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Last Updated on December 24, 2022

Everybody want’s a nursing career right now because it is one of the best job in the world. Nursing programs can be very costly; fortunately nursing learners can find knowledge and skills with these free or low cost online universities, that’s way we created this website.

To get more information on Nursing Schools, Nursing Informatics, Admission into the BSN Degree Programs and Application Deadlines, Pre-Nursing Admission Requirements . You can also find up-to-date, related articles on Collegelearners.

Nursing science is the development of theories and practical concepts for improving how clinicians and patients administer care and manage conditions. It merges the worlds of natural, applied, and human science into a multi-dimensional lens that explores new and better ways to deliver health services.

Natural sciences may consider two patients with the same ailments in a similar way. However, applied science might examine how their different socioeconomic backgrounds and community environments affect their ailments, and human science would study the philosophical, social and cultural aspects of each individual. For this reason, nursing science can be considered a holistic science as it understands that each of these components is best understood in relation to one another.

Nursing science stands at the forefront of the most significant trend in the medical services sector today: patient-centered care. Gone are the days of nursing as a purely task-oriented role. Today, nursing science contributes to the research and discovery of innovative approaches that improve health outcomes. Nurses know their patients best, and the trust and communication between nurses and their patients facilitate better diagnoses and experiences.

Nursing science also takes into account that care does not end when a patient is discharged. In a world of increasing technological diagnoses and practically infinite data points, nursing science maintains a critical human element in the balance of care.

Nursing science gave the world the crash cart and color-coded IV lines, according to Mental Floss. Now the field is focused on developing better alarm systems that do not bother patients and simultaneously do not go unheard by nurses in cases of alarm fatigue. Scientists and researchers are exploring the way care delivery interacts with the textured landscape of patients’ cultural, social, and racial backgrounds.

Nursing science is the application of hard sciences with a compassionate aim, and its innovations improve both patient wellbeing and caregiver response. As further advancements in medical care complicate the healthcare sector, nursing science is driving best practices in patient care within the entire ecosystem of the industry. Below are five recent advancements in the field.

Telehealth and Telenursing

Telehealth is the method of delivering long-distance care through tablets, computers, electronic charts, and smartphones. As communication technology evolves, so do the applications in care delivery. Telehealth is a relatively new field but is already projected to become a $34 billion market by the end of the decade, according to Mordor Intelligence.

Telenursing puts cutting-edge technology in the hands of nurses, allowing them to monitor patients with chronic conditions through video chat or to provide critical care to patients in remote areas. Telenursing removes the burden of distance and transportation, therefore increasing care beyond the number of beds in a hospital, providing access to patients with mobility problems, and even reducing response times. Additionally, telenursing reduces costs by allowing patients to self-test, structuring treatment sessions that seamlessly fit a caregiver’s workflow, and sorting patients according to urgency before they show up at a care facility.

Nursing Informatics

Nursing informatics merges nursing science with information management and computer science. It identifies, manages, and communicates patient care or provider data, along with the resultant insights, to both the patient community and the broader medical practice. Nursing informatics develops more efficient processes that can provide more complete care and result in better patient outcomes.

Nursing informatics is quickly becoming an integral part of public health and national healthcare policies. For example, electronic medical records (EMRs) log patient data from multiple entry points and collect it into a single platform that can provide a more complete patient picture. That data can then transition between different facilities and care teams. With this data, providers can inform more complete diagnoses, and targeted interventions and patients can make informed choices about their health. On a broader scale, aggregated and anonymized health data can be analyzed for broader trends in public health, which may, in turn, lead to better health outcomes for entire populations.

As more data is collected, and more robust analytical software analyzes the data, nursing informatics and patient care will transform at a faster rate. Algorithms can already ping a patient for a check-up based on current symptoms and past medical history. Electronic surveys can yield more honest patient answers than impersonal and rushed medical appointments, and automated checklists can de-burden medical staff by directing patients to self-care options.

Photovoice

Photovoice is a qualitative method of community-based research that uses photographs to encourage knowledge and transformative change, especially among marginalized groups. In the context of nursing, patient-participants are asked to capture and share photographs that relate to a particular condition, as well as their sentiments regarding it. These photographs can reveal dimensions of a patient’s condition that had previously gone unnoticed, thus leading to more interesting discussions between patient and provider, as well as within patient groups, and better health outcomes.

Photovoice is transformative in the most vulnerable patient populations—those in developing countries or lower socioeconomic classes, and those suffering from mental trauma or physical disabilities. Photovoice surpasses linguistic barriers and provides a more informed view of not only the medical condition but social context surrounding it. It has been used to improve care for rural Chinese women, for Latina mothers of children with asthma, and for African American youth with medical management disparities.

While nursing informatics captures the hard data, photovoice goes a step further, to where technical instrumentation does not yet reach—acting as a compassionate way to elicit further information from patients and thereby reaching more informed diagnoses and adequately targeted interventions.

Patient Identification Technology

Patient identification is not as easy as it sounds. Preventable medical harm results in almost 100,000 deaths a year, according to research in the peer-reviewed journal, the BMJ. Even when misidentification does not have fatal outcomes, it can lead to diagnostic errors, improper early discharge, and general discomfort for both patients and providers. The precise causes of misidentification can cover a wide spectrum of errors, from technical malfunction to simple fatigue. However, advancements in identification technology are taking a proactive and pragmatic approach to the issue.

Compared to simple barcoded patient wristbands, which have been an industry standard for decades, newer methods of identification, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, are reusable, easier to scan, more secure, and able to carry more information. Similarly, palm vein scanning utilizes biometric identification in a way that is both reliable and minimally intrusive. These are just two examples of several innovative approaches to patient identification which are transforming patient care by reducing medical error, securing patient data, saving long-term costs, and streamlining routine processes so that attention can be redirected to more critical areas.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is a national voice for academic nursing education. The organization establishes quality standards for nursing education, helps schools implement those standards, and promotes public support for nursing education, research, and practice. Its nursing science campaign advocates for support of the critical work of nurse scientists, and pushes to protect funding of federal research agencies.

Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science

An open membership council of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science has the mission of achieving better health through nursing science. The organization acts as a voice for nurse scientists, supports the development, conduct, and utilization of nursing science, and facilitates learning opportunities for nurse scientists.

American Journal of Nursing Science

The American Journal of Nursing Science provides a platform to share knowledge related to improving health outcomes and promoting the development of nursing. The organization publishes rigorously peer-reviewed scholarly articles on a wide range of topics, such as nursing ethics and management, patient education and counseling, diagnostics and prescribing, and collaborations with physicians.

Advances in Nursing Science

Advances in Nursing Science (ANS) is one of the most well-read journals by the nursing community. The journal publishes scholarly articles that primarily deal with global sustainability and intersectionality within the context of nursing. The publication’s blog also acts as a platform for the discussion of issues raised in the articles published in ANS, fostering an active dialogue among community members.

2018 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research

The 2018 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research is a three-day conference on precision health that will take place in Washington D.C. with the support of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science. The conference organizers are accepting submissions for abstracts symposia on the subject of precision health as it relates to nursing science. The selected works will be presented at the conference.

Should nursing be considered a STEM profession?

Background: The National Science and Technology Council developed a 5-year plan in 2013 to ensure that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experienced sustained growth within the United States (US). Nursing is comprised of multiple sciences that include chemistry, physics, biology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, and the social and behavioral sciences of sociology, developmental lifespan psychology, and psychology. Science, technology, engineering, and math constitute the traditional STEM acronym. Nursing programs graduate nurses with both the rigorous academic coursework and diverse clinical skills necessary to provide patient care. These skills employed by nurses in the clinical setting can serve as the basis for the inclusion of the nursing profession as a STEM-designated profession by the federal government and educational institutions within the US.

Problem: Currently, the US government does not acknowledge the profession of nursing as a STEM-designated profession. Acknowledgment of nursing as a STEM profession could potentially make more funding available for nursing education within the US and address nursing shortages both in clinical and academic settings. As well as position professional nurses for careers not only within the health sector but that of business and industry because of nurses’ STEM knowledge. Hence, enhancing the growth of STEM within the US and creating global market economic competitiveness with new innovation development.

Approach: In the practice of nursing, nurses apply the sciences, math, and innovative technology in the assessments, diagnoses, and planning of patients’ care. Nurses implement scientifically-based interventions to treat illness and sustain human life and to ultimately evaluate the outcomes of the care provided to patients.

Outcomes: Methodologies of evaluation of outcomes of patient care status post nursing interventions (ie, administration of intravenous antibiotics to treat pneumonia) are based upon rationales that have been derived from evidenced-based practice and nursing research; both originating from applied STEM knowledge.

Conclusion: The formal designation by the US federal government, for nursing to be recognized as a STEM profession, can increase funding to the nursing profession and enhance the diversity of employment opportunities for nurses in industry and business. Thereby potentially decreasing nursing shortages and bringing national and worldwide recognition to nursing in both academia, industry, business, and clinical settings, as a profession contributing to the science of improvement of the health of all people through STEM knowledge.

Important Advances in Nursing Science

Nursing science is the development of theories and practical concepts for improving how clinicians and patients administer care and manage conditions. It merges the worlds of natural, applied, and human science into a multi-dimensional lens that explores new and better ways to deliver health services.

Natural sciences may consider two patients with the same ailments in a similar way. However, applied science might examine how their different socioeconomic backgrounds and community environments affect their ailments, and human science would study the philosophical, social and cultural aspects of each individual. For this reason, nursing science can be considered a holistic science as it understands that each of these components is best understood in relation to one another.

Nursing science stands at the forefront of the most significant trend in the medical services sector today: patient-centered care. Gone are the days of nursing as a purely task-oriented role. Today, nursing science contributes to the research and discovery of innovative approaches that improve health outcomes. Nurses know their patients best, and the trust and communication between nurses and their patients facilitate better diagnoses and experiences.

Nursing science also takes into account that care does not end when a patient is discharged. In a world of increasing technological diagnoses and practically infinite data points, nursing science maintains a critical human element in the balance of care.

Nursing science gave the world the crash cart and color-coded IV lines, according to Mental Floss. Now the field is focused on developing better alarm systems that do not bother patients and simultaneously do not go unheard by nurses in cases of alarm fatigue. Scientists and researchers are exploring the way care delivery interacts with the textured landscape of patients’ cultural, social, and racial backgrounds.

Nursing science is the application of hard sciences with a compassionate aim, and its innovations improve both patient wellbeing and caregiver response. As further advancements in medical care complicate the healthcare sector, nursing science is driving best practices in patient care within the entire ecosystem of the industry. Below are five recent advancements in the field.

Telehealth and Telenursing

Telehealth is the method of delivering long-distance care through tablets, computers, electronic charts, and smartphones. As communication technology evolves, so do the applications in care delivery. Telehealth is a relatively new field but is already projected to become a $34 billion market by the end of the decade, according to Mordor Intelligence.

Telenursing puts cutting-edge technology in the hands of nurses, allowing them to monitor patients with chronic conditions through video chat or to provide critical care to patients in remote areas. Telenursing removes the burden of distance and transportation, therefore increasing care beyond the number of beds in a hospital, providing access to patients with mobility problems, and even reducing response times. Additionally, telenursing reduces costs by allowing patients to self-test, structuring treatment sessions that seamlessly fit a caregiver’s workflow, and sorting patients according to urgency before they show up at a care facility.

Nursing Informatics

Nursing informatics merges nursing science with information management and computer science. It identifies, manages, and communicates patient care or provider data, along with the resultant insights, to both the patient community and the broader medical practice. Nursing informatics develops more efficient processes that can provide more complete care and result in better patient outcomes.

Nursing informatics is quickly becoming an integral part of public health and national healthcare policies. For example, electronic medical records (EMRs) log patient data from multiple entry points and collect it into a single platform that can provide a more complete patient picture. That data can then transition between different facilities and care teams. With this data, providers can inform more complete diagnoses, and targeted interventions and patients can make informed choices about their health. On a broader scale, aggregated and anonymized health data can be analyzed for broader trends in public health, which may, in turn, lead to better health outcomes for entire populations.

As more data is collected, and more robust analytical software analyzes the data, nursing informatics and patient care will transform at a faster rate. Algorithms can already ping a patient for a check-up based on current symptoms and past medical history. Electronic surveys can yield more honest patient answers than impersonal and rushed medical appointments, and automated checklists can de-burden medical staff by directing patients to self-care options.

Photovoice

Photovoice is a qualitative method of community-based research that uses photographs to encourage knowledge and transformative change, especially among marginalized groups. In the context of nursing, patient-participants are asked to capture and share photographs that relate to a particular condition, as well as their sentiments regarding it. These photographs can reveal dimensions of a patient’s condition that had previously gone unnoticed, thus leading to more interesting discussions between patient and provider, as well as within patient groups, and better health outcomes.

Photovoice is transformative in the most vulnerable patient populations—those in developing countries or lower socioeconomic classes, and those suffering from mental trauma or physical disabilities. Photovoice surpasses linguistic barriers and provides a more informed view of not only the medical condition but social context surrounding it. It has been used to improve care for rural Chinese women, for Latina mothers of children with asthma, and for African American youth with medical management disparities.

While nursing informatics captures the hard data, photovoice goes a step further, to where technical instrumentation does not yet reach—acting as a compassionate way to elicit further information from patients and thereby reaching more informed diagnoses and adequately targeted interventions.

Patient Identification Technology

Patient identification is not as easy as it sounds. Preventable medical harm results in almost 100,000 deaths a year, according to research in the peer-reviewed journal, the BMJ. Even when misidentification does not have fatal outcomes, it can lead to diagnostic errors, improper early discharge, and general discomfort for both patients and providers. The precise causes of misidentification can cover a wide spectrum of errors, from technical malfunction to simple fatigue. However, advancements in identification technology are taking a proactive and pragmatic approach to the issue.

Compared to simple barcoded patient wristbands, which have been an industry standard for decades, newer methods of identification, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, are reusable, easier to scan, more secure, and able to carry more information. Similarly, palm vein scanning utilizes biometric identification in a way that is both reliable and minimally intrusive. These are just two examples of several innovative approaches to patient identification which are transforming patient care by reducing medical error, securing patient data, saving long-term costs, and streamlining routine processes so that attention can be redirected to more critical areas.

A: Nursing is a science.

It’s understandable that many would not include nursing in the category of “scientific” fields. Too few people outside of nursing know that the profession requires years of intense college-level science education. Few know that nursing awards degrees including the Bachelor of Nursing Science, the Master of Science in Nursing, and the Doctor of Nursing Science. And too few know that, like physicians, nurses use the scientific method to resolve complex health problems, and that their work draws on disciplines including biology, chemistry, and psychology. Nurses engage in evidence-based scientific practice to advance the health of individual patients and entire communities. And nursing journals publish ground-breaking scientific research on topics ranging from forensics to the prevention of neonatal infections.

Few people today would, on hearing that a promising youngster planned a career in “science,” think of nursing. The media both reflects and reinforces the common view that nurses merely assist the scientists they view as being responsible for human health: physicians. We recently saw a newspaper columnist react with mirth and scorn at the idea that a local university was planning to award doctorates in nursing. Of course, we’re not suggesting that the media is solely responsible. Some nurses may reinforce these views by minimizing their own expertise or deflecting attention. But the media could be far more receptive.

In the news and current affairs media, the view that nursing is not really a science comes out in various ways. The media often fails to consult nurses on health topics in which they are expert, and it almost never discusses nursing in pieces about trends in “science.” In June 2007, the Marc Steiner Show on Baltimore National Public Radio affiliate WYPR featured a discussion of how Americans are not learning enough science, with New York Times science reporter Natalie Angier. Truth executive director Sandy Summers called in to explain that one critical area in which Americans need greater scientific knowledge is in nursing. Summers noted that the continuing failure to understand nursing’s true value, including that it is in fact a vital health science, was a key factor in the underfunding of the profession. That underfunding contributes greatly to the nursing crisis and threatens the lives of patients, since fewer nurses means worse patient outcomes. If decision-makers understood nursing’s importance as a science, funding for nursing education, research, and practice would increase. The host and guest on WYPR’s Steiner show seemed baffled by these ideas.

Since former Harvard president Lawrence Summers’s notorious 2005 remarks about women in science, the media has also been full of “women in science” pieces analyzing the extent to which women have entered and succeeded in “science and engineering” fields. A lengthy piece by Cornelia Dean in the December 19, 2006, issue of The New York Times is a good example. “Women in Science: The Battle Moves to the Trenches” discusses the progress women have made in such fields since they started entering the relevant university programs in larger numbers in the 1970’s. It’s true that this piece, like many others, is more concerned with those who have become university professors in fields like molecular biophysics than it is with the applied sciences or health care. But it does note that half of U.S. medical students are now women. And one of the women quoted at length is a New York psychologist.

Yet there is not a word about nursing, or the thousands of women with nursing doctorates who are now teaching and conducting research at U.S. colleges and universities. Indeed, we have yet to see such a “women in science” piece even mention nursing, much less discuss the fact that that scientific field now has over 2.5 million female members in the U.S. alone. More than one million U.S. nurses now have at least a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and hundreds of thousands have at least a master’s degree. But we can’t recall a media piece about national competitiveness in “the sciences” discussing the role of nursing.

In non-press media on science, nursing fares no better. For instance, nursing is typically ignored in “science” museums. Last year we noticed that the web site of London’s famed Science Museum said the Museum had, within its general Clinical Medicine collection, a sub-collection on “Nursing and hospital furnishings.” Evidently nurses have much in common with inanimate equipment. Today, a search of the Museum’s web site for “nursing” reveals virtually nothing about the profession at all.

Of course, the failure to consider nursing as a science is a natural result of nursing’s history as a job done mostly by women that has received little respect for its practitioners’ skills, knowledge or innovation. The fact that the field continues to be ignored, even in articles that are all about “women in science,” seems to reflect what Suzanne Gordon has called “dress for success” feminism. Many women have now entered traditionally male fields. But that change has not been accompanied by a re-examination of the value of traditionally female fields like nursing. In this regard, recent feminism seems to mean that women can gain respect by entering fields like medicine, but that fields like nursing are now for losers–they represent everything bright, ambitious women have gladly left behind. As prime time television physician Meredith Grey (right) once memorably observed: “Did you just call me a nurse?” One result of this widespread attitude, unsurprisingly, is that nursing struggles to get adequate funding for research–just like the “women in science” who have received so much recent media attention. Specifically, nurses get 0.75% of the US National Institutes of Health budget, even though nurses make up the majority of health professionals in the US. As an example, see the President’s proposed 2008 budget as of July 1, 2007. The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) receives 0.48% of the NIH part of the budget. The NINR told us in 2005 that nurses seeking funds from other Institutes receive about 0.25% additional funds, for a total of about three-quarters of one percent of the entire budget.

Nursing Research

Research training in nursing prepares investigators who are a part of the larger health sciences workforce. Study questions are raised from the nursing perspective but contribute to knowledge in general. For scientists in the discipline of nursing, the ultimate intent of the knowledge generated through research is to provide information for guiding nursing practice; assessing the health care environment, enhancing patient, family, and community outcomes; and shaping health policy.

The science of nursing is characterized by three themes of inquiry that relate to the function of intact humans: (1) principles and laws that govern life processes, well-being, and optimum function during illness and health; (2) patterns of human behavior in interaction with the environment in critical life situations; and (3) processes by which positive changes in health status are affected.1 Thus, within the health sciences, nursing studies integrate biobehavioral responses of humans. The science of nursing can also be classified as translational research because it advances clinical knowledge and has the directional aims of improved health care and human health status. As stated in a classic policy paper, research for nursing focuses on ameliorating the consequences of disease, managing the symptoms of illnesses and treatments of disease, facilitating individuals and families coping or adapting to their disease, and dealing in large part with promoting healthy lifestyles for individuals of all ages and under different backgrounds and disease conditions. In addition, nursing research focuses on enhancing or redesigning the environment in which health care occurs in terms of the factors that influence patient, family, and community outcomes.

Focusing on ameliorating the consequences of illnesses or their treatment is the intent of many research programs conducted in nursing. For example, a new protocol for endotracheal suctioning has been tested and implemented in a number of hospital critical care units. Endotracheal suctioning is a frequently performed procedure that can have serious consequences if not done correctly. Another example in the area of symptom management is understanding the factors that influence common problems such as pain. In one study that focused on developing a longer-acting pain medication, investigators found that gender is a major factor in whether drugs are effective, with women responding well to seldom-used kappa-opioid drugs while men have little benefit from such drugs.

Another major area for research in nursing is facilitating individuals and families as they cope or adapt to long-term chronic disease. An excellent example of this area of study is a self-help program developed for Spanish-speaking people with arthritis. For many years, Hispanics with arthritis did not have many educational resources for how to cope with or adapt to their illness. Two investigators at Stanford University’s medical center have now developed and tested for effectiveness a self-management program with accompanying exercise and relaxation tapes. This self-help program is being considered for nationwide dissemination by the National Arthritis Foundation.

Research in nursing also has a strong focus on health promotion and risk reduction. The intent is to promote healthy lifestyles for individuals of all ages and backgrounds and with various disease conditions. One example is a school-based program now adapted by most North Carolina schools that is a tested health promotion program in exercise and diet for young children at risk for cardiovascular disease. The research results from this school-based intervention program are impressive; the young people’s total cholesterol levels and measurements of body fat were significantly reduced following the education and exercise interventions, and their fitness levels, physical activity, and knowledge about cardiovascular disease risk factors improved.

Together, influencing, redesigning, and shaping the environment for patients, families, and communities is another major area of study in nursing. For example, over 80 studies have shown the influence of nursing surveillance and presence on positive patient outcomes. The shortage of nurses, a critical factor, in a health care environment has been demonstrated to increase patient mortality and morbidity. Other studies show the benefit of home visits by nurses in improving the health and quality of life of low-income mothers and children.

Research in nursing is often referred to as “nursing science” or “nursing research,” which has led some to confuse it with the nursing profession. This terminology exists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the name of the National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR); however, the funding from NINR supports scientific research relevant to the science of nursing, and the investigators may be nurses or nonnurses. Nursing science is a knowledge structure that is separate from the profession and clinical practice of nursing. Furthermore, the term “nurse-scientist” is not reserved for graduates of Ph.D. programs in nursing; it refers to any scientist conducting research in the disciplinary field of nursing. For example, highly trained nurses under the supervision of a principal investigator could conduct the bulk of the work in a clinical trial.

Research training for nurses, as for other biomedical and behavioral researchers, needs to occur within strong research-intensive universities and schools of nursing. Important characteristics of these training environments include an interdisciplinary cadre of researchers and a strong group of nursing research colleagues who are senior scientists in the sense of consistent extramural review and funding of their investigative programs and obvious productivity in terms of publications and presentations. These elements are essential to the environment required for excellence in research training.

The NINR has traditionally placed a greater emphasis on research training in relationship to the relative size of the institute’s budget than is evident with NIH in general. This is due to the current stage of development of nursing research and the need for greater numbers both as investigators and academic faculty. At least 8 percent of NINR funds go to research training, which is roughly twice the percentage invested by other institutes. This commitment has been consistent for a number of years. This committee’s Nursing Research Panel members commend the wisdom of this tradition and encourage its continuation.

This chapter focuses on the following two areas that are of major concern to the discipline: (1) changing the career trajectory of research training for nurse-scientists to include earlier and more rapid progression through the educational programs to and through doctoral and postdoctoral study as well as increasing the number of individuals seeking doctoral education and faculty roles, and (2) enhancing postdoctoral and career development opportunities in creative ways.

CHANGING THE CAREER TRAJECTORY FOR NURSE-SCIENTISTS

The following three major factors motivate the critical need to change the career trajectory for nurse-researchers: (1) enhancing the productivity of nurse-researchers to build strong, sustained research programs generating knowledge for nursing and health practice as well as shaping health policy; (2) responding to the shortage of nursing faculty and the advancing age of current nurse-investigators, and (3) emphasizing the need for strong research training of nurse-investigators in research-extensive and research-intensive universities with equally strong interdisciplinary research opportunities.

ENHANCING SUSTAINED PRODUCTIVITY FOR NURSE-SCIENTISTS

Nurse-scientists play a critical role in the conduct of research and the generation of new knowledge that can serve as the evidence base for practice and improvement of patient health outcomes. However, nurses delay entering Ph.D. programs. There is particular concern because of inherent limitations in the number of years of potential scientific productivity. Starting assistant professors in other scientific fields typically have a research career trajectory of 30 to 40 years in duration. The average age of an assistant professor in nursing is 50.2 years. Hinshaw reasons that for a faculty member who enters the nursing academic workforce at the age of 50 and retires at 65, this productive period will be only 15 years for developing research programs and contributing to science for nursing and health practice in general. Thus, nurse-investigators tend to have a short career span. This limitation severely constrains the growth of nursing research and thus knowledge for nursing practice.

The median time elapsed between entry into a master’s program to completion of a doctorate in nursing is approximately 15.9 years compared to 8.5 years in other disciplines. In addition to having a long period of graduate training, the time has increased by 3 years since 1990, and there are no signs of the trend being reversed. Because there are many factors that reinforce the late entry of nurses into Ph.D. programs, there is a need to create incentives to change the career path. The challenge of promoting earlier entry into science careers was discussed by this panel. Of several proposals considered, there was strong support for one that would encourage and support education trajectories with fewer interruptions. To facilitate this, there needs to be greater awareness of nursing as a scientific discipline. Once students enter undergraduate programs in nursing, those students with interests in science should be identified early and encouraged to consider doctoral education. Exposure to nurse-scientists during the undergraduate program would also entice students to consider research as a primary focus in nursing. A few programs of this type exist, such as the Early-Entry Option in the school of nursing at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In this program highly talented undergraduates are moved directly into the Ph.D. program.

A “fast tracking” of undergraduates into doctoral programs also necessitates dispelling myths related to the need for clinical practice prior to graduate school entry. There is a need to evaluate the requirement of the master’s degree for individuals interested in an academic career with an emphasis on research. The lengthening of most master’s programs due to certification requirements for advanced-practice roles has resulted in two plus years for master’s program completion, which further delays entry into doctoral education.

In addition, the average number of years registered in a doctoral program is longer for nursing than for other fields. On average, it takes 8.3 years for nursing Ph.D. students to complete their degrees compared to 6.8 years for all research program doctoral students. This is due in part to the fact that the majority of doctoral nursing students are part-time students. As of 2002, there were 81 research-focused doctoral programs in nursing with a total of 3,168 enrollees; 55 percent of enrollees were part-time students. This accounts for the low percentage of graduates; 12.8 percent of enrollees graduate each year.

Nursing developed both its Ph.D. and its D.N.Sc. programs to build on the master’s degree in nursing as well as to accommodate breaks between degrees for clinical practice. Early reliance on the master’s degree is understandable in that it was nursing’s highest degree for many years before the establishment of a significant number of research doctoral programs. As doctoral programs were developed, they built on the master’s content, which at the time was predominantly research and theory focused. Over time the master’s programs have changed to become primarily preparation for advanced clinical practice, yet nursing continues to require the master’s degree for entry into doctoral study in most programs. Currently, very few doctoral programs in nursing admit baccalaureate graduates directly into the program, and for those that do, the master’s degree is usually required as a progression step. This requirement for entry into the Ph.D. program makes the group of advanced nurse-practitioners, rather than baccalaureate students, the major pool from which applicants are recruited into research. This is problematic in that this practitioner pool has the same demographic characteristics as the profession and thus is older in average age and more limited in diversity compared to applicants for science Ph.D. programs in general. Incorporation of the clinical/professional content from the master’s degree as foundational to the Ph.D. in nursing also encourages faculty to recruit and teach only nurses. Currently there are only a few doctorate programs in nursing that admit nonnurses.

Even though there are other fields that require a master’s degree as a requirement for earning the professional research doctorate, such as the M.P.H. for the Dr.P.H., the master’s degree has a completely different meaning relative to the science Ph.D. degree. The master’s degree is usually awarded as a “consolation prize” for students who are unable to complete the requirements for the science Ph.D. By making the master’s degree a requirement for its Ph.D. program, nursing has created confusion as to the meaning of the degree outside the nursing profession.

In considering strategies for increasing the number and length of productive research years for scientists in nursing, it is important to distinguish between the educational needs and goals of nursing as a practice profession that requires practitioners with clinical expertise from nursing as an academic discipline and science that requires independent researchers and scientists to build the body of knowledge. To improve the productivity and research focus of the Ph.D. in nursing, doctoral programs need to be reengineered to admit directly from baccalaureate programs, to admit nonnurses, to decrease the number of years from high school to Ph.D. graduation, and to expand the interdisciplinary scope of the program and the research. The need for doctorally prepared practitioners and clinical faculty would be met if nursing could develop a new nonresearch clinical doctorate, similar to the M.D. and Pharm.D. in medicine and pharmacy, respectively. The concept of a nonresearch clinical doctorate in nursing is controversial, but some programs of this type exist.

Nursing should be encouraged to reengineer some of its doctorate programs to exclusively meet the goal of producing scientists and researchers who are the most capable in terms of skills and projected career life, to meet the needs of nursing as a science and for the development of its research-based disciplinary knowledge. Doctorate programs currently require core coursework in theoretical systems, philosophy of science, qualitative and quantitative methods, and statistical/data analysis techniques. What is different from other science degrees is the amount of advanced practice usually required prior to the doctoral program. Some educational depth in a clinical area or in practice is important for the study of clinical questions, but how much is the issue.

There is no clear research career trajectory evident among scientists in nursing today. The common thread is that they entered their doctoral programs later than most other scientists and have not benefited from postdoctoral education. This is because most nurses enter doctoral programs following receipt of the clinical master’s degree, also often with many years of clinical experience, and their primary socialization has been as practitioners. As such, they bring with them rich experiences that may help shape the focus of their inquiry. However, they also carry with them enormous burdens relating to their readiness for entering rigorous science training, their interest in continuing training following their predoctoral experience, and their long-term capacity for developing a research career. In addition, when nurses complete their doctoral training, most move directly into an academic career. There they frequently encounter settings in which the demands for teaching and lack of pervasive research programs, socialization, and further mentoring make continuing progress as a scientist difficult.

There is evidence to suggest that a successful career in science is the result of a number of key factors across the life span. These factors include inspiration and “connection” to science and the field; involvement in the enterprise of discovery and science; knowledge, skill, and leadership development; opportunities for coaching, role modeling, and mentoring; a scientific community with peer engagement, assessment, support, and critique; an intensive research environment; and adequate support for research in all of its phases. With these factors in mind, each stage of nursing from precollege, undergraduate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral to the career scientist can build strategies to enhance the career path.

The development of future scientists begins very early in the educational experiences of young people. These include education in school but also beyond. This begins with exposing students interested in nursing at the precollege level to both the profession and nursing science. Undergraduate development of scientists moves individuals from a more general interest in and connection to science to actually beginning to embark on a career in science. The context should be designed to support both the acquisition of a solid academic foundation for further study, a clear notion of pathways for becoming a scientist, and educational experiences that move the student into actual conduct of research. Predoctoral training should begin before the doctoral student starts a course of study. The student’s program should assure a very strong match between the research interests of the student and the capacity of the program and faculty. Programs should be fundamentally grounded in a commitment to and processes that support the development of scientists. The postdoctoral phase is the point at which one’s own science career should begin to take hold and the intrinsic rewards of science and discovery drive the work of the postdoctoral fellow. Ultimately, the career scientist is at the stage of developing and maintaining his/her program of research. For academic scientists this is the point at which mentoree becomes mentor and teacher, based on the program of research. It is also the point at which the scientist should become an active member of the academic community.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing 

The foundation of the Madonna undergraduate nursing degree is a learner-centered community that provides the knowledge and experiential learning opportunities needed to succeed and deliver relationship-based care in today’s complex health care environments. 

Four BSN Degree Formats to Fit Your Needs

Madonna University offers four different BSN degree formats to fit your individualized needs. Each degree offering takes into account your personal goals and any previous academic and/or professional experience, ensuring you are on the best-fit degree path for success.

BSN Traditional Pre-Licensure Program

Holding true to Madonna University’s Catholic and Franciscan values and commitment to serving the community, the traditional BSN pre-licensure degree prepares you to become an experienced leader in one of the fastest growing professional fields. 

Accelerated BSN Program

Madonna’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) degree allows you to complete your degree in as little as 16 months, including taking nursing coursework online and completing real-world clinical experiences in leading healthcare facilities in the metro Detroit area. Featuring multiple start dates a year, the ABSN is a perfect fit for students looking for more timely degree completion or those changing career paths.

LPN-BSN Program

The Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to BSN degree is a bridge program that opens the door to greater earning potential and employment opportunities. The LPN-BSN degree is ideal for those working as licensed practical nurses with the goal of earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Students seeking this degree path have the opportunity to have previous professional experience evaluated for academic credit.

RN-BSN Degree Completion Program

The Registered Nurse (RN)-BSN program is a completion degree for RNs looking to finish their bachelor’s degree in nursing for career advancement. Catering to working nurses, the RN-BSN is a flexible degree that can be taken without disrupting your current employment.

Endless Career Opportunities

Nurses play an essential role in their communities, supporting the health and wellness of individuals of all ages across a wide-range of specializations. A testament to their vital need, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the nursing profession will grow at a rate of 12 percent from 2018-2028, outpacing the average growth for other professions.

This strong demand for BSN-credentialed nurses exists at a wide range of employment locations, including—but very much so not limited to—hospitals, private medical practices, schools and colleges, mental health treatment centers, assisted living homes, and community health facilities.

Experienced, Dedicated Nursing Faculty

The Madonna nursing faculty are experienced nursing professionals that are dedicated to your success, providing individualized attention to ensure you achieve your academic and professional goals. They care deeply about fostering the knowledge and hands-on skills required in the field and play an active role in your traditional and online classes, hands-on lab experiences, high-fidelity simulations, and in-the-field nursing practice.

Accredited, Highly Regarded Nursing Degrees

Highly regarded by healthcare professionals and employers, all of Madonna’s BSN degree programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the Michigan Board of Nursing. Additionally, Madonna University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).

These credentials reinforce that the Madonna BSN programs offer educational excellence through access to cutting-edge course concepts and hands-on learning opportunities that are required to succeed in today’s increasingly complex health care environment.

Admission into the BSN Degree Programs and Application Deadlines

As highly sought after and challenging undergraduate nursing degrees, each of Madonna’s BSN programs have specific admission requirements. 

Traditional BSN Nursing Application Deadlines

  • Fall Semester – January 31
  • Winter Semester – July 31

Please note that late applications will not be considered.

Requirements for Direct Admission to the Traditional BSN Pre-Licensure Degree 

Direct admission into Madonna’s Traditional BSN Pre-Licensure degree program is offered to highly qualified high school seniors. The criteria for direct nursing admission are the following:

  • Minimum cumulative unweighted high school GPA of 3.2 or higher
  • Grades of ‘B’ (3.0) or higher in biology, chemistry, and two years of algebra
  • ACT composite score of 22 or higher OR 1100 SAT score
  • Enroll at Madonna University immediately following high school
  • Applications received by December 1 will receive priority decisions
  • Applications received after December 1 will be reviewed upon receipt and decisions made on a space available basis
  • Within 4 weeks of direct admission offer, students will accept or decline admission
  • Meeting the general university admission criteria does not guarantee direct nursing admission

Pre-Nursing Admission Requirements

Students interested in nursing, but who do not meet the pre-nursing admission requirements outlined above, can be admitted as an undeclared student in the College of Nursing and Health to establish a higher GPA while taking the prerequisite courses for the nursing program at Madonna.

  • Minimum cumulative unweighted high school GPA of 2.8 or higher
  • ACT composite score of 18 or higher OR 960 SAT score
  • Grades of ‘C’ (2.0) or higher in biology, chemistry, and two years of algebra

Accelerated BSN Admission Requirements

Students interested in the accelerated ABSN program must have either a confirmed bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a minimum cumulative 2.8 GPA or a minimum of 60 credits with a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all undergraduate coursework. Additional requirements, such as a writing assessment and letter of intent, as well as specific prerequisites must also be met. 

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSNBScN) also known in some countries as a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) or Bachelor of Science (BSwith a Major in Nursing is an academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by an accredited tertiary education provider. The course of study is typically three or four years. The difference in degree designation may relate to the amount of basic science courses required as part of the degree, with BScN and BSN degree curriculums requiring completion of more courses on math and natural sciences that are more typical of BSc degrees (e.g. calculus, physics, chemistry, biology) and BN curriculums more focused on nursing theory, nursing process, and teaching versions of general science topics that are adapted to be more specific and relevant to nursing practice. Nursing school students are generally required to take courses in social and behavioral sciences and liberal arts, including nutrition, anatomy, chemistry, mathematics, and English. In addition to those courses, experience in physical and social sciences, communication, leadership, and critical thinking is required for a bachelor’s degree. BSN programs typically last 2–4 years. Someone who holds a BSN can work in private or public medical and surgical hospitals, physician’s offices, home health care services, and nursing facilities. Having a BSN can result in more opportunities and better salary than just an associate degree.

The bachelor’s degree prepares nurses for a wide variety of professional roles and graduate study. Course work includes nursing science, research, leadership, and related areas that inform the practice of nursing. It also provides the student with general education in math, humanities and social sciences. An undergraduate degree affords opportunities for greater career advancement and higher salary options. It is often a prerequisite for teaching, administrative, consulting and research roles.

A Bachelor of Science in Nursing is not currently required for entry into professional nursing in all countries. In the US, there has been an effort for it to become the entry-level degree since 1964, when the American Nurses Association (ANA) advanced the position that the minimum preparation for beginning professional nursing practice should be a baccalaureate degree education in nursing. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) affirmed in 2010 that nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression

Accreditation

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) are the accreditation bodies for Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs in the United States. Both Commissions are officially recognized as national accreditation agencies that ensure quality standards for undergraduate to graduate nursing programs by the United States Secretary of Education.

Accelerated BSN programs

Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs allow those who already have a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field to obtain their nursing degree at an accelerated rate, which is why they are also commonly referred to as “Second Degree Nursing Programs.” These programs usually have strict prerequisites because the program coursework focuses solely on nursing. Accelerated BSN programs are typically anywhere from 12–24 months.

BSN Completion or “RN to BSN” Programs

These programs are intended specifically for nurses with a diploma or associate degree in nursing who wish to “top-up” their current academic qualifications to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. In order to keep the programs up-to-date and relevant to the current healthcare system, the course material is updated regularly with feedback from registered nurses, nurse managers, healthcare professionals and even patients.

BSN entry level into nursing in the future

Among nurse educators, arguments continue about the ideal balance of practical preparation and the need to educate the future practitioner to manage healthcare and to have a broader view of the practice. To meet both requirements, nurse education aims to develop a lifelong learner who can adapt effectively to changes in both the theory and practice of nursing. Degree programs were created in the 1950s and 1960s to quickly fix the nursing shortage, and while today there is still a nursing shortage concern due to the fact that the current nursing census is made up of more than 50% of nurses above the age of 55 years old and upon retiring will create a huge nursing deficit, there is still the aim to promote higher level educated nurses at the entry level into one’s nursing career. “Recent changes in the scope of nursing practice have many hospitals are looking to select only BSN-trained nurses and are requiring current AD nurses to further their education to acquire the BSN degree. Magnet hospitals typically employ greater numbers of BSN-prepared nurses and currently require that all nurse managers and nurse leaders hold degrees at the BSN level or higher.”

In 2011, The Institute of Medicine recommended that by 2020, 80 percent of RNs hold a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree. This was also noted in a report titled: Institute of Medicine’s report on the Future of Nursing, and has been followed by a campaign to implement its recommendations. In this report a 2nd recommendation was made to focus on increasing the proportion of registered nurses (RNs) with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020. Towards that effort the report recommends that educational associations, colleges, delivery organizations, governmental organizations, and funders develop the resources necessary to support this goal. These recommendations are consistent with other policy initiatives currently underway; for example, legislation requiring that nurses receive a baccalaureate degree within 10 years of initial licensure has been considered in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

There are numerous states that are looking to propose a “BSN-in-10” legislation in order to increase the number of BSN-prepared nurses. “This legislation would require newly licensed AD or diploma nurses to earn a BSN within 10 years of initial licensure.” The Department of Health and Human Services have noted that they feel that in light of the fact that many RN-to-BSN programs offer distance learning options, the 10-year deadline is thought to be appropriate.

Many of these recommendations are being driven by recent studies regarding patient outcomes and nursing education. Hospitals employing higher percentages of BSN-prepared nurses have shown an associated decrease in morbidity, mortality, and failure-to-rescue rates. Increasing the percentage of BSN nurses employed decreases by 10 percent the 30-day inpatient mortality and failure-to-rescue rates. Studies that provide this type of evidence-based practice encompass the ultimate purpose of a higher level of educated nurse workforce. It adds to support the ultimate mission of the Texas Board of Nursing (BON or Board), which is to protect and promote the welfare of the people of Texas by ensuring that each person holding a license as a nurse in this state is competent to practice safely

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