Todays Nurse Needs More Education in Complex Health-Care
Environment
Bevely J. Hays, Ph.D, R.N., C.N.S., professor of nursing and clinical
nurse specialist
Elizabeth Rudolph, M.S.N., R.N., community health nurse
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing, Omaha
Health care today is far more complex than even a few years ago. Care
is delivered in more settings. There are more advanced health care technologies.
And infections have re-emerged that were once thought to be conquered by
antibiotics.
Nurses, central figures in quality health care, need the right education
to handle the more complex requirements of the current health care environment.
For example, older Nebraskans have multiple health problems like diabetes
or congestive heart failure but have limited available help because their
grown children live at a distance. For these individuals, nurses with the
right education can serve as case managers to help them problem solve and
get the care they need and establish a routine that will diminish their
chances of health care crises.
What is needed today isnt simply more registered nurses, but more registered
nurses with the right education mix to handle the complex requirements
of todays health care. Todays nurses in all settings are increasingly
expected to act independently, work within interdisciplinary care teams,
and supervise others.
Nurses with both bachelors and masters degrees are needed to care
for patients and to provide leadership in designing health care programs
that address the health needs of today. Bachelors programs emphasize
leadership, patient education, case management, and care across a variety
of acute and outpatient settings. Nurses with masters degrees are prepared
as advanced practice nurses as nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists
who can work in acute and community settings.
Nurses with graduate education have a broader view of the health care
system and refined analytical skills needed to foster solutions to the
challenges of establishing new programs that are needed within Nebraskas
rural communities (e.g. senior meals) or managing transitions from acute
care to home care (e.g. shorter hospitalizations create new demands for
skilled care and support services).
Todays health care delivery system requires masters-prepared nurses
who have an understanding of health care at a system level and who can
identify related issues for the health delivery problems we face.
Nurses are needed who can take a leadership role on interdisciplinary teams,
advocate for patient needs, and identify policy changes to foster the meeting
of health needs.
A recent national report has urged that at least two-thirds of the nurse
workforce hold bachelors degrees or higher by 2010. The University
of Nebraska Medical Center is helping to meet this need through its four
campuses across the state and a renewed commitment to delivery of bachelors,
masters, and doctoral education to nurses in all regions of the state.
Nurses across Nebraska can now earn their degrees with little travel
to our campuses. University of Nebraska Medical Center faculty and
staff have developed many courses for the internet or other distance delivery
modes and are putting the supports in place for delivery close to the nurses
home. This will help the citizens of Nebraska meet the health needs of
the new century.
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