Nursing Practice Today

Nursing practice today is being faced by a myriad of challenges as a profession, which is alternatively affecting the quality of service provided to patients. This is an analysis of how nursing has evolved over time, the various similarities and differences between associate and baccalaureate graduate nurses, application of evidence-based practice to nursing care and a discussion on communication among the nursing practitioners and how they collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to supports safer and more effective patient outcomes.

Nursing practice has generally grown over the past few years, which is in response to the ever increasing population. This has become possible over time since more people currently have more access to education and training not forgetting the increase in government initiatives to improve services provided to patients and the general primary care. The large numbers of graduate trained nurses has improved the attention that individual patients are getting, which has alternatively improved the work environment (Staggers, et al., 2016).  This increase in nursing professionals has made it possible for them to be involved directly in their profession as well as in administrative and other community organizations. 

There is a significant difference in practice between an associate and a baccalaureate nurse. The latter has a more critical thinking ability, communication skills, knowledge and professional role (Zul and Denise, 2018). Nurses with associate degrees have more technical skills, however, there is need for them to advance their levels of education so as to enhance their professional expertise, increase their knowledge and abilities.

The ability of nurses and nursing assistants to recognize depression among the seniors in nursing homes and retirement homes is significantly low. The BSN- prepared nurses are in a better position of using a screening scale like the generic depression scale to improve their chances of recognising depression in the elderly. The ADN nurse need to do more research so as to improve their skills and ensure that they improve their role and capacity to handle mental health care patients thus providing in long-term care. Treatment and recognition of depression is a quality indicator for nursing homes (Zul and Denise, 2018).  However, the ability of the ADN prepared nurse and the BSN-prepared nurse to recognize that a patient is depressed varies. BSN- prepared nurses compared to ADN prepared nurses, are in a particularly better position of identifying and care for depressed patients in long-term care. 

An evidence based practice is of significance to nurses as it helps develop comprehensive skills, thus, ensuring efficient, quality care and safety of patients. Evidence- based practice can also be seen as a problem solving approach which ensures concise decision when attending to the patients (Robin, et al., 2017). The academic preparation of RN-BSN nurses increases their comprehension of evidence base practice, as it increases and articulates their conceptualization, and outcomes of the various needs of their patients.

Team-work is important since conflicts and miscommunications are inevitable within interdisciplinary teams. Teams where the working environment is of high-quality, the team should act as a buffer against professional conflicts (Robin, et al., 2017). Thus, positive influence to team-work and effective conflict-resolution ought to be provided to support safer and more effective patient outcomes. A variety of supervised interdisciplinary teams and groups are an efficient and effective alternative to end conflict and miscommunication. There should also be frequent encouragement and inclusion of reflection group experiences for both ADN prepared nurse and the BSN-prepared nurse, so as to ensure no one is left out (Robin, et al., 2017). The nurses should provide a good environment between them and patients as to ensure effective patient outcomes.

In conclusion, recently nursing practitioners who have been in the profession longer, have the fear that young graduates nurses have been taught a lot about diseases and infections, however, they have very little knowledge with regards to the practice of nursing. To express it in other words, they are often seen as being too “scientific” and do not pay much attention to the patient psychological needs. Thus, it is important to note that, despite their various professional capacities, collaborative practice and teamwork is necessary to raise the standards of patient care within the nursing profession.  This will also increase opportunities in various leadership roles in the community at large.

References

Robin, P., Sandra, L., Stephanie, S. & Linda, C. (2017). Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model and Guidelines. The Honor Society of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing

University of Athens.

Staggers, K., Gassert, D., & Curran, E. (2016). Results of a Delphi Study to Determine Informatics Competencies for Nurses at Four Levels of Practice, Journal of Nursing Education. 303-316,

Zul, K., & Denise, M. (2018). Career Outcomes of Dental Hygiene Baccalaureate Education. A Study of Graduates’ Professional Opportunities, Further Education, and Job Satisfaction. 818-828.