Nursing Shortage

¶ … proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% in the next five years would be a great way to increase the pool of qualified nurses. Although there are many nurses that have received their baccalaureate, many have not. This rings true especially in other countries. Nurses are often the first line of treatment for a patient. They must have the mental capabilities to prescribe and treat patients. Now that doctors have an increasing number of patients, they need assistance in prescribing and patient monitoring.

This is a where a nurse comes in. If they cannot handle their job duties because of lack of training or lack of schooling, then that presents a dilemma. I personally want to earn my baccalaureate before I attempt nursing as this gives me a leg up on any competition and provides me with more qualifications. A doctorate is the same thing. This means that they would be a doctor, not a licensed doctor, but they would have the highest level of schooling a person could have.

Nurses such as these would make excellent teachers for the upcoming wave a future nurses. Nursing teachers are hard to find. They need both the experience and the doctorate to teach in a college/university[footnoteRef:1]. Without that extra qualification, many future nurses will miss the ability to learn from a practicing nurse. Usually these kinds of nurses earn their degree while working. I know that if I ever wanted to do something besides nursing, teaching would be an excellent way to do that. [1: Nazarko L.

Careers & Jobs In Nursing. London: Kogan Page; 2004.] 3. This lends into the next part, lifelong learning. Just as if it takes time to earn a doctorate, nurses need to work most of the time before they can earn enough money to pay for a continuing education. Sometimes the company or hospital the nurse works for pays for the nurse's tuition. This is very common and promotes lifelong learning. The medical scene, the healthcare scene is always evolving.

This means nurses have to be on their toes in order to remain knowledgeable and able to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. When a nurse continues to educate him or herself, they are able to continue the process of learning and growing as a nurse. If I get to a point where I feel I know longer have to learn something, then that is when something is wrong. 4. The current job market unfortunately lacks much competition for nursing.

Meaning there is a nursing shortage.[footnoteRef:2] However, just because there is a nursing shortage, it does not mean there is a high availability of great paying nursing jobs. One of the reasons there is a shortage is lack of adequate salaries and high caseloads. If I have additional schooling like a masters or a doctorate, I can show how qualified I am before I step in the door, leading to a higher likelihood of getting a better paying job.

There are many places needing nurses, but only the highly qualified ones make the.