Powerpoint on Nursing's pathway to a profession & the Baccalaureate education

1. Significance of
Nursing
Education
Castleton University
Lacey Boleyn, RN
September 16, 2018

2. OBJECTIVES
 Identify characteristics of a profession and evaluate nursing’s position on the
professionalism continuum
 Identify facilitators and barriers to professionalism in nursing related to
variability in nursing education preparation, gender issues, historical influences,
ethical issues and internal & external conflicts related to baccalaureate nursing
preparation
 Identify influences on the growth of baccalaureate education
 Identify how media images of nursing are transformed through professional
education

3. Characteristics of a Profession
Flexner’s Criteria
• Intellectual & accompanied
by a high degree of
individual responsibility
• Based on a body of
knowledge that can be
learned & refined through
research
• Practical & theoretical
• Can be taught through
professional education
• Has a strong internal
organization of members
• Has practitioners motivated
by altruism & responsive to
public interests
(Flexner, 1915)
Hall’s Criteria
• Use of a professional
organization as a primary point
of reference
• Belief in a value of public
service
• Belief in self-regulation
• Commitment to a profession
that goes beyond economic
incentives
• A sense of autonomy in practice
(Hall, 1968)

4. Occupation vs. Profession
• Occupation is defined as “a person’s regular
work or profession; job or principal activity”
(Collins English Dictionary, 2015).
• Profession is defined as “a calling, vocation,
or form of employment that provides a
needed service to society and possesses
characteristics of expertise, autonomy, long
academic preparation, commitment, and
responsibility” (Huber, 2000).

5. The Professionalization of Nursing
Miller’s Wheel
This model is based on
common themes that
Miller found in the work
of nursing leaders and
behaviors necessary in
maintaining or increasing
nurses’ professionalism
(Miller, 1985)

6. Kelly’s Characteristics of a
Profession
• Services are vital to the
welfare of society
• Specialized body of
knowledge
• Accountability
• Education received from
institutions of higher
learning
• Autonomy
• Altruism
• Code of Ethics
• Association
Contemporary
nursing
embodies
these
characteristics
(Kelly, 1981)

7. Barriers to Nursing Being
Recognized as a Profession by All
1. Varying levels of education for entry into practice
• Three entry levels: ADN, BSN, Diploma
program
• No other profession allows entry into practice at
less than a bachelor’s level
2. Gender Issues
• Imbalance in genders: majority-female
• Professions dominated by women are devalued
• Number of men in nursing slowly increasing
(Black, 2017, pp. 59-60)

8. Barriers & Facilitators to
Professionalism in Nursing
Continued
3. Historical Influences
• Historical connections to
religious orders and the
military counter the
characteristic of autonomy
• Florence Nightingale
shaped nursing into a
primarily-Caucasian female
profession by limiting the
entry of men & minorities
into her nursing schools
(Black, 2017, pp. 60-62)
4. External & Internal Conflicts
• Tensions between nursing &
medicine- APRNs assuming
more responsibilities, creating
competition with MDs
• Tensions among RNs with
different levels of education
• Competition among nursing
organizations for members
• Nurses must strive for
collaboration

9. Influences on the Growth of
Baccalaureate Education
• 1948- The Brown Report
recommended nursing education switch
from hospitals to universities and the
recruitment of men & minorities to
nursing
• 1965- ANA position paper proposed
Baccalaureate education should be the
minimum preparation for nursing &
strengthened their position in 1979 by
adding that “there should be increased
accessibility to high-quality career
mobility programs that use flexible
approaches for individuals seeking
academic degrees in nursing” (ANA,
1979).
• 1970- Lysaught Report recommended
increased research into the practice &
education of nurses and enhanced
educational systems and curricula (Black, 2017, pp. 70-71)

10. Influences on the Growth of
Baccalaureate Education Continued
• Mid 1980s- National Commission on Nursing suggested
establishing a clear system of nursing education with pathways
for educational mobility and additional graduate programs
• 1982- National League for Nursing (NLN) affirmed the
position that the BSN should be the minimum education level
for professional nursing practice and the ADN/diploma as
preparation for technical nursing practice
• 1996- AACN position statement supported RN-to-BSN
programs
• 2010- Institute of Medicine (IOM) wants 80% of nurses to
have their BSN by 2020
(Black, 2017, p. 71)

11. Influences on the Growth of
Baccalaureate Education Continued

12. How the
Media
Portrays
Nurses
“If this is a representative
sample of the public’s image
of nursing, we have an image
problem” (Black, 2017, p. 40)

13. How to
Transform
Media
Images of
Nursing
Through
Professional
Education
• Foundations and corporations like Johnson
& Johnson and The Truth about Nursing are
spreading awareness and education about
who nurses really are by putting out
campaigns to enhance the image of the
nursing profession and to recruit and retain
nursing students.
• Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter,
and LinkedIn can be used to positively shape
the public’s image of nursing.
• On a daily basis, nurses can demonstrate
what nurses do by looking and behaving
professionally.
• “Ultimately, all nurses hold the professional
responsibility to reinforce positive images of
nursing and, equally important, to speak out
against negative ones” (Black, 2017, p. 42).
(Black, 2017, pp. 42-43)

14. REFERENCES
Black, B. P. (2017). Professional nursing: Concepts & challenges (8th ed.). St. Louis,
MO: Elsevier/Saunders.
Collins English Dictionary-Complete and Unabridged, ed 10, Harper-Collins
Publishers, 2015 (website). Available at http://dictionary.reference.com/
browse/occupation.
Flexner A: Is social work a profession? School Soc 1 (26):901, 1915.

15. REFERENCES CONTINUED
Hall RH: Professionalization and bureaucratization, Am Sociol Rev
33:92-104, 1968.
Huber D: Leadership and Nursing Care Management, Philadelphia, 2000,
Saunders.
Kelly L: Dimensions of Professional Nursing, ed 4, New York, 1981,
Macmillan.
Miller BK: Just what is a professional? Nurs Success Today 2(4):21-27, 1985.