Practical nursing, the most fundamental level of nursing practices, began with the industrial revolution in the 1800s to fulfill the labor requirements.
People began to move from rural areas to urban areas where the women also needed employment for which they used to provide home care and healthcare services at domestic levels.
The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), located in Brooklyn, New York, took the initiative in 1892 to support this new healthcare provision with a proper nursing course.
Later on, the landmarks show that these nursing educational programs contributed considerably to the development of practical nursing programs.
However, it wasn’t before the beginning of the twentieth century that healthcare practitioners legislated that nursing education contained discrete programs from the liberal arts and sciences.
Nurse educators have depended on the knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences school to educate and illuminate nursing students attending modules in their specialties from this date.
There have been several advancements in educational institutions to teach current nursing techniques, enhancing patient care quality.
Advanced education instills crucial skills needed to make quality care possible for patients.
Nowadays, credible medical institutions require nurses to be experienced and educated. In tandem, nurses exhibit excellent skills and offer confidence-inspiring performance in various healthcare settings.
When it comes to education, junior nurses are registering for an RN to BSN degree because it teaches extensive nursing skills such as doing complicated medical operations with minimal reliance and keeping up with medical advances.
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Training vs. Educating:
“Classes will be your first steps toward becoming a nurse—and earning the coveted nurse’s hat,” Miss Reamer explained. But just for a short time.”
They [student nurses] would progressively learn the hospital routine on the wards, then more and more until each student was in charge of their patients.” (Wells, 1943, p. 29).
The phrase above comes from Cherry Ames, a fictitious series of books about nurses that enthralled many readers, inspired them to pursue nursing professions, and accurately portrayed diploma nursing schools.
With the rise of hospitals in the latter half of the nineteenth century, diploma nursing (formerly known as “hospital nursing”) started.
The discovery of the aseptic technique aided hospital expansion and created a desire for additional nurses.
Despite its advantages, the concept of apprenticeship has been criticized by nursing educators. The training demands of learners and the operational needs of hospitals were incompatible, according to Goldmark (1923).
“The needs of the ill must prevail; education requirements must surrender,” she wrote. In other words, Goldmark claimed that hospital nursing education was uneven.
Dr. Richard Olding Beard argued for higher education for student nurses to match their academic demands with their demand for clinical training.
He claimed that a university degree would bridge the gap between the hospital’s service demands and students’ learning goals.
Beard enrolled at the University of Minnesota’s nursing school in 2009. The first bachelor nursing program is generally credited to this curriculum.
Even though student nurses completed university enrollment and curriculum requirements, they were expected to spend 56 hours per week on the medical ward.
Scope and function of Practical Nursing:
Practical nurses’ scope and role have grown in sophistication from the first part of the twentieth century.
They practice under the guidance of registered nurses and are licensed as either licensed practical nurses (LPNs) or licensed vocational nurses (LVNs).
The nurse practice act for the practical nurse varies by state, but in principle, the practical nurse is in charge of stabilizing individuals and patients with common health problems.
They’re also in charge of collecting and sharing aberrant data, making recommendations for improving and altering nursing care, giving bedside care, teaching health management, and collaborating with the healthcare team to evaluate nursing services.
Beginning of New era; Nursing Education:
The National League for Nursing Education (NLNE) attempted to reform diploma nursing education programs in response to Dr. Beard’s initiatives. The NLNE issued Standard Course for Schools of Nursing in 1917, 1919, 1927, and 1937.
This research urged diploma programs to reduce students’ time on the ward and boost their learning by providing three years of scientific curriculum and practical practice caring for various patients (e.g., medical-surgical, pediatric, and obstetric patients).
Beard’s work and that of the National League for Nursing Education and other assessments on the condition of nursing education helped restructure diploma nursing education.
Diploma nursing schools thrived during the midst of the twentieth century, and publications like West and Hawkins’ Nursing Schools in the Mid-Century, issued in 1950, supported high expectations in diploma nursing programs.
Nonetheless, healthcare improvements, such as fast advances in medical technology and expanding understanding in illness treatments, need powerful conceptual training for nurses.
These developments heralded the end of hospital-based diploma programs and the start of a new age in nursing education, with instruction taking place primarily in colleges and institutions.
The significance and functionality of Nursing education:
Practical nurses’ scope and purpose represent the requirement for sufficient knowledge and competencies to perform this supporting healthcare job (Mahan, 2005).
Community colleges frequently provide practical nursing educational programs. Most schools last 12 to 18 months, and students must pass a state basic nursing test (National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses [NCLEX-PN] before starting work.
This brief course of study may serve as a turning rock for certain people who want to pursue additional nursing education. They can even work as a practical nurse while pursuing their studies.
Advancing Nursing careers:
Mobility programs are frequently used to expand one’s knowledge and comprehension of nursing and advance one’s nursing profession.
Mobility programs (also known as instructional maneuverability or career ladder programs) allow people to enter the nursing practice from a variety of educational backgrounds or to advance their careers via extra academic training without dropping credits from previous degrees.
To mention a few educational mobility choices in nursing, there are LPN to RN, RN to BSN, RN to MSN, and even BSN to Ph.D. mobility programs.
RNs with a diploma in nursing or an ADN (ASN) degree can return to school to earn a BSN or MSN degree while receiving credit for past courses and perhaps job experience through the RN to BSN or RN to MSN degree programs.
Conclusion:
A logical investigation of the topic generally precedes the formulation of higher education philosophy.
This concept analysis has determined the differentiating qualities, determinants, and additional education results.
Developing theoretical links between perspectives, motivations, and impediments to continued education is the next stage in developing a theory of perpetual education.
To improve nursing research and develop competence, epidemiological findings on further education, whether subjective or empirical, can be conducted to determine the impact of lifetime schooling on the nursing field.