Ethical and Legal aspects of Nursing practice DQ 1
Please answer the following Discussion Question. Please be certain to answer the three questions on this week DQ and to provide a well-developed and complete answer to receive credit. Also, please ensure to have read the assigned chapters for the current week.
DQ 1: Case Study, Chapter 1, Entry Into Practice: The Debate Rages On
The entry-into-practice debate in the United States continues to be one of the oldest and hottest professional issues nurses face as we enter the second decade of the 21st century. It appears that little progress has been made since 1965 in creating a consensus to raise the entry level into professional nursing practice, although experts do not agree even on that issue. Your neighbors ask you for information about considerations for selection of an appropriate nursing education program for their child.
1. Your neighbor is confused because both ADN and BSN schools preparing graduates for RN licensure meet similar criteria for state board approval and have roughly the same number of nursing coursework units. How would you summarize the arguments for changing or not changing the nursing entry level?
2. There is current evidence-based research that explores the impact of registered nurse educational level on patient outcomes. What does the current evidence-based research conclude about the impact of RN educational level on patient outcomes?
3. Achieving the BSN as the entry degree for professional nursing practice will take the best thinking of our nursing leaders. What will it require in order to successfully achieve the BSN as the entry degree for professional nursing practice?
Chapter 1 Entry Into Practice: The Debate Rages On
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1
Entry-to-Practice Debate
1940s
Esther Lucille Brown’s Nursing for the Future
1965
ANA Position Paper
Orderly transition from hospital-based diploma programs to education in colleges/universities
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ANA Position Paper #1
Premises
Education in institution of higher education
BSN as minimum for professional nurse; associate’s degree as minimum for technical practice
Short, intensive preservice programs in vocational educational institutions for assistants in health care occupations
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ANA Position Paper #2
Two levels of preparation
Technical
Junior or community college 2-year programs
Associate’s degree (ADN); beginning, technical practitioner to provide care in acute-care settings, under supervision of professional nurse
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ANA Position Paper #3
Two levels of preparation
Professional
College or university 4-year program
Bachelor’s degree (BSN)
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ANA Position Paper #4
Reaffirmed in 1978 by ANA House of Delegates with BSN as entry to practice by 1985
Resolution in 2008
BSN within 10 years of licensure for diploma- and associate-degree-educated nurses.
Individual states for mandating and implementing
Issue still not settled
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Proliferation of ADN Education #1
1960s
Primarily diploma schools of nursing education
Baccalaureate enrollment increasing
Associate’s degree programs just beginning
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Proliferation of ADN Education #2
2000s
Diploma programs virtually gone
ADN as primary model for initial nursing education
BSN education on the rise with 15 consecutive years of enrollment growth
55% of current RN workforce holding a baccalaureate or graduate degree
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Question #1
Is the following statement true or false?
During the 1960s, most nursing education was provided at the baccalaureate level.
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Answer to Question #1
False
Diploma nursing programs were the most common type of nursing educational program in the 1960s.
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Licensure and Entry Into Practice
NCLEX passing rates—no significant differences
Similar competencies across educational spectrum
Minimum technical competencies versus performance measurement over time or test of all knowledge, skills
Similar criteria for state board approval
Demographic differences of BSN, ADN grads
Employers’ lack of role differentiation, incentives
Shorter time for ADN; cost- or time-prohibitive for BSN
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Educational Levels and Patient Outcomes #1
Arguments against raising entry level
Educational degree unrelated to providing high-quality care
BSN too theoretically oriented; deficiency in basic skills mastery
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Educational Levels and Patient Outcomes #2
Research findings associated with BSN
Higher educational levels better patient outcomes
Better care environments, best nurse staffing levels, and most highly educated nurse lowest surgical mortality rates
Clarke (2017) raises some doubts about concluding that these outcomes are related to BSN nurses providing a higher quality of care vs. practicing in the hospital environment, where more BSN nurses are employed
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Employers’ Views and Preferences #1
Usually no distinction in scope of practice or incentives for BSN education
Possible increasing awareness of differences between BSN and ADN grads
Preference for clinical placements by some employers based on higher degree programs
Nursing manager and administrator positions now requiring or preferring at least BSN
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Employers’ Views and Preferences #2
A 2014 survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing found that 45.1% of hospitals across the country require new hires to have a bachelor’s degree
Magnet hospital programs require nurse managers and leaders to have a bachelor’s degree and also require a higher percentage of nurses at BSN level
Veterans Administration requires BSN as minimum for new hires as well as all non-entry-level nurses
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Shifting Health Care Delivery Sites and Required Competencies #1
Hospitals community and integrated health care settings; need for more highly educated, autonomous nurses
Affordable Care Act: RNs must be skilled in population health, case management, and quality metrics emphasized in baccalaureate nursing curriculum
Tri-Council for Nursing: education advancement to enhance quality and safety across health care settings
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Shifting Health Care Delivery Sites and Required Competencies #2
IOM 2010 report
Increase from 50% to 80% of BSN nurses in workforce over the next 10 years
Double population of nurses with doctorate degrees
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Shifting Health Care Delivery Sites and Required Competencies #3
Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation
BSN as entry level
Master’s degree within 10 years of initial licensure
NACNEP: 2/3 of RNs with BSN or higher by 2010
Council on Physician and Nurse Supply (2007): shift in federal funding for more BSN-level programs
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Entry Level and Professional Status
Most other professions require graduate degree for entry
Growing educational gap between nursing and other health professions
View by some: BSN for entry is elitist
Failure of educational parity contributing to view of nurses as “second-class citizens” in health care arena
Nursing as the only health care profession not requiring at least a bachelor’s or higher degree for entry into practice
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Question #2
Is the following statement true or false?
An employer will most likely pay a nurse with a BSN a larger salary than a nurse with an ADN.
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Answer to Question #2
False
Employers commonly provide no incentives for BSN education in terms of pay, recognition, or career mobility.
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Two-Year ADN Program?
Argument: 2-year ADN program a myth
Minimum of 12 to 24 months of prerequisites + 2 full years of nursing education
60 semester units or 90 quarter units of coursework (or more)
BSN programs: approximately 120 semester units
Increased ADN time: need to prepare ADNs for more diverse environments, positions needing management skills
ADN content versus BSN content
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Shortages and Entry-Level Requirements
Short-term threat of raising entry level: exacerbation of existing nursing shortage
Long-term effects
Elevation of nursing’s public image with increased recruitment
Increase in recruitment-profession with greater academic prestige
Increased retention rates—possible stabilization of workforce due to increased job satisfaction
Persistence of chronic nursing shortage negates argument as excuse for postponing action to raise educational standards
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Professional Organizations, Unions, and Advisory Bodies Speak Out #1
NOADN: Reaffirmation of role, value of associate’s degree nursing education, practice
NLN: Multiple entry points for nursing; focus on lifelong learning, progression
Nurse Alliance of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU): Rejection of BSN as necessary for entry into or maintenance of practice
More resources to support nursing education at all levels
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Professional Organizations, Unions, and Advisory Bodies Speak Out #2
Specialty professional organizations (AACN, NANN, ANNA, AORN,…

