Nursing Current Trends or Issues

Healthcare is one of the industries that is always changing. Ideally, everyone in the healthcare industry is aware that something new may emerge every day, implying that change is approaching. Every year, a new factor emerges that necessitates change among industry actors, ranging from regulatory and legislative difficulties to technological aspects (Schmidt, 2004). While there are several difficulties now affecting the nursing sector of the healthcare industry, nursing education appears to have a substantial impact and, as such, is a target for in-depth study and research. Based on such a consideration, this paper analyses the various aspects about nursing education as one of the major current trends, with a focus on the present and future challenges and a possible way to address them in ensuring the quality of service delivery.

Over the past 100 years, nursing education has made significant progress (Sandmann, 2012). Despite the fact that the art of caring establishes its roots back in the history, the current trends in nursing education represent a widely modernized, formal, and in no small extent the standardized approach that the nursing education has taken. During the earlier times of the nursing art, nursing education had its primary focus in enabling women with adorable intelligence and ability provide the necessary assistance to physicians. Such physicians played a significant role in determining the direction that nursing education took during the said period, thus shaping the field depending on the needs of the then time. One critical aspect during the early days of nursing was the belief that never would the nursing education provide competition to physicians (Delgado & Mitchell, 2015). From such a point of view, nursing education had its curriculum on the various courses that work to suppress individual feelings and thoughts, most especially in instances in which the thoughts and feelings seemed to conflict with the view of the physicians.

In today’s nursing education, the educators have within their reach some tools, techniques, and curricula models with various modern technological advances, which endure that teaching of classes and impacting of clinical knowledge are possible despite the distance (Lucita, 2014). Despite such developments, it is equally evident that challenges equally emerge with such developments. Such problems bring about numerous questions that one need to address to ensure that the education one receives indeed the intended and could work appropriately. The nursing field is one delicate field considering that it involves the provision of primary health care, as such demands the appropriate education to the right person with the proper application (Gulledge, 2012). Based on such developments, teaching effective nursing education’s current and future aspects requires that new nursing educators have in their confines not only the concepts to explain but also a mastery of the most appropriate methods with which to deliver such teachings (Gulledge, 2012).

Just like the healthcare is experiencing rapid change, so is nursing education (Bill, 2013). One critical aspect is the fact that the advancement in nursing education must conform to the necessary preparation for an active and collaborative future of the nursing practice. Indeed, the realization of such a prospect requires that while there are elements that the future nurse need to focus on, there are additional aspects such as the possession of clinical skills with advanced modern practices in ensuring that quality and effectiveness are met in the field. The prospects include costs, access and need of the healthcare practice. Previous studies on nursing education have revealed that while a bachelor’s of science in nursing is an essential requirement for nurses, it equally fails in addressing in making an address of all the future educational aspects as well as the clinical expectations necessary for the profession (Bill, 2013).

Nurses specializing in critical care require more than just the typical education before their graduation, considering that a majority of fresh nursing graduands usually work in essential care post-graduation. In attribute to such a situation, it is a growing expectation that nursing education equips nurses with the necessary skills necessary to function efficiently in a hospital setting. Besides, there is need to make a rapid learning and inculcation of new information of significant relevance to critical care nursing (Sandmann, 2012). Despite the numerous changes made in nursing education with the incorporation of various technologies, it is evident that modern nursing education still employs the traditional methods of teaching. Such old-fashioned methods involve lectures blending with web-based contents.

The current trend witnessed in the sector contrary to the common belief is that the modern teaching methods are indeed labor-intensive and equally faced with numerous challenges (Lucita, 2014). In spite of such problems, the use of current approaches to nursing education must continue and with some element of urgency considering the reality that new challenges and complications continue to emerge in the healthcare field. The nursing educators, therefore, have to continuously apply the easily modified and mobile courses that meet the demands of the current society. Ideally, in the present nursing education prospects, care must take the regulatory sphere in that the educators and the learners must meet specific accepted standards such that those graduating from nursing education to maintain the most appropriate accreditation in providing viable solutions to the current and emerging demands of healthcare (Schmidt, 2004).

With new emergences in the healthcare field, nursing education faces new challenges daily that create numerous gaps. While healthcare requires quick solutions because it involves protection of lives, the gaps provide opportunities for conducting further research and investigation. In the current state, numerous provisions are necessitating for the change of teaching methods for nursing education. However, little is provided on which approach to use in realizing such a prospect (Gulledge, 2012). Web-based information sources on the most appropriate and effective strategy that nursing education provides such information, however, to an equally significant extent, the best implementation mechanics remain the limiting factor. The available information on various provisions of literature seems to point to the direction of adopting the online curriculum as the most appropriate and effective for nursing education. The significant reason towards such a thought is the fact that nursing concerns are universal and in case there are differences then it is to a limited extent (Lucita, 2014).

Despite such thoughts, various discrepancies still exist on which means should work most efficient. Furthermore, there is information lack on the most appropriate way in accessing the necessary programs for utility and effectiveness. Nursing is a career that requires no trials and error, and therefore the education built on such a basis involves exactness without mistakes. Healthcare is rapidly advancing and thus waiting for that information reaches all the areas across the globe could be something never realizable. The web-based platform would in such a perspective provide the most viable means of enhancing the movement of information from one end to another.

On the current trends, the significant challenges faced in nursing education and by the extent to the nursing students is a full matriculation from the traditional-based programs to the web-based programs. There is a quick need for the new nurses to have all it takes in meeting the rapidly growing demands of healthcare. With such rapid advancement of healthcare, it is essential that there is constant re-assessment of the curriculum and programs for nursing education, which go in hand with recruitment and retention of the most qualified of personnel for nursing education faculty (Schmidt, 2004). Such an approach will ensure that the content provider for the healthcare is top notch in meeting the current and emerging needs in the field in providing that quality is enhanced in nursing care.

It is without a doubt that online education in various sectors is here to stay with us. Similarly, education is not left out, and as such, the more advanced technology gets, the more the need and necessity of having nursing education taking advantage of the online platform. The provision of an online-based nursing education provides for the flexibility of study. Thus, one can asynchronously view of the material in such a format that is most convenient to the learner for better understanding and for ease of implementation in improving healthcare quality (Bill, 2013). Ideally, online has slowly become an integral part of the nursing education in its modern state. One critical factor is the fact that the new entrants and other younger students going through the current system stand a better chance of utilizing the online courses, considering their development has been with the requisite of technology while those of the previous generation are most likely technologically naïve (Horne & Sandmann, 2012). Such an occurrence has its challenges, most especially in making the older generation of nurses feeling disengaged. However, there are better ways and mechanisms available in addressing such a problem. Full web-learning orientation for all nurses going through any form of nursing education, whether in the previous, current or even in the next generation, should be mandatory (Schmidt, 2004). Healthcare field is increasingly experiencing a technical and complicated clinical environment with the need for creation of the immediate need for the nurse to expand and fill roles for which they may not be prepared. Ideally, the nursing education as it was in the previous decade has devolved into obsolesce while a new generation is emerging, with its primary focus on the adoption of technology, thus gearing towards both evidence-based practices as well as concept-based instruction in ensuring success. Also, elements such as collaboration, leadership, teamwork, efficient development, and informatics are equally taking charge as some of the most effective approaches for use in ensuring success in the new trend of nursing education (Delgado & Mitchell, 2015).

Other challenges that nursing education still face include the not so new element of faculty shortages. The compensation aspects for the nursing educators is one big challenge that sees a majority of the trained educators opting for the other areas of nursing such as those in acute and clinical settings, where remuneration is considered well enough (Horne & Sandmann, 2012). Such an occurrence creates a gap in nursing education, most especially regarding trainers’ shortage. With such a deficit, the students are impacted in varied ways, one of which is the limitation of new prospects into the nursing program. With a lack of trainers, the number of those seeking to join the program equally reduces as a means of not overwhelming the trainers. Such an approach puts much pressure on nursing education as competition for the limited slots is heightened.

Despite such a view, there is still an appropriate solution to such an approach, which would provide a vivid solution. The most viable element is the assumption of certain aspects of clinical education by unit-based clinical nurse specialists as well as advanced practice nurses, such an approach would work most appropriately based on the consideration that instructional information will then be from a specialist within a particular set of the healthcare field. It is indeed an important consideration as it ensures quality enhancement and a significant impact replication on the skills into the practice (Delgado & Mitchell, 2015). Advanced practice nurses and nurse practitioners remain underutilized in nursing education, and it is believed from conducted trials that their application could significantly improve nursing education. The current significant challenges faced in their practical implementation include the lack of necessary support from the hospital educators and increase in responsibility without increasing salaries.

In conclusion, it is evidence that nursing education is experiencing many changes, with the most obvious approach being from traditional-based methods to web-based clinical instruction programs. While making such a transition comes with its challenges, there are equally viable solutions that would work in ensuring their success. There has been laxity as a means of ensuring such success, however with proper support and address of the critical elements such as remuneration; nursing education could stand the changes of time in providing the quality needed in delivering service in the healthcare field.

References

Bill, S. A. (2013). Current and Future Trends of Occupational Health Nursing. Ed. Occupational Health Nursing,

Delgado, C. & Mitchell, Maureen M. (2015). “A Survey Of Current Valued Academic Leadership Qualities In Nursing.” Nursing Education Perspectives

Gulledge, E. D. (2012). Current Trends in Nursing and Care: Status of the Profession. Journal of Nursing & Care,01(04) Horne, E. M., & Sandmann, L. R. (2012). Current Trends in Systematic Program Evaluation of Online Graduate Nursing Education: An Integrative Literature Review. Journal of Nursing Education

Lucita, M. (2014). Chapter-06 Historical Development and Current Trends in Pediatric Nursing. Clinical Nursing: Concepts and Trend

Sandmann, L. R. (2012). Current Trends in Systematic Program Evaluation of Online Graduate Nursing Education: An Integrative Literature Review. Journal of Nursing Education

Schmidt, M. D. (2004). Implications of Current Trends in Nursing Education upon Industrial Nursing. American Association of Industrial Nurses Journal, 12(7), 10-12.