SmithaJose

Hello All, First of all, I must say I love this website with all the information I have about Nurses and the industry. Not only I am a nursing student (also have a degree in public health - epidemiology), I also work closely with the Dean of KU School of Nursing for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Something I always knew about the nursing industry is that we have a lot of nurses that will retire soon since the average age is anywhere from 45-49. What I didn't know is that in the next 5 years, we will have literally about a million RNs/BSNs/MSNs (combined) who will retire and we will need THAT MANY nurses in our communities across the country and abroad!!! What are we doing as nurses to help this situation? Personally, I have come across some nurses who aren't so much clinically oriented and really truly not sincere with their efforts when it come to patient care and delivery! Further we only have about 3% nurses in this country as WHOLE who holds a doctrate degree. When I look around the accredited nursing programs across the nation, I see curriculum's that are so tough to get into, and further nurses stopping with their diploma's and associate's in nursing. What will motivate nurses to go further to attain higher clincial ladders and/or for higher educational goals and career advancements, both to serve themselves and the communities we belong to?