Jennifer Kiaha-Raquino

Nurs 362 Discussion

Should a bachelors degree be the minimum level of education for nurses?
With this being our last semester in the ADN program the question of whether
or not to continue on our education and get a bachelors degree is on all of our
minds. In Cherry and Jacob (2014) they talk about a report released by the Institute
of Medicine in October 2010 titled The Future of Nursing: Leading Change,
Advancing Health that is calling for an increase of the amount of nurses holding a
baccalaureate degree in the workforce to 80% by the year 2020. The Institute of
Medicine 2010 talks about the patients becoming more complicated and nurses
needing attain more competencies in order to provide high quality care, decrease
morbidities, and decrease mortalities of the patients. The Institute of Medicine 2010
also talks about the expanding role of nurses with technology tools and information
management systems as well as collaborating and coordinating care in multiple
settings with the healthcare team. Nurses should not only learn as students but
throughout their careers as well giving them lifelong learning opportunities
(Institute of Medicine 2010).
So how do employers feel about this? In an article in Journal of Healthcare
Management by Pittmann et al (2013), because of the 2010 report by the Institute
of Medicine, most employers either prefer or require newly hired nurses to have a
bachelors degree. Pittman et al (2013) mention the Magnet Recognition Program
run by American Nurses' Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American
Nurses Association who gives out the magnet status awards. The ANCC are now
requiring nurse managers and nurse leaders to have a baccalaureate as part of the
requirements to achieve magnet status (Pittmann et al 2013). Employers are feeling
the push to have more nurses with a bachelors degree. Pittman et al (2013)
mentioned that some employers are using incentives for nurses to get a bachelors
degree such as providing tuition payments, career ladder programs, collaboration
between hospitals and schools, and flexible scheduling.
So what is the impact on healthcare professionals? So now the pressure is on in the
nursing profession to continue your education. This may be harder for some of the
old school nurses who are already set in their ways. But as technology is changing,
patients becoming more complicated, and so many changes in healthcare I see
where it is important to have lifelong learning. On another thought a lot of
education actually comes from on the job experience. As much as you learn in
nursing school and no matter how prepared or confident you think you may be that
first day on the floor as a nurse you quickly realize that there is so much that you do
not know. So a lot of learning does come from on the job experience. Also the cost
of tuition is rising which also make it harder for people to continue their education.
So how do nurses feel about this? A research was done by Altmann (2012) titled
Nurses Attitudes Toward Continuing Formal Education: A Comparison by Level of
Education and Geography. Altmann (2012) came to the conclusion that nurses who
have already began seeking a bachelors degree had an improved attitude towards

continuing their education. Most nurses did not have a positive attitude about
seeking a bachelors degree and felt that they did not need to have that education
to provide good care (Altmann 2012). So in order to get more nurses to want to
seek continued education maybe more incentives and flexible scheduling can be
done by employers. Maybe colleges can offer better tuition rates and offer
education on benefits of obtaining further education.

Altmann, T. (2012). Nurses attitudes toward continuing formal education: A

comparison by level of
education and geography. Continuing Education/ Nursing Education Research,
3(2).
Cherry, B. & Jacob, S. (2014). Workforce advocacy and the nursing shortage. In
Contemporary nursing
issues, trends, & management. St.Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Institute of Medicine of the national academies. (2010). The future of nursing
leading change, advancing
health. Retrieved from
https://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files
/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing/Future%20of%20Nursing%202010%20Report
%20Brief.pdf.
Pittman, P., Herrera, N.S., Katherine Horton, K., Thompson, P.A., Ware, J.M., Terry, M.
(2013).
Healthcare employers policies on nurse education. Journal of Healthcare
Management, 58(6).