Should Continuing Nursing Education Be Mandatory for All Nurses? Essay

The learning process in different nursing schools may sometimes become difficult for many students and the mere thought of the continuing nursing course can make some nursing students lose hope. On the other hand, nurses understand that they are in a delicate profession and, they need to work to maintain their professionalism through improving their knowledge and skills in patient care. To ensure competency in any nursing or medical profession, the continuing nursing profession should be mandatory for all the nurses. There are many different approaches that nurses can use to boost their body of knowledge and experience. The continuing nursing education comes in numerous forms. In many cases, nurses can go back to the nursing school to advance their level of study with either Masters Degree or other programs that increase knowledge and technical know-how in the field of medicine (Xu & He, 2012). The advanced degree programs can focus on education, administration, information and many other specifications. The continuing nursing education may also involve certifications in many different nursing specialties such as informatics, med-surge, gastroenterology and peri-operative nursing. The continuing nursing education units are required yearly in many countries and often cover diverse topics concentrating on various nursing interests. There are several ways that nurses can use to continue their education; it incorporates the advancement in skills, competency and general professionalism. Continuing nursing education should, therefore, be made mandatory for all the nurses.

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One of the major advantages of continuing nursing education is that even without acquiring an advanced degree, the many certifications, as well as related continuing education programs, can assists nurses in attaining higher paid positions at the workplace that can increase their salary and raise their marketability. For instance, an ADN trained nurse can go back to the nursing college to obtain BSN training (Collins, 2013). The cost of the above nursing program can is likely to be reimbursed the employers such as the governments or other medical institutions. At the end of the training, the nurses will be able to obtain an increase in pay after completing their degree or any other certification at the end of continuing education. Having an advanced degree in the nursing profession can enable to obtain an edge when trying to rise in the ranks of the healthcare services.

The continuing education for nursing professionals is of a great advantage because nursing best standards and practices of care are constantly changing. As there are new advances in technology and as more evidence is gained, there are diverse ways that competence nurses can aid in the improvement of the quality of life and improve mortality. Continuing education, therefore, gives nurses new information whose implementation can improve the patient outcomes and the general healthcare system. In the modern nursing education, nurses do not practice by the same standards as was the case twenty years ago or even five years ago, therefore, it is necessary for nurses to make an effort in keeping up with the impending changes to the general nursing practices (Huston, 2013). Luckily, the continuing education programs for nurses are often available in many different forms. The nursing professionals have an opportunity to go back to school to advance their degree programs by either focusing on education, informatics, administration as well as several other specifications. Instead of going through the advanced educational programs, nurses can also consider other options for certifications in different areas of the medical field. In the advanced healthcare systems, continuing education for nurses is mandatory and this either take place within the health care system or in different nursing or medical schools. The improvement in technology and the emerging disease requires advanced preparations among the professionals.

The individuals opposed to the continuing nursing education asserts that as professionals, nurses are individually responsible for identifying and acquiring appropriate education. Most of the nurses have maintained that mandatory continuing education for nursing professionals do not necessarily address advanced practices in the nursing; in other words, the advancement in the nursing education does not always address some challenges in the field of nursing such as the research, education and administration (Wutoh et al., 2004). There are also critics who argue that obtaining the continuing education in nursing in the remote areas may become very difficult and as a result, most of the nurses and other medical practitioners take part in the continuing education on their own.

Another disadvantage of the continuing education in nursing is that there is a lack of guarantee that the continuing education standards will provide extra skills and technical know-how in the field of nursing. The cost of going back to school to engage in the continuing education program may prove to be too expensive. Although there may be extra cash or sponsorship that an individual might have access to, there are some financial responsibilities that a nurse preparing to take continuing course must take. Some of the continuing programs are costly and therefore the nurses usually find them too expensive. When in school, balancing personal life and the studies can prove to be very challenging; there are some individuals who might engage in the full-time jobs while others may find themselves concentrating on one specific area.

References

Collins, A. (2013). Effect of continuing nursing education on nurses' attitude toward and accuracy of nursing diagnosis. International journal of nursing knowledge, 24(3), 122-128.

Huston, C. J. (2013). Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Wutoh, R., Boren, S. A., & Balas, E. A. (2004). eLearning: a review of Internetbased continuing medical education. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 24(1), 20-30.

Xu, Y., & He, F. (2012). Transition programs for internationally educated nurses: what can the United States learn from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?. Nursing Economics, 30(4), 215.