Current issues in nursing graduate admissions paper

[RNinWI]

Hi all,

I need to write a 2 page paper on current issues facing nursing today and how we will have to change to address them. I have lots of thoughs about the shortage, level of education, etc but having difficulty pulling it together. Any thoughts?

- The key issues facing the nursing profession today,

- How nursing will have to change in the next 10-15 years to address these issues, and

- In what ways you hope your graduate education will prepare you to address these issues.

Thanks,

Marie

[Inspired By Silence]

I've always found one of the most interesting issues to be patients not looking up to us as professionals, but as hospital maids. Maybe you could use that.

Please share your essay with us when you're finished. I would really like to see it.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Another current issue nurses face today is not knowing how to manage their careers during a recession.

[tatara]

What about the uniform? white crisp uniform and cap, or scrub suits?

Not a very significant issue, I know.

[Sehille4774]

I would talk in their somewhere about the increasing acuity of patients...meaning the the average patient is requires more care today then they did 10 years ago and that trend is going to likely continue. hmmm what else....lots of good HMO related stuff. For instance, the average length of stay is like 1-3 days..a widowed elderly client recovering from total hip or knee surgery for instance only is covered for "X" number of hospital and home care days on their insurance but they really need more care then that and don't necessarily get it. This can increase their chance of complications such as infection. The babyboomers are going to continue aging which will put a stress on the current healthcare system's ability to meet every client's needs.--Not just in man power but also how to pay for this. This is a big problem for society unless things change. I feel that this is the current "big" issue in nursing (Allocation of scarce resources). It is going to be the nurse's role to be a good manager of those resources (and savvy to what other help could be available for the client) an excellent patient advocate and communicator to achieve the best patient outcomes. Nurses will likely have to learn to do more with less. Nurses should probablly expect a setting shift to more home care jobs as this will be a more cost effective way of dealing with the baby boomers.

(Based on stuff I hearing/reading this last year in nursing school)

Hope I jogged some ideas and Good Luck.

Which specialty are you going for anyway?

Sarah

RN, BSN as of 9/30/09 Currently wasting time on the internet cause I am unemployed!