Nursing in the next 10 years

lkwashington · Dec 23, 2010

I think to work in a hospital clinical setting you would have to earn you BSN due to the Magnet status of hospitals. If you look on most jobs now they either want experience or requires a BSN. I can see you earning an ADN the facility giving you two years to get your BSN if not you would have to find another job. I am just throwing out some possibilities. If you are working at a job that you dont like I would advise a person to think four or five times before leaving because it is so hard finding jobs these days stated by other posters. Me personally would not be cocky, I would stay on pins and needles because nothing is guaranteed in life.

Ellekat · Dec 23, 2010

I believe that nurses SHOULD have a BSN and that gradually we will see that change. If most computer charting is like ours, I see the nurse getting further and further from the bedside. I've found that in the last three years I've moved from the bedside to being in front of a computer or on the telephone most of the time. We are beginning to be treated like fast food workers-sent home if the census has been down for an hour, called back when it gets busy. There is no perceived value in our role as nurses by the hospital administration. I see nurses as becoming pseudo-administrators; visible on the floor, but doing the increasing load of paperwork to a point that the bedside care is provided entirely by staff with minimal education and even less leadership. It makes me sad. It also makes me concerned; I have approximately ten years until retirement. I will be one of the patients being taken care of almost entirely by aides, with orders from a physician that have passed through so many people/computer programs that the intent of some of the orders will be misunderstood, misinterpreted, or lost by the time it reaches the bedside. My world will be controlled by protocols that don't take into account the differences in individuals, with testing that has been done primarily on white males. I just hope my daughter will be able to take care of me if the need arises; I don't want to be in the medical/social services system a second longer than I need to be.

GHGoonette, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2010

Robots will be used to perform nursing duties, a glitch in their program will cause them to malfunction and they will take over the world...

tablefor9, RN · Dec 23, 2010

Great question.

I don't see the requirement for entry level practice increasing to BSN, I'm sorry. The PTB have talked that move up for years, and it hasn't moved any closer. Now, I do think that we will see more BSN/MSN impact on clinical ladders, etc. I do think that the DNP will become a standard for advanced practice, and that as healthcare reform evolves, we will see more mid-level practitioners taking on more and more of physician functions.

From a professional development standpoint, I think we will continue to see a move toward evidence based care and shorter hospital stays, more home and community based care (read: home health and perinatal homevisit programs) to cut costs of care, so I think we'll be doing more of those types of education programs as well as keeping the medical-legal focus in the facility.

Lastly, Healthcare is big business. Costs are going to have to be cut, and staffing will be on the list. Flex time (I've already seen programs for RNs in our facility for 48hr weeks 42 weeks a year, summers with planned lay off) and low census aren't going away, but going to be more pronounced, I think. Also, the market will become more competitive, because media are still selling the story that nursing is the recession proof profession. And, as we see on this board all the time, it just isn't.

oramar · Dec 23, 2010

I think the cycle of bust and boom as far as labor market will continue. I have seen tight job markets before but none this tight. I have seen nursing labor shortages but I bet there is one coming in the future will be much worse than anything I have ever seen. That thing about the population aging is not going to go away. I think the expense of caring for baby boomers is going to change health care in a way that some of us would find unethical at the moment.

lkwashington · Dec 23, 2010

Robots will be used to perform nursing duties, a glitch in their program will cause them to malfunction and they will take over the world...

Some facilities has robots from pharmacy to bring meds to the floor. So the technology is not far behind.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2010

You haven't heard? Nurses are all being outsourced to India. Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Espanol.

Trauma Columnist · Dec 23, 2010

I agree - great question.

I think all nurses will be focusing more on the business end of health care. We're going to have to in order to survive. I see more of us becoming politically active - again we're going to have to.

Don't see the BSN as a requirement for entry level - heck they've said that at least since the 70's!

I think there will be more of a need for mid-level providers: NPs, CNSs (in states where they are APNs), CRNAs. We have proven that we are cost effective and provide good care.

Few nurses will auto-retire at 65 - I think many of us will use education as a means to switching jobs into something less physically stressful.

Preeps · Dec 23, 2010

I agree they want nurses to have more education-BSN minimum. But at my place of employment they have us doing more manual labor-tech jobs. Getting rid of techs completely. In fact we are required to empty trash and linen bins on our floor before we leave. Seriously how many other jobs that require BSNs are emptying linen and trash before the "shift" ends? lol.

But I also agree that one should hold tight to their jobs and appreciate them because from what is happening in my city the field is going to be flooded with new nurses ready and willing to work!

We have nursing students every week on our floor who are in the advanced program where they already have a four year degree in another field and are getting their BSN in nursing because they can't find a job. They have degrees in teaching, biology, computers, engineering etc. These are very accomplished and educated future nurses!

It is great for the field in some ways but not so great in others!

ocean waves · Dec 23, 2010

Hello. As a retired RN, I have seen over decades many "cycles" of the status of nursing: times when there were RN nursing shortages and times when the job market was very tight; times when LPN's were highly respected and times when these hard working folks were "de-valued" and "demoted" in a preference to hire RN's. If the past is a predictor of the future, these "cycles" may continue. Regarding nursing and politics in the USA, I believe that current efforts for health care reform will eventually lead to a good universal health insurance plan option---this development may lead to more nursing jobs at clinics and hospitals in order to provide more care for the unfortunate 15% of our citizens who currently do not have health insurance. Best wishes!

rn4ever? · Dec 23, 2010

The economy will be better. Many RNs will retire or shift to another field, perhaps venture into business....there will be another nursing shortage. The Nurse Managers will beg you to work (6) 12 hours shifts in a week again…..and if you don’t feel like doing so, she will bribe you with a $500 bonus (or even say how much do you want so that you’ll stay?) so that you’ll do so. Just being positive :)