A Bachelors Degree Should Be Standard for Nurses

One of the biggest obstacles of nursing is transitioning from the publics view of them being a vocation rather than a profession. The leading factor in this perception is the inability to define what a nurse is and what their job entails. The nursing community could put an end to not being perceived as a profession by putting into practice a set of standards. The biggest standard is implementing a baccalaureate degree as the entry level of practice. With the ability to define the starting position, you move away from a scattered perception of who a nurse is and begin to pinpoint exact qualities a nurse has to do their job.

To be a nurse in today’s current system, one can obtain either an associates degree or a bachelors degree to be in line to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). These degrees are distinguishable and allowing both roads as an option, it adds to the incapacity to define nurses. To differentiate the two degrees, you must begin looking at where and how you obtain the specific degree. With an associates degree, you obtain a two year degree from a community college. The bachelors degree you acquire a four year degree from a University. Both the associates and bachelors degree classes are taught by educated professor whom most have their masters or higher level of education. Page 613 of the article Should the Entry Into Nursing Practice Be the Baccalaureate Degree? states that “in the public’s eye any career requiring only two years of schooling is technical, not professional” (Taylor, 2008). To be taken serious as a professional, it must be effectuated that the minimal requirements must be a four year bachelors degree. This will allow the public to know that all nurses hav...

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...the standard for the entry level for nursing will not only make it a pivotal change towards making nursing deemed a profession, but it will also set the standards for nurses to achieve towards. With personal triumphs, they will allow nurses to overcome more conflicts and be considerable leaders in the health care profession.

Works Cited

Jacobs , L. A., DiMattio, M. J. K., Bishop, T. L., & Fields, S. D. (1998). The baccalaureate degree in nursing as an entry-level requirement for professional nursing practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 14(4), 225-233.

McEwen, M., Pullis, B. R., White, M. J., & Krawtz, S. D. (2013). Eighty percent by 2020: The present and the future of rn-to-bsn education. Journal of Nursing Education, 52(10), 549-556.

Taylor, D. L. (2008). Should the entry into nursing practice be the baccalaureate degree?. Aorn Journal, 87(3), 611-620.