Nursing Education and Addressing Challenges
Introduction to Nursing Educational Challenges
Education in nursing profession many challenges, these challenges effect in many ways in the training and open acceptance of future nursing professionals. As the framework of healthcare progress there would be modifications in the educational system to deal with. Let discuss some of the frequent challenges that in the nursing education and educational strategies for students to deal with them in coming future.
Nurse challenges are difficult situations, experiences or expectations that are common in the nursing profession. These challenges include physical, emotional and mental experiences that result from the particular requirements of working as a nurse.
Some Common Challenges in Nursing Education
Clinical Placement and Common Challenges
Some times in clinical placement is with exceed accessibility and limited on hand practice awareness for nursing students. Improper and insufficient clinical placement effects nursing skill development and better results in real world patient care outcomes. Several studies have stated that the incompetence of instructors, negative attitudes of staff, inadequate students support from hospital management and shortages of positive role models were predominant among the challenges experienced by undergraduate nursing students during clinical placements.
Unnecessary Turnover of Nursing Faculty
High faculty turnover is a program struggle for nursing students; this leads lack of continuity in educational activities and inconsistent teaching quality. This factor is negatively impact the learning outcomes in nursing educational system.
In addition, nurse turnover is influenced by organizational factors, which include hospital size, geographical region, salary, union, department type, and workload.
High Enrollment no in Nursing Students
Globally nursing professionals demand is increase day by day, so there is also a high rate of nursing degree enrolment for education. But there is no proportional increase in the faculty and educational resources that results in down quality in nursing education and output.
In 2022, there were 20,172 newly enrolled students in professional nursing programs. This population was predominantly female: 85.1% in AY 2021-2022. Gender data were missing for 1.4% of newly enrolled RN students. Figure 1 illustrates the AY 2021-2022 newly enrolled student breakdown by age. (Texas Govt)
There are an estimated 29 million nurses worldwide and 2.2 million midwives. WHO estimates a shortage of 4.5 million nurses and 0.31 million midwives by the year 2030 (1).
Advancement in Technology
The curriculum of nursing education should be evolving to meet the need of advance technology in healthcare and better patient outcomes. There would be synchronization in the utilization of such more advance changes to ensure proficiency of students.
Technology has brought many benefits to nursing, but it also presents some challenges, including:
Patient data security: The increased use of health technologies like EHRs raises the risk of patient data being stolen or breached.
Human touch: Technology can improve care delivery, but it could also lead to a loss of the human touch in nursing.
Critical thinking skills: Nurses may become too reliant on technology, which can lead to a loss of critical thinking skills and an inability to react to unexpected situations.
Access to technology: In rural and remote areas, nurses may have limited access to modern health technologies due to a lack of financial resources and high-speed internet.
Cost: Acquiring new technology and training staff to use it can be expensive.
Patient loads: Nurses may administer more direct care, leading to growing patient loads.
Adoption: All nurses may not adopt new technology, especially those who are less technical.
Nursing Educational Strategies to address such Challenges
Promote Partnership with other Healthcare Facilities
There would be and open opportunity for clinical placement for nursing students, when they develop a strong partnership with other healthcare facilities.
Partnership working helps to ensure that care and support meets the diverse needs of individual people and communities. People experience a seamless care and support journey, and their support is coordinated across different agencies and services.
Fostering Faculty Development and Support
Faculty development programs enhance teaching outcomes and reduce faculty turnover along with better educational results. Ongoing training and mentorships and opportunity for professional nursing growth that is fruitful in retain skilled and trained educators that are results in student satisfaction.
Faculty development is a series of programs and activities that help faculty members improve their skills in areas like teaching, research, and administration. Here are some ways to foster faculty development and support:
Provide training
Faculty development programs can help educators learn how to provide personalized support to students. This includes tutoring skills, which can help faculty members address students’ unique learning needs.
Encourage collaboration
Faculty development programs can encourage collaboration between institutions. This can help build capacity in the education system and promote excellence.
Offer workshops
Centers for teaching and learning can offer workshops and resources on new classroom approaches. These can help faculty members’ foster integrative abilities.
Build community
Faculty development programs can help build community through reading circles, informal meet-ups, and other activities.
Recognize faculty
Faculty development programs can recognize and reward faculty for developing their teaching skills.
Provide opportunities for learning abroad
Faculty development programs can provide opportunities for learning abroad for research and development.
Implementation of Innovative Teaching Methods
Simulation based learning is the one of innovative teaching methods and blended learning methods are also enhance students engagement in understanding about education activities.
These methods also beneficial, to manage a large group of students and promotion of active and collaborative learning as well.
Developing soft skills: Integrate the development of soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, and time management.
Staying updated: Stay updated on educational trends and experiment with new methods.
Setting clear goals: Set clear learning goals.
Curriculum Integration with Technology
The integration of technology in the curriculum is best to address challenges posed by the advancement in the technology. Hands on experiences with health records and tele-health along with other digital tools are part of this effort.
Integration of technology in education simply refers to the use of technology to enhance the student learning experience. Utilizing different types of technology in the classroom, including a virtual classroom, creates learners who are actively engaged with learning objectives.
Advancement in the Student Support Services
Student support system services such as tutoring, counseling and academic advising. It is also helpful to navigate educational challenges of nursing students. Student’s resilience and academic performance can be enhanced by support services system.
Conclusion
If we need better competencies in nursing students it is essential to prepare them as competent and confident healthcare professionals. And it is only possible innovative approach in their educational system, so they are able to deal with such situation or challenges in their professional life.
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