July, 2010Denver School of Nursing NRS300 RN to BSN Transitions Nursing A Job or a Profession The Importance of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning

July, 2010 Denver School of NursingNRS300 RN to BSN Transitions

Nursing A Job or a Profession

The Importance of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning


An RN is an RN is an RN???

• All RNs take the same NCLEX-RN Exam.

• All RNs share the same Scope of Practice.

• RNs are often in management with an A.D.

• Many pay same regardless of degree.

• So, “Why pursue a Baccalaureate degree?”

• “Why go beyond a Baccalaureate degree?”


Technical vs. Professional RN

• AD/RN initially created as a “Technical” nurse.

• BSN has always been the professional degree in nursing.

• Equating the two risks nursing being seen as a job rather than a Profession.

• Educational Preparation is not equal!


Five Barriers to Professionalism

• Variability in Educational Preparation

• Gender Issues• Historical Influences• External Conflicts• Internal Conflicts

“We as nurses must work together to reduce the barriers to professionalization. Our first step is raising awareness of our barriers!”


Variability in Educational Preparation

• Most obvious barrier!

• No other profession allows practice entry below a Baccalaureate level.

• Many professions (medicine, law, physical therapy, dieticians) require post-graduate.

• Professional status and power increase with education


But is there a NEED for ADNs?

• Let’s see what the literature says:

Mahaffey, E. (2002). The relevance of Associate Degree nursing education: Past, present, future. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 7(2). www.nursingworld.org.


Pause The Video Now!

Please take a few minutes to read this article. After reading the article, take out a piece of paper and journal your initial thoughts about what you have read. We will discuss this article this week as an out of class chat! After writing your reflections, please restart the video.


Is There a Nursing Shortage & How Should We Resolve It?

• Demand for RNs is projected to increase by 40% by 2020; supply will increase 6%.

• #of new RNs graduating in 2020 expected to be 17% lower than # graduated in 2002.

• Workforce loss related to retirement & death expected to increase by 128%.

• If no shortage now…clearly one on the horizon.• -Cherry & Jacob (2005).


Are Students Choosing Nursing More As the Media Suggests?

• 1995-2000 saw a 26% decline in new students entering nursing schools

• This included 64% decline in diploma programs; 26% decline in AD programs; and17% decline in BSN programs.

• With the recession, more students are looking at nursing as an option; but not as a permanent career option (only a stop gap)-Cherry & Jacob (2005)


Many Nurses Are Leaving!!!

• Almost one in every two nurses 41% are dissatisfied with their jobs

• 22% plan to leave nursing within the year

• 1/3 of those planning to leave are under 30

• Only 9% of the RN workforce is under 30

• National turnover rate per year of RNs in hospitals has been running in excess of 20%


But is the Answer Moving to Predominantly ADN/RN?

• ADN/RN programs attract more mature adults to enter nursing as a second career

• ADN/RN programs attract more minorities to enter nursing as a career option

• ADN/RN programs attract more men to enter nursing as a career option.

• ADN/RN programs attract people from lower socio-economic conditions to enter nursing as a career option.


Legitimate Question

“How can nursing demand to be recognized as a profession when most of our RNs possess less than a Baccalaureate degree?”


Very Personal Issue for Nurses

• Division & anger often arise when discussing recognizing BSN as the professional degree.

• To progress, we must take personality out of the equation & compare nursing to other professions.


We Need Discipline Consensus

• “Educational diversity within nursing has slowed the progress toward acceptance of the baccalaureate or higher degree as the prerequisite for professional practice. Lack of resolution of these differences threatens to undermine nursing’s continued steady development as a profession”-Christman (1998)


What Does the Literature Say?

Wawrzynski, M.S. & Davidhizar, R. (2006). The bachelor of science in nursing degree as entry level for practice: Recapturing the vision in the United States. Health Care Management,25(3). P. 263-266.

Is the U.S. falling behind other nations in educating of nurses? What does this mean for the profession? For our image?


Pause The Video Now!Please take a few minutes to read this article. After reading the article, take out a piece of paper and journal your initial thoughts about what you have read. We will discuss this article this week as an out of class chat! After writing your reflections, please re-

start the video.


Gender Issues Another Barrier

• Nursing perceived as a female-dominated profession like teaching and social work.

• The number of men in nursing is increasing.

• It is unlikely the balance in genders in nursing will ever be equal.

• Outmoded thinking results in devaluing what is perceived as “women’s work.”


Men Are Not New to Nursing!

• Supplied most of nursing care in the 11th, 12th & 13th Centuries.

• Not until late 19th Century nursing became predominantly female


Nightingale & Men in Nursing

• Nightingale believed nursing was a respectable woman’s profession.

• She excluded men from being called nurse• Men were for heavy lifting and turning not

patient care in her view.• Being barred from nursing, when Industrial

Revolution began, men chose sciences and medicine as career tracts.


Schools of Nursing for Men

• First two opened in late 1800s.• Mills School of Nursing for Men at New

York’s Bellevue Hospital & McLean Asylum Training School in Massachusetts.

• Prepared men for psychiatric nursing.• Psych nursing required increased physical

strength and stamina not appropriate to “respectable” women.


Military Barred Men From Nursing!

• 1901 U.S. Congress created Army Nurse Corps for female nurses only.

• 1908 Nave Nurse Corps opened for women only.

• In 1941 only 68 of the 1,303 schools of nursing would accept men into their nursing program.


The G.I. Bill

• After WWII the G.I. Bill was created and men had funding to attend college.

• Many military corpsmen chose to enter nursing school programs in large numbers.

• After each major military offensive, there is an increase in males entering nursing.

• However, they still represent the smallest group of nursing students and nurses.


Unwelcomed/Unwanted?

“Male nursing students must face discrimination from practicing nurses, physicians, and the public. Female nurses often ask male counterparts for assistance in lifting and turning patients, emphasizing physical strength rather than professional expertise. It is all too common for male students to find themselves unwelcome in prenatal clinics, delivery rooms, and other settings in which male physicians have free access.”-Chitty (2005)


What Does the Literature Say?

Chung, V. (2001). Men in nursing. Minority Nurse. Retrieved from the Internet July 5, 2010 at MinorityNurse.com.

What do we need to do to bring more men and minorities into nursing?


Pause The Video Now!

Please take a few minutes to read this article. After reading the article, take out a piece of paper and journal your initial thoughts about what you have read. We will discuss this article this week as an out of class chat! After writing your reflections, please restart the video.


Historical Influences as a Barrier

• Historical connections with religious orders

• Historical connections with the military

• Unquestioning obedience =unfair valuation of nursing

• “Unquestioning obedience stifles the creative thinking and problem solving required for professional practice.”-Chitty (2005)


The Middle Ages & Religion

• Roman Catholic Church became central figure in healthcare.

• Changes were based on concepts of charity and the sanctity of human life.Widows and unmarried women became nuns and deaconesses.

• Female nurses in religious orders were not allowed to care for men or assist in OB/GYN procedures.


Nursing During the Crusades

• Military nursing orders called templars and hospitalers were founded.

• Monks and Christian knights provided nursing care.

• The cross they wore on their tunics over their armor became the symbol for nursing used on nursing pins today.


Evolution of Nursing

• Nursing has evolved to become a rich and diverse profession where care is provided in many areas.

• Nursing is still carried out through religious orders today in the way of parish nursing.


Fair Pay is Okay!

• Nurses, like other helping professions must strive to not feel guilty or to feel greedy for expecting to be paid fairly and appropriately for their knowledge, skills, and experience!


Nursing Salaries…Not What You May Think!

“When adjusted for inflation, nursing salaries have remained unchanged since 1991. In comparison with other professions, such as elementary school teachers, the difference of &4,400 between the average salaries of these two groups in 1983, widened to $13,600 in 2000.”-Cherry & Jacob (2005)


External Conflicts

• Doctors think nurses are encroaching on their discipline.

• Nurse lobbying ensures nursing’s scope of practice is protected & continues to grow.

• Nurses must strive for collaboration NOT competition.

• Nurses must demonstrate their knowledge & competency to gain respect & autonomy.


Internal Conflicts

• Nursing’s power is fragmented by dissension and by subgroups.

• Rivalry between levels of RN education weakens the vitality of the discipline.

• Rapidly increasing nursing organizations results in less collective power.

• Only 6% of 2.7 Million RNs in ANA.• Many RNs belong to no Professional Org.


Bringing It Altogether!

• Today, we have talked about the creation and evolution of the AD/RN vs. that of the BS/RN.

• We have talked about the professionalization of nursing as a discipline and barriers to attaining that goal.

• We will continue to discuss these things throughout our first week.


On-line Discussion Board

• As you know, this course remains under development.

• We intend to create an on-line discussion board to post our discussions during the week.

• Until that occurs, we will use our e-mail as our discussion forum. I will send you all an e-mail when I return telling you how we will get started with the out-of-class portion of this course.


Thank You!

• Thank you for coming tonight and for being so patient with us as we build this new and exciting program.

• I look forward to meeting you in our computer-based discussions this week and then meeting you face-to-face next Friday.

• Have a terrific weekend!

Documents

July, 2010Denver School of Nursing NRS300 RN to BSN Transitions Nursing A Job or a Profession The Importance of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning