Nursing as a profession

Nursing is DEFINITELY a profession.

pro-fes-sion definition

Pronunciation: /prə-ˈfesh-ən/ Function: n1 : a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation 2 : the whole body of persons engaged in a calling

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Nursing has been incorporated into the Health Professions Act in virtually every province. The keynotes of these acts are self-regulation, defined discipline procedures (including publication of disciplinary actions) and continuing competence. Canadian RNs are uniformly required to complete a baccalaureate degree for entry to practice; the last diploma program for educating RNs in Canada closed at the end of 2009. This move was to meet the "long and intensive academic education" factor.

The Health Professions Acts have had other impacts; respiratory therapists are now attending degree programs and are regulated in the same way physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physio- and occupational therapists are. Pharmacy technicians are required to complete college-level courses, nursing attendants are required to complete formal education programs through career colleges and unit clerks are doing the same.

The move to an all-degree nursing education in the US has been coming for several years. There's a great deal of inconsistency between states and between programs: diploma, associate degree and baccalaureate degree programs are all still considered adequate for entry to practice. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of the programs, but there is a wide variation in theoretical and academic preparation on the diploma/AD side and a similarly wide variation in clinical skill preparation on the baccalaureate side. The best option would be a melding of the best parts of all roads to a nursing education, with solid academic preparation coupled with a strong clinical component.

Academia will always feather its own nest by suggesting that any group of individuals who have not been educated by a university cannot claim professional status. We in Canada have heard those arguments ad nauseum since the late 1980s and academia has succeeded here. The interesting thing is that 5 years after entry to practice, it's virtually impossible to distinguish diploma-educated from baccalaureate-educated.