By Ayodele Nwosu
Published on February 17th, 2014
For the past three decades, nursing has become one of the most attractive careers for men and women possessing a passion for helping others, and an aptitude for the medical care trade. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are the backbone of any modern medical facility. Professionals engaged in this trade have experienced wonderful opportunities for financial compensation determined by ability, performance review, and work ethic.
Unfortunately, nursing career salaries and opportunities have “thinned-out” because of recent economic conditions. It is now much more necessary for nursing professionals to seek-out and complete higher-level education, along with a stellar work performance to secure promotions, job security, and attractive salary increases.
The nursing industry in the year 2014 and beyond, will likely experience radical changes. Nursing professionals with a desire to further their advancement in the medical care staff compensation schedule will find it necessary to complete independent training courses and nursing-related study programs. Coupled with a full time obligation in a nursing job, further academic training can seem like a luxury. Every nursing professional should take note that there is an industry-wide mandate to encourage nursing staff members to complete certain degrees of higher education. This means, in order to achieve nursing positions with substantial salary increases and seniority titles in coming years, nursing personnel will have to complete academic programs equivalent to Associates and Bachelors Degrees in a specific medical field.
Starting in 2014, American nurses will be encouraged to practice their skills to the full extent of their training. It follows, that the more education and advanced training that a nurse receives, the more he or she will be required to provide in the way of nursing expertise. This is the main avenue for expert nursing staff to achieve higher rankings and better salaries.
-All nursing professionals should continually seek-out and enroll in continuing education courses that position the individual in a progressively-seamless career and trade enhancement program.
-In the anticipation of radical healthcare changes in coming years, nurses should wholeheartedly be engaged in programs that encourage members of the nursing profession to partner with physicians and specialized doctors in a wide range of medical needs situations.
-The enhanced education of nursing professionals increases the effectiveness of staffing protocols and hospital policy structuring. A higher-educated nursing workforce is a guarantee of a more efficient and detailed patient information collection infrastructure. In layman’s terms, smarter and more highly trained nurses help to create more effective healthcare facilities and regional patient care systems.
To supplement the thrust of these encouraging reasons against the pull to remain stagnant in a nursing position, the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing Report exposites a lofty, yet attainable goal for modern nursing staff members. The Institute’s ideal nursing staff situation would be to have at least 80% of all United States nurses possessing a Baccalaureate Degree in a chosen medical field by the year 2020.
To some, this seems like an unreasonable or unattainable dynamic. Anyone involved in nursing should take the time to evaluate the extra effort and hours they already give to their nursing positions. If those hours were somehow spent in academic study and practical higher level nursing coursework, it would easily equal the time and energy necessary to complete a post-high school degree.
The general public understands that highly-educated nurses with the desire to constantly increase their professional certifications and abilities, will obviously lead to a more vital and capable health system and hospital staff. All healthcare professionals should have the desire to become more versatile and educated in their trade. A highly-skilled medical staff puts patients at ease and strengthens the overall reputation of any medical facility.
The American Nurses and Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) have recently designed and approved new practice hours portfolio credentials that are available without standard exams. These credentials are given in light of modern facility and staffing needs, and with the exemplary participation in real-life situations.
The ongoing campaign to increase the certification of nursing staff will become more and more available to a wider range of professionals as the need for specialized nurses grows throughout the medical facility network. For nurses who are willing to continually increase their their list of credentials, immense salary and promotional opportunities will certainly become available in the next few years.
