Nursing Education
ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES
Instructions:-
Assignment 2:
Read “Reconceptualizing Program Outcomes” and “Leveling EBP Content for Undergraduate Nursing Students” for a better understanding of issues within curriculum development.
Select an issue within curriculum development that is of interest to you.
Write a paper of 1,000 words on the issue, discussing its affect and relevance to nursing, staff or patient education.
- Why is this issue a problem at your place of employment?
- What are your proposed strategies to resolve these issues?
- Use at least three to five scholarly, peer-reviewed resources less than 5 years old in addition to the course materials. Make sure that you do not use the two sources given in this assignment.
Prepare this assignment according to APA guidelines. An abstract is required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin.
Solution
ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES
Abstract
Programs
in nursing education have faced significant difficulties especially in trying
to prepare a large number of nurses to ensure that the whole population is well
catered. Especially, the nursing education has been redesigned to embrace the
concept of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). APRNs include certified
nurse-midwives (CNMs), the clinical nurse specialists (CNs), and the nurse
practitioners (NPs). At the place of employment, APRNs are a problem in that
they are underutilized. The challenge that has hit the workplace is that most
APRNs are not qualified enough for the task. Most nursing institutions are
transitioning to doctorates of nursing practice (DNP), and hence nurses without
a doctorate are finding that they are underqualified. In return, the same issue
has turned out to be a challenge for most nursing institutions because they do
not possess the necessary infrastructure and the necessary faculty to support
DNP programs. One of the methods through which the challenges as mentioned
earlier can be addressed is by helping the nursing faculty to come up with more
clinical resources aimed at ensuring that faculty shortage is no longer an
issue. Especially, the educational should find ways of strengthening
collaborative partnerships in solving most of the challenges.
Nursing Education
Introduction
Programs in nursing education have faced significant difficulties especially in trying to prepare a large number of nurses to ensure that the whole population is well catered. Especially, the nursing education has been redesigned to embrace the concept of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). However, barriers to ensuring that the practice has been embraced are significant, and therefore innovative methods and approaches to transforming the curricular as well as clinical education have been adopted. The fast-paced development of the concept of APRNs has lighted up the enthusiasm of most of the nurse educators who are ready to assist most nurses in realizing their full potential. In here, an analysis of the challenges that hinder the provision of APRN clinical education as well as the proposed strategies in ensuring the problem have been neutralized to ensure the future of health care has been transformed is put to detail.
1. Why is this issue a problem at your place of employment?
APRNs include certified nurse-midwives (CNMs), the clinical nurse specialists (CNs), and the nurse practitioners (NPs). At the place of employment, APRNs are a problem in that they are underutilized. The roles played by various nurse have emerged, with most APRNs availing cost-effective, high-quality care in most healthcare environments (N.A.M.B.O.A., 2013). Currently, most APRNs can only obtain employment on in primary care settings where they avail women’s health, mental health services, and obstetrics. Most APRNs are known for availing care aiming at preventing illnesses, promoting health, and improving outcomes of most of the patients (N.A.M.B.O.A., 2013).
Overcoming the challenge of underutilizing the knowledge and services offered by these nurses will lead to health improvement for many persons, especially individuals among the traditionally underserved populations (N.A.M.B.O.A., 2013). Other problems related to APRNs are internal, in this case meaning those challenges that exist within educational institutions. That is the manner in which these organizations prepare the ARNs for practice (N.A.M.B.O.A., 2013). At the workplace, such nurses are not in plenty and thus their shortage is the issue because the nation has numerous patients who would want to be served.
The other challenge that has hit the workplace is that most APRNs are not qualified enough for the task. Most nursing institutions are transitioning to doctorates of nursing practice (DNP), and hence nurses without a doctorate are finding that they are underqualified. In return, the same issue has turned out to be a challenge for most nursing institutions because they do not possess the necessary infrastructure and the necessary faculty to support DNP programs (McMullen & Philipsen, 2013). However, it cannot be underestimated that the development of and preparation of DNP does not offer a bright future for the practice. Challenges come at the time the society and these institutions are taking to transition. The development time causes a shortage of the available clinical faculties thus translating into lower numbers of APRN nursing graduates. According to McMullen & Philipsen (2013), in giving insight to the challenge, they assert that it was too early to tell whether the difficulties that accompany the transition process are going to have adverse effects on the quality of APRN education.
2. What are your proposed strategies to resolve these issues?
The wish of every nurse or any other health worker is to see that the settings under which they work are fostered with the development of an improved system of education. Among the elements needed to ensure that academic progression in the nursing field has been achieved include dedicated transformations and significant innovation. Some of the transformations can be accomplished and implemented at a national level while at the same time the nursing education programs can be in a position to implement regional and local strategies.
One of the methods through which the challenges as mentioned earlier can be addressed is by helping the nursing faculty to come up with more clinical resources aimed at ensuring that faculty shortage is no longer an issue. Especially, the educational should find ways of strengthening collaborative partnerships (Inglehart, 2014). For instance, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as the American Association of Colleges of Nursing have come up with recommendations encouraging educational institutions to work together and also with health cares and hospitals in the development of innovative expanding techniques for preparing nursing educators and nurses (Inglehart, 2014). Nursing education programs should be expanded. However, it is estimated that the nursing programs are somewhat expensive, but if the merits associated with them are well described, hospitals, educational institutions, and other healthcare organizations can be willing to fund their success.
In all aspects, the teaching, learning, and the nursing curriculum must undergo some transformation. For example, in the past, most nursing programs have been content driven, but the needs required by both the faculty and the students are changing along with those in the working environments (Inglehart, 2014). The revised curricula should lay emphasis on the integration and establishment of professional strategies and educational competencies that encourage nursing students to embrace critical thinking abilities and problem-solving skills (Inglehart, 2014). Such reforms will help institutions to come up with learning activities that are innovative, ensure student involvement ineffective evaluations, and also avail clinical practices that optimize the outcome of most of the students’ results.
Online course management should also be embraced to ensure that the challenge of underqualified staff has been addressed. Distance or online course will guarantee the creation of learning opportunities for the place-bound nurses who have an interest in becoming APRNs (Kleinpell, 2014). The use of technology and streaming media will also ensure that the faculty and the students’ engagement have been enhanced. However, challenges such as lack of contact between the students who may be completing their studies in remote areas and the faculty, for instance, inadequate supervision, the merits associated with accessing professional teaching online especially by undeserving communities far outweigh the challenges (Kleinpell, 2014). To ensure such programs and the affected students succeed, educational programs can come up with faculty hiring strategies, for instance, hiring APRNs living in student’ home communities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an analysis of the
challenges that hinder the provision of APRN clinical education as well as the
proposed strategies in ensuring the problem have been neutralized to ensure the
future of healthcare have been transformed have been put to detail. Some of the
challenges associated with the APRNs are their underutilization and the fact
that most of them are not entirely qualified to perform their task. Some of the
reasons why they may not be qualified are a lack of access to professional
education. However, some these challenges can be addressed. For instance,
coming up with an online course to ensure that APRNs in undeserving communities
can access education. Also, health institutions should work together to make
sure that the challenges are addressed, coming together of these systems will
ensure that they have a better and stronger bargaining power in dealing with
the challenges.
References
Inglehart, J. K. (2014). Meeting the demand for primary care: Nurse practitioners answer the call. National Institute for Healthcare Management.
Kleinpell, R., Scanlon, A., Hibbert, D., Ganz, F., East, L., Fraser, D., … & Beauchesne, M. (2014). Addressing issues impacting advanced nursing practice worldwide. Online journal of issues in nursing, 19(1).
McMullen, P., & Philipsen , N. (2013). The Complex Challenges Facing APRNs. The Journal of Nurse Practitioners, 9(9).
N.A.M.B.O.A. (2013). Advanced Practice Nursing. Fact Sheet on Advanced Practice Nursing , , 3.
