The nursing profession is a noble calling which requires self drive and determination. Students in nursing institutions around the globe are faced with several challenges in their pursuit of education in the field. As the education in higher learning continues to change, nursing education is also reforming along with other health profession education (Saver, 2006).
The greatest influence on the transformation in nursing education is the need for reforms re-examine the entire curricular. This is in response to the changing values of environmental health policies, nursing research, practice, and service (Saver, 2006). The biggest challenge in nursing education is a tradition.
The traditional scope of nursing education covers health promotion disease prevention, health protection, risk reduction, and population-based practice (Heller, Oros & Durney-Crowley, 2011). Nonetheless, with the changing world, textbooks used in the nursing profession do not pay attention to environmental health information (American Psychological Association, 2010).
Research has shown that nurses do not receive good education on disease prevention. The nursing’s agenda for health care reform argues that nurses will be more effective if they are prepared adequately to handle environmental and prevention factors (Keating, 2011). Nursing training should include aspects that enhance environmental compatibility where nurses are prepared to handle greater risks.
The changing in demographics as well as the great diversity is steadily significantly affecting the nursing practice. With the improving health care facility, life expectancy is projected to increase. With an increase in life expectance, some of the medical conditions will become difficult to treat. Patience with chronic diseases living for a very long time presents a challenge to the health care system. The increase in the level of diversity also changes the nature of a disease prevalence which will require new training (Sticney, 2008).
Increased living standards have led to the change of lifestyle and abuse of substances. For the nursing training to be effective and relevant to the current health problems, training should embrace a broader scope of human well-being. This includes physical, mental and spiritual health should include in the training (Billings & Halstead, 2011).
The rapid growth in technology is a new challenge that nursing education is facing. Using digital technology in hospitals creates a shift in the requirements of a practicing nurse. Nursing education needs to embrace the technological shift. While technology is rapidly changing the health care systems, nurses risks becoming absolute is their training does not embrace the changes made in human health technology.
In relation to technology, nursing training faces greater changes with the improved level of education among the consumer (Billings & Halstead, 2011). Today’s patients are well informed and are keen to ensure that they are involved in every decision about their health. Consumers are exposed to numerous options with regard to treatment and prevention owing to the information technology. Hence, today’s patients are more aware of the alternative and supplementary health options (Sticney, 2008).
Lastly, the issue of government regulatory policies and nursing practice cannot be ignored. There is the issue of medical conflict with the federal interests such human rights.
Economic concerns are also part of the governance and nursing problems. While the patients are thinking about getting quality services from the health providers, the health practitioners on the other hand are concerned about their own economic well being. In addition, nursing research and scholarship is an important aspect of nursing. The quality of nursing training greatly depends on the amount spent on scientific research in order to maintain relevance to the current health needs.
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: Author, 6th Edition.
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2011). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier
Heller, B., R., Oros, M. T., & Durney-Crowley, J. (2011). The Future of Nursing Education: Ten Trends to Watch. Web.
Keating, S., B. (2011). Curriculum Development and Evaluation in Nursing. New York, NY: Springer.
Saver, C., L. (2006). Nursing – today and beyond. Web.
Sticney, M., C. (2008). Factors Affecting Practical Nursing Student Attrition. Journal of Nursing Education, 47 (9): 422-425.