Expert Interviews, Guides & Advocacy Issues in Nursing

Under popular value-based care models, nursing rates are wrapped into the bigger hospital bill, making their contributions to business revenue invisible. Hospitals are rewarded for understaffing nurses because nurses are viewed as a cost in this financial model, no different than the gauze they use to wrap a wound or the IV pool they hang medications on.

Since the height of the pandemic, the number of nurse entrepreneurs has increased significantly, and the trend shows no sign of slowing, thanks in large part to the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which have made finding creative and lucrative business ideas easier than ever.

Coined by the Nursing Executive Centre of the Advisory Board, the experience-complexity gap describes the dangerously widening difference between the average nurse’s knowledge today and the rapidly increasing complexity of the patients they serve and the technology they must oversee. Put simply, patients have never been sicker, the technology required to keep them alive has never been more involved, and the nurses overseeing their care have never been less knowledgeable and experienced, through no fault of their own.

The decision to switch careers is a significant one. It’s an opportunity for someone unhappy with their current path to align their professional life with their personal values. For those who identify as empaths drawn to a career that offers learning, growth, and the chance to make a real difference, nursing could be their calling.

NPs in states that offer the most practice autonomy will find the easiest path to opening their own practice. Whereas NPs working in states with restricted practice must find a supervising physician to collaborate with them.

The nurse would start with an assessment, form a nursing diagnosis, and start their plan. Afterward, they would implement the planned nursing interventions and evaluate if they led to optimal patient outcomes.

For many NPs, advocacy concerns a particular issue close to their heart, one connected to underserved patients who deserve additional support. For Dr. Jessica Peck, the issue is the fight against human trafficking.

Nurse practitioners still participate in traditional recruitment and hiring processes despite the high demand for their services. Job interviews remain the de facto standard for health systems, hospitals, private practices, and clinics seeking to retain the services of an NP.

As part of progress towards a more inclusive and just society, it is essential to recognize and challenge the stereotypes within nursing. These misconceptions have led to a lack of diversity in the nursing workforce and have prevented individuals from pursuing or excelling in their nursing careers. Nurses and the broader healthcare community must prioritize confronting these stereotypes and dismantling them with education, advocacy, and visibility of the diverse and capable individuals in the nursing profession.

A nurse instructor requires experienced nurses to take their knowledge and skills in nursing and translate them into lessons that help student nurses. Their goal is to provide high-quality training for nurses that promotes safe and effective patient care.