Pros and Cons of Continuing education and training for Nurses
Introduction
There are many pros and cons of continuing nursing education. By educating nurses, we are protecting the public from harm. Nurses meet the need of employers, practitioners by displaying certain knowledge and skills. It demonstrates an individual’s dedication to a lifelong career. It also provides a person with confidence and a sense of pride and accomplishment.
There are many pros of continuing education in terms of knowledge and attitude. There are many medical breakthroughs daily, new diseases and health care innovations as well. The patients would be poorly served if the nurses were not aware of the latest breakthroughs in medicine. By attending seminars and reading journal articles, nurses may meet other members of the professional community. Nurses might be able to shape, guide, and improve their practice through their experience.
In relation to professional certification, continuing nursing education has benefits as well. The benefit of their certification to families and patients is that many severely ill patients require care and vigilance, which only a highly certified nurse can give. It has been observed that the public prefers hospitals that have certified nurses. Certification is a mark of excellence, and as the medical world is advancing, certification is seen as a sign of competence and may give an educated nurse a certain edge over an uneducated nurse. The benefit to the nurses is that they may get better jobs if they have good degrees, which is hard in today’s competitive job market. It may also lead to a pay increase in some instances. Surveys have shown that employing certified nurses, leads to higher patient satisfaction and a lower percentage of errors. A certification may also indicate a nurse’s commitment to career development and patient care.
However, continuing nursing education has some cons. The cost is a major disadvantage. Continuing education is costly in many cases, and not all nurses can afford it. Time is another major factor. Continuing education means you will have to spend time away from your patient, and that is not possible in most cases. Some people also argue that more education does not lead to better practice.
Similarly, the nurses trust ANA scope and standards of practice because of the group’s fair principles, guidelines, and laws. The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes in elevating the status of the nursing profession by specifying the priorities for registered nurses across the U.S.A. Through this method, ANA wishes to provide direction to nurses and influence legislation and implementing guidelines to assess nursing excellence all over the globe. Although it may have many disadvantages to nurses themselves. There might be a feeling of alienation and unhappiness on receiving the same pay. Nursing is a diverse profession having numerous practices and areas of consideration. Hence, the nurses need to be extremely cautious while dealing with sensitive issues. Depending on the nature of patient and his/her care nurses have to be vigilant and on toes whenever the patient feels the need.
On the other hand, nurses learn a lot by being associated with a professional organization and are well aware of their rights and standards of practice. The scope and standards of practice explicate the values, goals, and ethical precepts that direct the profession of nursing. Nurses are obligated to adhere to the scope and standards of practice so that the ANA deals with all the problems and difficulties faced by them in unforeseen circumstances. When a challenge arises in their profession, ANA forms a committee of its members so that the link is developed. The problems are researched on efficiently and are then sent to ANA for a final decision. This method is determined to ensure the accuracy of practice of nurses all over.
The ANA Code of ethics acts as a guide demonstrating how to execute nursing responsibility with incorporating quality care and observing ethical obligations. However, the ANA Code of ethics is the ethical obligations on nurses, which are mainly dependent on the satisfaction of patients’ and their families. As a nurse, one may have to face many challenges including multigenerational and multicultural differences. In addition, time management is a huge issue as nursing is a strenuous and extremely time-consuming job. Sometimes they will have to care for patients who will test their patience and challenge their beliefs. Nevertheless, mostly nurses do understand the patients’ situation and deal sensitive matters with patience. They need not misbehave or act rudely to the patient instead be more courteous and congenial towards them. The patients not being in their correct state of mind behave rudely and harshly but nurses should comprehend their condition.
Conclusion
Although continuing nursing education with the aforementioned aspects has immense importance. The nurses are well experienced, hence can get to learn a lot from these educational institutes. These institutes and organizations have tailor made schedules to suit the routines of nurses and are very useful in rewarding careers. Thus, nurses should practice fully of their education and training. They could eventually become full partners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning and overlooking health care. They should continue their educations and go on to receive a baccalaureate degree, which results in better patient outcomes. With a graduate degree, one can also move onto advanced clinical professions.
Therefore, the conclusion is that advantages of continuing their education and training outweigh the disadvantages. In addition, the increasing expectations for patient safety and competency, cultural diversity, creation of dynamic practice, effect of globalization and a learning environment encourage nurses to continue their education in this field.
Works Cited
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