Current Issues in Nursing Education: Learning Processes Evaluation - Essay Example

"Current Issues in Nursing Education: Learning Processes Evaluation" is a perfect example of a paper on care.
Nursing education in the 21st century faces various challenges, such as increasing financial demands, shortage of nurses, and the outbreak of health pandemics such as the novel coronavirus.  To adapt to these rapid changes, nursing students and educators should develop ways to help maneuver through such challenges.  This paper will focus on two emerging issues: the shortage of nurses and the current coronavirus pandemic.  

Shortage of Nurses

History and projected outcome

The shortage of nurses is a global issue that has appeared in the headlines several. The recruitment and retention of nurses have not been in sync with the ever-increasing healthcare demands. The Shortage problem seems to have started from the time when the value of trained nurses was recognized in the healthcare fields. Various studies have reported that a shortage of nurses leads to a situation where a massive number of patients overwhelm nurses. When staffing ratios have a vast difference, it becomes unsafe, and patient care is compromised.  Scott & Podjasek (2019) explained that their effectiveness is compromised when nurses are assigned too much work.

Quantitative and Qualitative data

Numerous studies on healthcare stuffing have shown strong evidence that there is currently a lower number of nurse stuffing in healthcare facilities. The lower staffing is evident through drug administrative errors, missing nursing care, and patients staying longer in health facilities. Blouin & Podjasek (2019) described that most nurses felt overwhelmed by the work they were assigned. Generally, nurses are overworked due to the higher patient loads, which often their efforts and results in low delivering substandard services.

Individuals who can impact the outcome.

Nursing shortage continues to be a serious challenge to healthcare providers; this calls for immediate addresses from various nursing education stakeholders. For instance, nursing leaders and clinical partners can collaborate to address this issue by helping nurses create unions, which will influence better incentives such as pay rise, thus encouraging non-working trained nurses to return to work. On the other hand, academic leaders and lawmakers can formulate policies that offer students loans to students pursuing nursing courses. Campaigning for a safer work environment is also one of the possible ways of addressing nursing shortages.  

Coronavirus

History and projected outcome.

From the onset of the novel coronavirus in December 2019 in China to the moment that WHO declared it a global pandemic on 11th March 2020, the virus has affected nursing education in so many ways ("Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) - events as they happen,") Nursing schools were closed hence students were disconnected from their learning institutions. It is projected that nursing education will have to halt. Additionally, currently, working nurses are also on the frontline fighting the pandemic. Their sacrifices have seen the loss of some of the nurses through the viral disease.

Quantitative and Qualitative data

According to a study done by Aslan and Pekince (2020), a study sample of nursing students in three universities in eastern Turkey (Inonu, Kilis, and Bingol University). A total of 630 students out of 2025 were sampled (Aslan & Pekince, 2020). This study revealed that most nursing students were stressed; the interruption of education and the discontinuation of clinical practice in hospitals were unexpected. The fact that much of nursing education comprises clinical practice, the students may have been concerned about being inadequate in clinical skills development. There are tension and uncertainty as to when and how the learning and training processes will be compensated to eliminate inadequacy could stress most nursing students (Aslan & Pekince, 2020).

Individuals who can impact the outcome.

Nurse Leaders should work closely with nursing students and trainees to get attached to hospitals and work under senior nurses. Academic leaders and student lawmakers should consider formulating strategies that will promote nursing education through such a time, perhaps directing more resources to teach and learn nursing education.

Lastly, my role as a nurse leader should involve offering support and assisting in policy settings that ensure quality measures are adhered to when nursing education is concerned.