The American Nurses Association’s first position on education for nurses

[JoseQuinones]

As I read through the discussions here on AllNurses having to do with education, ADN/BSN, etc. etc., sometimes it's encouraging for me to reflect that they are nothing new. As we all learned in nursing school, the profession has always had a huge amount of respect for the educational process, going right back to Florence Nightingale and her Notes on Nursing, which basically invented the idea of evidence-based practice.

The other day as I was poking around the library doing some research on an unrelated topic, I saw a citation back to this article. All the way back in 1956, the American Nurse's Association published a position paper on the importance of creating a world where nurses were highly educated professionals. This paper revisits that position and examines how and if it has been implemented. It is fascinating how decades later, we continue having the same important discussion. There is nothing new under the sun.

I had nothing to do with the writing or publishing of this paper, and it's not some kind of homework assignment for me. I'd love to know if anyone agrees or disagrees with its conclusions.

Here it is: Revisiting the American Nurses Association’s First Position on Education for Nurses