Reflections in Nursing. Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay

Reflections in Nursing
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Reflections in Nursing
Question 1:
Nurses who have earned an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) has a wide range of career options. To begin with, nurses with an ADN can take up job positions that involve working with infant patients, to the elderly, and all the other ages in between. Accordingly, they can work directly with patients as care professionals while having the opportunity to continue with their studies at a future date. Examples of jobs for a nurse with an ADN include working as a registered nurse (RN), personal care nurse, physician's office nurse, outpatient care nurse, and nursing care facility nurse. On the other hand, nurses with a BSN may choose to advance in positions of nursing education, quality control, charge nursing, infection control, assistant managers, and healthcare informatics. While the career above positions are related or even the same for both the ADN and BSN nurses, the former is characterized by nurses with higher qualifications and greater ability to manage other nursing staff in comparison to the latter.
Question 2:
The 2010 Institute of Medicine Report (IOM) on the Future of Nursing has recommendations aimed at transforming the health care system and practice environments for nurses in the U.S. through higher levels of education. Accordingly, the report offers options for an advanced degree in nursing, such as the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP). In the foregoing, institutions of higher learning have developed programs to meet the requirements set forth by the IOM report. Nurses who qualify for advancing their studies to the MSN level include Registered Nurses (RNs), as well as those with degrees in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), an Associate of Science Degree in Nursing (ASN). When a nurse acquires an MSN, they can then advance to the DNP, typically in a post-master's MSN to the DNP program. Another way a nurse can earn a DNP is through a post-bachelor's (BSN-DNP) program. It is noteworthy that a DNP is different from a PhD since it does not focus on research but rather on nursing practice at a higher level.
Question 3:
Increasing one's level of education in nursing practice influences their competitiveness in the current job market as well as their role in the future of nursing. When a nurse advances their knowledge to baccalaureate and higher degree levels, they are likely to exhibit higher skills in areas such as critical thinking, case management, leadership, and promotion of health; while also having the ability to practice in varied settings within the inpatient and outpatient domains (AACN, 2019). T...