With the aging American population, the healthcare system is likely to face a high shortage of qualified nurses in the future. Consequently, the need to hire more nurses has been acknowledged over the years. However, this has not been able to take place due to the few numbers of professional nursing instructors. As such, the IOM reports the advancement of the education system, which will increase the number of bachelors of science in nursing (BSN) graduates. BSN graduates are more responsible, with better supervisory roles, hence making good leaders revolutionize the healthcare system. (Whitehead, Dittman, & McNulty, 2017) They will even enjoy several benefits such as more job opportunities and higher salaries. Lastly, BSN will also create room for achieving a higher level of education and professionalism at masters and doctoral levels, which are required for nurses to serve as primary healthcare providers, researchers, and nurse faculty.
Importance of the Evolution of the Education and Role of the Nurse to Meet the Needs of an Aging and Diverse Population
Advanced aging and the diverse American population require a high level of expertise in patient care. Most of the aged patients suffer from chronic illnesses which require high-quality skills and knowledge for better care outcome. Consequently, the diverse population requires nurses with adequate knowledge and skills, such as better communication and a better understanding of different cultural norms and beliefs. As such, registered nurses, and nursing associates do not have the necessary qualifications in providing better care services for this population (Kearney, 2019). Hence the need for better education to increase the number of BSN who have the right competencies and qualifications to take care of this delicate population. Further educational advancement also gives room for specialist nurses who are needed to take care of patients with critical illnesses.
Significance of Professional Development, Lifelong Learning, in Relation to Diverse Populations Across the Life Span and Health-Illness Continuum
The nursing profession is very challenging due to the continuous changes in information and ways of providing care. To keep up with the changes, there is a need to adopt a lifelong learning attitude for better professional development and improve the quality of care provided. Consequently, nurses encounter patients from different cultural backgrounds, different age groups, and diverse illnesses (Whitehead, Dittman, & McNulty, 2017). As such it becomes very hard to take care of such patients while relying primarily on the education that was gained before in graduate school. However, lifelong learning will help in keeping up with the3 current information and technology required in taking care of this diverse population.
Effectiveness of Nurses Managing Patient Care Within an Evolving Health Care System
In the current healthcare system, nurses play a new role in care coordination from numerous providers, managing caseloads of individuals with intense healthcare needs, and helping patients transition to other healthcare settings or into their homes. Additionally, the evolving healthcare system has allowed nurses to work as “health coaches” with effective results both in illness prevention and health promotion (Famure et al., 2020). Lastly, new paths have been established for nurses in emerging fields such as informatics, telehealth, scientists, leaders, and genetics and genomics, which have improved the quality and efficiency of healthcare provision.
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