NR 451 WEEK 8 DISCUSSION, YOUR FUTURE

Week 8: Your Future! Now that you are very close to completing this major accomplishment in your nursing career, what are your plans for your future? Please share your plans to keep up to date in your chosen specialty and nursing in general. What professional and nursing organizations do you plan to actively participate? Have you considered continuing your education to pursue a graduate degree? The end of our long road to BSN education is here! Being that I started out this new career late, as I am approaching 50, I feel proud of my accomplishments in nursing education. I plan to take some time off from school since I have been taking classes since 2011 and I have some educational debt. I have not ruled out the possibility of obtaining a master’s degree in nursing, but I am not sure how I will absorb the costs. Eventually my long-term goal is to manage a hospital impatient unit, which may require a master’s degree. Increased education will be useful only if I use the new knowledge to improve practice. My short-term goals will to become certified in med/surge and obtain a position as a patient care leader. Lesson 8 states, “that it is essential for nurses today to utilize current research and evidence-based practice to become change agents in their practice setting” (CCN, 2018). I will continue my role with the CAPE counsel to contribute to changes in practice. In 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report in which it recommended that the proportion of nurses in the United States who hold at least a bachelor's degree be increased from its current level of 50% to 80% by 2020 (IOM, 2011). 2020 is just around the corner! There are those who only see the reason for BSN is if you wish to advance in leadership and move away from the bedside. Given there is ADN entry level for nursing, there must be encouragement and incentives for nurses to continue education to obtain BSN status. Where is the compensation for obtaining a BSN? We won’t make any more money than a ADN. I strongly believe an increase in pay between ADN and BSN would encourage more nurses to obtain further education and to make changes in practice. According to Aiken (2010), “if we don't alter the historical patterns of nursing education, the country's nursing resources will be crippled for the foreseeable future — with repercussions for all those patient-focused goals.” After all, research has proven that highly educated nurses have proven better patient outcomes. ANA (2015) states “the dynamic nature of the healthcare practice environment and the growing body of nursing research provide both the impetus and the opportunity for nursing to ensure competent nursing practice in all settings for all healthcare consumers, and to promote ongoing professional development that enhances the quality of nursing practice.” References American Nurses Association. (2015). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice(3rd ed.). Silver Spring, MD. Aiken, L. (2010). Nurses for the Future. The New England Journal of Medicine. 364:196-198. Chamberlain College of Nursing. (2018). NR 451 Capstone Course: Week 8: What Does the Future Hold? Downers Grove, IL: DeVry Education Group. Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: leading change, advancing health. National Academies Press. Washington, DC.