NUR 4153-Deliverable 6-Lifelong Learning is Part of Nursing Practice

Professional nurses’ perception of nursing care lies in the clinical judgment essential in assessment, diagnosis, implementation, and evaluation. Knowledge creates the basis of the patient needs assessment and defines the action to meet these needs, professional accountability for decisions and actions, including the decision to delegate to co-workers, and the structured nurse-patient relationship.

Furthermore, it states that the current nursing education system’s responsibility is to create programs that allow nurses to progress through their nursing degrees with seamless ease. With such a high demand for nurses, what are the drawbacks that prevent nurses from furthering their education? How can we encourage lifelong learning with no real incentives for nurses when obtaining their second or third degree?

The Institute of Medicine has cited some barriers hindering nurses from furthering their careers, from tuition and difficulty with admission to programs to family and life commitments. When nurses choose to further their education, they are faced with financial burdens to cover undergraduate degrees. As they further their degree brings some salary increase, they no longer qualify for financial assistance.

Therefore, leaving the nurse to take out personal loans with little tuition reimbursement, loan forgiveness, or scholarships available to assist with the financial burden. To overcome these barriers, nursing schools collaborate with the private and public sectors to help find and even provide nursing students with affordable education loans (IOM, 2011). Another recommendation was for accrediting bodies, private and public funders, and employers to help fund nursing education. Moreso, providing more online educational courses allows nurses who may have family obligations and demanding schedules that make it hard to attend live classrooms.

Overall, learning is a constant aspect of life, and lifelong learning is essential to nursing practice. It should be encouraged in healthcare because lifelong learning will significantly improve clinical reasoning and clinical judgment. Nurses and other healthcare professionals should urge lifelong learning within the various settings to ensure that nursing needs are attained across all care settings, attaining up-to-date information.

References

 Alfarp-Lefevre, R. (2013). Critical Thinking, clinical reasoning, clinical judgment. Journal of Education.

Institute of Medicine. (, 2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing-Health. Retrieved from http://doi:10.17226/12956.