Transition to Professional Practice: Leadership

Transition to Professional Practice: Leadership

Nursing Paper

The Transition from Associate RN to Bachelorette RN: Leadership

The Nurse Practice Act decides the scope of practice of a nurse and is established by every state for a registered nurse. The Associate degree (ADN) program is commonly two years while the Bachelors (BSN) degree takes four years of education. ASN programs train nurses in the processes in nursing for planning, assessing, implementing, and calculating the care to be taken of the sick and injured. BSN programs train nurses for a professional role along with coursework in nursing science, research, nursing informatics, and leadership.

Over the past half century nurses have been assuming a more significant role in the health care industry. The passage of the Comprehensive Nurse Training Act in 1964 prompted the American Nurses Association (ANA) Committee on Education to study nursing education, practice, and scope of responsibilities. The study noted changes in the practice of nursing that included "major theoretical formulations, scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and the development of radical new treatments. It was after this study that the baccalaureate degree as minimum preparation for professional nursing practice was recommended. This was the first major challenge to ADN education.

At the same time Loretta Ford co-founding the nurse practitioner movement. Ford and Henry K. Silver were at the University of Colorado in the early 1960s. During this period, a shortage of family care physicians and pediatricians hindered the ability to provide healthcare services to rural and outlining communities. To solve this problem they acquired a small grant from the University in 1965 and developed a pilot project aimed at expanded the role of the nurse in the community. Afterwards they published their findings and created an educational curriculum for nurse practitioners (Ridgeway, NDI).

Graduates of the first nurse practitioners were nurses with a baccalaureate who received a certificate expanding their scope of practice to include child care, family education, and prevention care. Though it began as a pediatric specialty, need drove the practice to expand, eventually evolving into a master's degree program. Today there are more than 106,000 nurse practitioners around the world (Houser and Player, 2004). Nurse practitioners may now order, perform and interpret diagnostic tests, diagnose and treat acute and chronic conditions, prescribe medications and other treatments, and provide health counseling and teaching (Ridgeway, NDI).

Importance of Leadership

One of the most important transitions an individual makes during the course of their career is that from follower to leader. According to Ann Tomey (2009) exceptional nursing leaders are viewed as knowledgeable risk takers who were guided by an articulated philosophy in doing the daily operations associated with their jobs and are advocates for nursing and supportive of staff in the development of healthy work environments. The importance of the workplace in mental, emotional, physical, social and economic welfare of employees cannot be under estimated.

Research shows a correlation between the health of the workplace, the well-being of the personnel, and the health of patients. Leaders and managers who are impatient, defensive, and unsupportive, have poor supervision and guidance skills, lack control, or fail to recognize the contributions of workers enhance workplace stress level. Organizations with unhealthy workforces run the risk of incurring increased costs due to higher rates of absenteeism, presence at work but inadequate work performance, loss of productivity, work-related accidents, and high incidence of health-related litigation.

Conclusion