The Future…and Beyond.
The medical industry is in a period of rapid transition. The technological advances that have occurred in the last ten years is astounding. One can only imagine what is to come. The rapid advances in technology along with health care reform and the millions of aging “Baby Boomers” is a heavy cocktail for not only the amount of change forthcoming in nursing. As the “Baby Boomer” generation ages and the patient population continues to rise, physicians are unable to meet the demands. Therefore, healthcare is relying heavily on nurses and the scope of practice for nursing is increasing. This emphasizes the reasons that the healthcare industry is pushing to produce better educated, and well rounded nurses that will have the ability to take on more responsibility in their care. This will be crucial with the shortage of primary care physicians as nurses will need to step in. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis estimates that by 2020, the U.S. will experience a shortfall of 20,400 primary care physicians. Furthermore, only 12% of American medical students focus on primary care, while 85% of nurse practitioner students prepare to offer primary care of family medicine. Lawmakers are discussing the expansion of the role of nurse practitioners to make them more autonomous and care for the inundating patient population. However, in order to fill the primary gap, nurses need more education. As the healthcare industry will increasingly rely on advanced practice nurses with MSN degrees to provide primary care for patients, hospitals are also increasing their standards and requiring nurses to have a BSN.
This only solidifies my desire to continue my education in nursing and achieve my MSN. Through my nursing school career, I have learned the importance and the value of knowledge, research, and evidenced based practice to improve and advance the nursing profession as a whole. I hope that I can some day contribute to our expanding profession as we work to deliver exceptional patient care. As of now, I have not decided what direction to take or where my true passion lies in nursing. However, I do know that whatever I do, I want to make an impact on the lives of my patients and an impact on the nursing profession.
http://blog.pharmadiversityjobboard.com/prepare-for-the-future-of-nursing-earn-an-msn-today/
