This document discusses the significance of nursing education and professionalism. It outlines the characteristics of a profession and analyzes nursing's place on the professional continuum. While nursing demonstrates many professional traits like formal education and ethics, barriers like varying educational levels, gender stereotypes, and historical influences have hampered full professional development. The history of nursing education progressed from diploma programs to associate and baccalaureate degrees. Baccalaureate education is emphasized as important for developing leadership, research, and theory-based skills needed for today's complex healthcare environment. Barriers to RNs obtaining BSNs include cost and time, while facilitators include personal goals and potential for career advancement. Media images of nursing are often negative stereotypes that

1. Nursing as a Profession
The Significance of Nursing Education
Nicole Sharrow, RN
November 19, 2017

2. This presentation will discuss:
▪ Characteristics of a profession.
▪ Nursing’s place on the professionalism continuum.
▪ Barriers to professionalism in nursing
▪ History of nursing education
▪ Significance of baccalaureate education in nursing professionalism.
▪ The importance of RN to BSN education and the growth of baccalaureate
preparation.
▪ Facilitators and barriers for RN to BSN students.
▪ How media images of nursing are transformed through professional
education.

3. What is a profession?
▪ Scholars have debated the meaning of profession since the 1900s.
▪ Three criteria consistently appear in most discussions
▪ Service/altruism
▪ Specialized knowledge
▪ Autonomy/ethics
(Black, 2017, p 53)

4. Characteristics of a Profession (Houle)
▪ Formal training
▪ Definition of mission and foundation of practice
▪ Continued learning and development
▪ Mastery of theoretical knowledge
▪ Legal right to practice
▪ Public acceptance
▪ Ethical practice
(Black, 2017, p 54)

5. Nursing IS a Profession
Profession
▪ Formal training
▪ Mission and foundation of practice
▪ Legal right to practice
▪ Continued learning and development
▪ Public acceptance
▪ Ethical practice
Nursing as a Profession
▪ ADN, BSN, diploma programs
▪ ANA standards of care, philosophy of
nursing statements by individual
hospitals and organizations
▪ Licensure
▪ CEUs and further education
▪ Nursing consistently rated “most
trusted profession”
▪ ANA code of ethics

6. ANA (American Nurses Association) and
Professionalism
▪ Fosters high standards of nursing practice
▪ Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics adopted by health
organizations nationwide (including Rutland Regional Medical
Center)
▪ Promotes safe and ethical work environment
▪ Advocates on health care issues affecting nurses and the public at a
state and national level
(http://www.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA)

7. Barriers to Professionalism in Nursing
▪ Lack of uniformity in nursing education.
▪ Gender issues
▪ Historical influences
(Black, 2017)

8. Barriers – Lack of Uniformity in Education
▪ Three levels of entry level nursing: diploma, ADN, and BSN.
▪ Varying levels of entry level education unique to nursing.
▪ All three levels of nursing are eligible for licensure (N-CLEX).
▪ RNs must collaborate as equals with other professionals who have much
greater requirements for practice.
▪ With such a variety of preparation, nursing has been unable to develop a
common identity which sabotages our ability to develop as a profession.
(Black, 2017)

9. Barriers – Gender Issues
▪ Nursing has traditionally been dominated by women.
▪ “Women’s work” (teaching, nursing, social work) typically undervalued in modern
society.
▪ Gender politics and stereotypes are reinforced in hierarchical organizations such as
hospitals.
▪ Nurses seen as doctor’s assistants or mother figures to patients.
▪ This undermines the professional values of autonomy and self-determination.
(David, 2000)

10. Barriers – Historical Influences
▪ Nursing historically developed in religious orders and adjunct to the
military.
▪ Expectation of unquestioning obedience to “superiors”.
▪ Connection to religion implies that nursing is inherently altruistic: the
common representation of nurses as “angels”.
▪ This hinders nurses from demanding fair compensation and adequate work
conditions.
▪ Nurses can be made to feel guilty or greedy for advocating for their
profession.
(Black, 2017)

11. History of Nursing Education
▪ Florence Nightingale is the founder of modern nursing
▪ Began the professionalism of nurses by insisting nursing was not a
“charitable service” but rather a “respected occupation requiring advanced
education”.
▪ First training schools for nurses in United States were hospital based
diploma programs.
▪ Each school had its own standards and requirements, no national
certification
▪ Purpose of diploma programs was to staff the hospitals that provided them
(Black, 2017, p68)

12. History of Nursing Education, cont’d
▪ Associate Degree Programs (ADN) began in 1952 in response to postWWII
nursing shortage and rise in community college education.
▪ Accessibility of community colleges, low tuition, and shorter duration of
programs make ADN programs popular.
▪ Most importantly, ADN graduates are eligible to take the licensure
examination for RNs.
▪ Majority of practicing RNs in the United States hold an associate degree.
(Black, 2017)

13. History of Nursing Education, cont’d
▪ The Brown Report (1948): Nursing schools should be placed in universities
and colleges.
▪ In 1965 the ANA concluded that baccalaureate education should be the
minimum preparation for professional practice.
▪ National League of Nursing (NLN) in 1982 affirmed that BSN should be the
minimum education for professional nursing practice, while diploma or
ADN of nursing prepared for technical practice.
▪ Practicing nurses with diplomas or ADNs vigorously protested the
recommendations.
(Black, 2017, pp. 70-71)

14. Significance of Baccalaureate Education in
Nursing Professionalism
▪ Faculty qualifications in BSN programs often higher than basic nursing programs.
▪ Magnet hospitals typically employ greater numbers of BSN prepared nurses.
▪ Complexities of health care support concept of additional education.
▪ Broader knowledge base from wider range of general education courses. Important as role of
nurses in the community continue to expand.
▪ BSN programs offer training in research, theory, leadership and community health.
▪ Courses in research are important to enable nurses to use evidence based practice.
▪ Courses in theory-based practice establish a foundation for problem solving and critical thinking.
(Spencer, 2008)

15. The Importance of RN to BSN Education and
the Growth of Baccalaureate Preparation
▪ Hospitals with higher proportions of nurses educated at the baccalaureate level saw lower
mortality and failure-to-rescue rates among surgical patients (Aiken, Clarke, Cheung, Sloan, &
Silber, 2003).
▪ Chronic problems with nurse retention requires nurses with academic preparation in leadership.
▪ Complexities of issues such as Medicaid and reimbursement call for nurses to have a basic
understanding of the economics of health care and how it affects nursing practice.
▪ Despite consensus of benefits of baccalaureate preparation, majority of nurses are associate
trained.
▪ The nursing shortage that spurred the development of theADN program has continued to this
day.
▪ Therefore, it is vital for the profession of nursing thatADN trained nurses are encourages to
pursue a BSN degree.
(Spencer, 2008)

16. Barriers for RN to BSN students
▪ Time constraints
▪ Cost
▪ Lack of monetary incentive or recognition from employers (Spencer,
2008).
▪ No difference in percentage of complex nursing tasks performed by
BSN or ADN nurses (Smith, 2002).

17. Facilitators for RN to BSN students
▪ Expanding opportunities
▪ Desire to fulfill personal goal
▪ Potential for promotion
▪ Stepping stone for pursuing an advanced degree
▪ Most BSN programs accept the transfer of general education and nursing
courses from ADN programs, reducing the need to repeat prerequisites.
▪ Many programs are offered online, allowing flexibility for working RNs.
(Sarver, Cichra, & Kline, 2015)

18. Media Images of Nursing :Transforming
Through Professional Education
▪ Portrayal of nursing in the media has a direct influence on the public’s
perception of the profession.
▪ Stereotypes of nurses: naughty nurse, battle-axe, angel, handmaiden.
▪ Health care reform and policy is changing more that ever, and it is vital that
nurses have a place in these debates.
▪ These stereotypes make the public less responsive to nurses as
professionals and devalues our input.
(Brown, 2009)

19. Media Images of Nursing, cont’d
▪ “TheTruth About Nursing” is an organization using advocacy and education
to improve the image of nursing in popular media.
▪ Example: Currently has a petition to protest the development of a “Young
Nurse Rachet” horror television series in development by Netflix
(Truthaboutnursing.org, 2017).
▪ It is important that nurses look and act professional in public and online.
▪ Keep work and personal life separate on social media.
▪ Support professional nursing organizations efforts to work with the media
on accurate portrayals.
▪ Follow organizational policy regarding confidentiality and appropriate
online behavior.

20. References
American Nurses Association. (2017). About ANA. Retrieved November 19, 2017 from
http://www.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA
Black, B.P. (2017). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Brown, P. (2009). Saving lives [Review of the book Saving lives:Why the media’s portrayal of nurses puts us all at
risk, by S. Summers & H.J. Summers]. Kansas Nurse, 84(7), 10-10.
David, B.A. (2000). Nursing’s gender politics: Reformulating the footnotes. Advances in Nursing Science, 23(1), 83-
93.
Sarver,W., Cichra, N., & Kline, M. (2015). Perceived benefits, motivators, and barriers to advancing nurse
education: Removing barriers to improve success. Nursing Education Perspectives, 36(3), 153-156.
Smith, J.E. (2002). Analysis of differences in entry-level practice by educational preparation. Journal of Nursing
Education, 41(11), 491-494.
Spencer, J. (2008). Increasing RN-BSN enrollments: Facilitating articulation through curriculum reform. The
Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39(7), 307-313.
TheTruth About Nursing.org (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2017 from
http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/about_us/index.html