Two Ways Education Is Changing the Face of Nursing

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Everyone in the healthcare industry is aware of the
looming nursing shortage. In many cases, the healthcare sector will be hit doubly hard due to the high number of current nurses who will be retiring just as the system experiences influx of older patients. These factors bring the required number of replacement nurses up to
over a million by 2022.

Although the projected lack of qualified nursing professionals is frightening, there's a silver lining in that a large number of positions will be open for younger professionals entering the workforce. Furthermore, this increase in the number of new nurses offers a prime opportunity for major status quo overhauls within the field.

Many of these changes are already beginning, and they're taking place in the classroom. 

Changes start in the classroom

If we've learned one thing about nursing education, it's that young nurses are likely to pick up the habits and practices of their nurse educators. A study from
Bradley University support this assumption. Furthermore, it suggested that nurse educators are powerful role models who actually have the power to
shape the future of healthcare policy and practice through their teachings.

Because there will be so many new nurses entering hospitals for the first time in the near future, it's likely that nurse educators will hold more sway than ever before. The importance of these role models will become more profound as the need for new nurses increases. New techniques and outlooks on the nursing profession have greater opportunity to be implemented. 

Healthcare education amps up tech adoption

The many ways in which technology has changed the world cannot be doubted; but in general, hospitals have been a little slow to implement new technological advances into their systems. For instance, a number of significant factors have greatly slowed the implementation of
electronic health records in many facilities. And often times, the indirect costs of these tech advances involve a steep learning curve for the doctors and nurses utilizing them.

However, classroom applications of technology for new nurses have made a significant impact in lowering the learning curve for new tech. Nursing students are often taught how to use technical reporting software from the beginning of their training, which makes entering the hospital and using it in association with patients much easier. Some schools have even promoted the development and use of
mobile phone applications for health improvement purposes.

Passing the torch to new nursing leaders

As many long-term nurses begin to retire, much of the knowledge that they have obtained over the years will need to be passed down to a new generation of nurse leaders. These nurses will have the opportunity to maintain the best practices of the past as well as implement new practices moving into the future. Opportunities to make
significant changes in nursing policy will abound.

Nurse educators have the potential to have a significant impact upon the leadership direction that nurses in numerous hospitals will take. Their ideals and policy models are likely to carry over from the classroom and into the workforce, which could produce some large shakeups. Training the new nursing leaders of tomorrow has become more important than ever.

The healthcare industry is poised to experience a number of profound changes over the next decade. Because of the expected growth of the nursing field, nurse educators will play an increasing role in shaping its direction. Changes in leadership and technological readiness are just two of many significant impacts nurse educators are likely to have, what others are out there?

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