced degrees
have led to numerous opportunities in consulting, research, and academia.
Postgraduate degrees are offered
by accredited schools and are ideal for nurses who want to meet the rigorous
academic, skill, and experience requirements of advanced nursing positions.
Many of these advanced degree
programs cater to the needs of working nurses by allowing nurses to complete
their degrees online. This means that a nurse can continue working while
pursuing a Masters of Science in Nursing, graduate, and start their own practice.
This is something that was not available to nurses 50 or even 30 years ago in
some places.
New Nursing Specializations
There are so many new nursing specializations that have come to
the fore in the last few years. These include specializations based on age
groups, where nurses work, the communities they deal with, and the patient
issues they focus on. For example, geriatric nurses deal with senior patients,
community health nurses work directly with communities and psychiatric nurses
deal with patients suffering from various mental illnesses or patients with
various psychiatric needs.
As the nursing shortage keeps
growing, nurses will be required to specialize in many other areas so they can
perform more tasks at once. We are already seeing this with family nurse
practitioners who deal with patients of all ages, different types of
communities, and patients with varied needs.
Technology
No industry can ignore technology,
and healthcare is one industry that has seen and benefited from an increase in
the use of technology and technological advancements. In nursing, patient
records have shifted from clunky filing cabinet systems to digital systems.
This has increased the reliability of these records. It is harder to make
mistakes when using digital records and they have improved access to the
correct records by all healthcare professionals.
There have also been advancements
in other areas such as patient monitoring, wearable technology, smart beds, and
apps that now help nurses do their jobs better and make their jobs easier, too.
The technological penetration into
healthcare has also led to the need for nurse training to fully take advantage
of these developments, with new nursing programs even incorporating training
that helps new nurses get up to speed on these emerging tools even before they
start practicing.
Changing Healthcare Provision
Channels
Telemedicine is not an emerging
technology that nurses should be up to date on, but it is changing the way
patients receive care especially in intensive care units. ICUs with increased
telemonitoring see increased efficiency in the monitoring of various patient
needs and states, including unstable physiological statuses, vital signs, and
medical management. Telemedicine is also helping enhance patient safety,
preventing falls and injuries in the wards, and detecting arrhythmias and other
serious patient complications.
Another reason why Telemedicine is
one of the most significant technological additions to nursing and healthcare
as a whole is that it enables nurses to fill healthcare voids. This is
especially true in remote and rural areas that previously had little to no
access to healthcare. The ability to consult with nurse specialists regardless of
where a patient might be located ensures they get the right treatment and care
promptly. This has also helped nurses keep doing their best work without having
to be transferred many miles away.
Increasing Emphasis on
Evidence-Based Practice
As more healthcare institutions
transition to patient-based care, there has been a lot of increasing emphasis
on evidence-based care. Evidence-based care integrates research evidence,
nurses’ clinical experience, and expertise as well as patient references to
ensure patients receive the best care possible. By encouraging a
problem-solving approach to nursing care, evidence-based practices encouraged
the provision of individualized healthcare, and this is what leads to better
patient outcomes.
There
are many benefits associated with evidence-based nursing practice including
improved patient safety, better outcomes, lower mortality, reduced strain on
healthcare systems due to a decrease in healthcare utilization, and reduced
cost for both patients and healthcare institutions.
Leadership Roles
Nurses
used to be viewed as physicians’ helpers. Nurses are now much more respected,
with the expectations placed upon them, their responsibilities, as well as their
roles changing alongside the positions they now hold.
Nurses
are now highly regarded as primary players in healthcare, doing their part to
form treatment strategies, ensure the health of the communities they serve in,
run their practices, advocate for patients, and play a role in formulating
regulations that govern patient care.
Additionally,
nurses are playing a crucial role in addressing the nursing shortage plaguing
the world. Advanced nursing practitioners are at the forefront of the change to
patient-centered care as well as teaching and mentoring future nurses.
Additional Responsibilities
In
addition to their primary roles as health care providers, nurses now have
responsibilities they did not have before. In the past two decades or so, there
has been a shift to nurses doing community health screening, individual patient
screenings and even getting involved in preventative care. All of these have
changed not only how nurses work, but also how they interact with their
patients.
Nurses
are involved in medication management where they are helping patients learn the
best way to take their medications. A good example is patients with chronic
illnesses who need daily injections. Nurses can teach family members to do
these injections instead of having their loved ones visit the hospital.
Career Opportunities Outside
Traditional Healthcare Settings
In
the past, nurses were expected to practice in healthcare facilities and under
the supervision of senior nurses and physicians. With advanced degrees and specializations,
nurses now have many more career opportunities outside the hospital. Think
about the family nurse practitioner who can open their
practice or the travel nurse who can work anywhere in the world as long as they
have the right credentials.
Nurses
are also working in hospital-like settings outside the hospital. Assisted care
living and nursing homes have grown in popularity over the past few years, and
all these facilities need qualified, registered, specialized nurses to take
care of their residents. Even though much of what nurses do at these facilities
is similar to what they would do in a hospital care setting, it is an additional
career opportunity that nurses now have that they did not have in the past.
There
are also increasing opportunities for full career autonomy. Depending on where
a nurse practices, they are allowed to work with the same autonomy as a
physician. In their roles as nurse practitioners, they can administer drugs,
make diagnoses, run tests, and much more. This level of autonomy has not only
opened additional career doors for nurses but has also helped bring healthcare
closer to the masses.
Going Beyond Healthcare
Nurses,
especially those who hold advanced degrees, now have the opportunity to work
completely outside healthcare. For example, nurses can complete business
degrees and management classes that help them go beyond where they could with a
master’s degree.
Many
nurses are also working in record keeping, device manufacturing companies,
research companies, as patient advocates, and as school nurses. This has led to
diversified career opportunities in addition to better career satisfaction
among nurses looking to take charge of their careers.
Even though nursing continues to
be an integral part of healthcare, both nursing practice and education have
changed in the past few decades. Many of these changes can be attributed to
education and training, as well as technology. Better education has led to
complex and specialized nursing roles, with the same education helping nurses
transition to patient-centered care. Technology is helping make nurses’ jobs
easier, helping them work anywhere, and helping them take healthcare to areas
that desperately need it without moving many miles away. Indeed, nursing will
continue to change, and it seems these changes will benefit both nurses and the
patients they are for.
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