For many, education is a young adult experience that culminates in a diploma and is usually ignored after one enters the “real world.”
But for a nurse, education is an essential, ongoing professional pursuit. RNs must fulfil obligatory contact hours or CEUs, and career advancement in nursing is fueled by attaining certifications, earning an MSN, a DNP, an Ed.D… The options, the possibilities — and the alphabet following your name – may seem to grow every year.
In the new Minority Nurse/DailyNurse Education issue, we look at the nursing profession as it navigates the often-choppy waters of the digital era of information (and misinformation). These articles explore ways in which nurses are using technology to pursue their commitment to lifelong learning, provide comfort to patients and families, and keep those in their care informed and safe.
In this issue:
- Julia Quinn-Szcesuil explores how nurses are changing the way they learn. Lectures and presentations are making way for more interactive, tech-based methods that allow nurses to be more actively engaged and fully absorb the information. Some credentialing centers, such as the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing and the Competency & Credentialing Institute, are even rethinking the way nurses earn and renew their certifications.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have been forced to rethink their approach as well. Michele Wojciechowski reports on how virtual nursing is being used to effectively manage and improve patient care. During the worst of the pandemic, nurses were not only able to monitor numerous patients and their vital signs remotely and alert the bedside nurse if anything required attention, but also, they were able to connect virtually with patients sent home with pulse oximeters and oxygen concentrators.
- Nearly two years later, we are still learning about the long-term effects of COVID-19. According to a University of Washington study, between 10-30% of patients exposed to the coronavirus are what they call “long-haulers.” Linda Childers speaks with nurses working in post-COVID clinics about the challenges this patient population faces.
- And finally, Janice Phillips speaks with two prominent nurse leaders, NBNA President and CEO Martha A. Dawson and NCEMNA President Debra A. Toney, on the newly formed National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and what they hope to accomplish.
Whether it’s enhancing your professional knowledge through certification to succeed in your career or learning to identify your own unconscious biases to help fight systemic racism, it’s important that we continue on our journey of lifelong learning.
To explore the full Education issue on our Issuu site, click here.
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- Mentoring the Next Generation of Black Nurse Researchers - June 16, 2022