Should A Nurse Should Be A Baccalaureate Degree

A Drastic Need for Nursing to Shift to Baccalaureate Degrees

There has been great debate in the nursing community for years regarding what should be the educational requirements for a practicing nurse. There are currently many options for men and women to enter the field through LPN, ADN, and BSN programs. More recently, programs have been popping up allowing accelerated BSN obtainment through second degree programs. The debate stems from the conflicting ideas of whether nursing as a whole is a trade, requiring an associate’s degree, or should be considered a profession, often requiring a Baccalaureate degree. In this paper this author will use past nursing history, current medical demands and advancements, and clinical patient outcomes to argue that the minimum education for a nurse should be a Baccalaureate degree.

Bedside nursing in its current state is often viewed as a trade rather than a profession. Historically, trades have required associates degrees to enter the field with emphasis placed on job related experience from that point on. Nurses have historically viewed themselves as caregivers rather than professionals while working under direct authority of a practicing physician (Taylor, 2008). Before the advent of the two year junior college program in 1952 nurses were mainly care-givers working from on the job training in a similar way to certified nurse aides today. These nurses would be paid very little and had jobs revolving around cleanliness, bathing, administering basic medications, and duties similar to a maid (Roberts, 1954). After the nursing shortage boom of the late 1940’s a system provides associates degrees in nursing was implemented in 1952 with a focus on moving nursing away from hospital certif...

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...uickly changing medical technology and environment. The bickering and infighting amongst nurses has to come to a stop if the profession is to move forward alongside the other medical professions. It is too late to take nursing back to the point of basic care of the 19th century now fulfilled by certified nurse aides. A nurse is the first and last person many people will ever see. They provide complex care, recognize symptoms and changes when the ever shrinking physician pool is not available, advocate for patient and families, and care deeply for their patients recovery. In this paper the author used past nursing history, current medical demands and advancements, and clinical patient outcomes to argue that the minimum education for a nurse should be a Baccalaureate degree in order to meet the Institute of Medicines goal of 80% of nurses should have BSNs by 2020.