Opportunities and Threat in nursing (expansion

1. essay will focus on completing an analysis for your possible career field or chosen academic path. You will complete research to determine the field’s strength and weaknesses (internal forces) as well as its opportunities and threats (external forces). The research process should lead to a persuasive thesis in which you evaluate the threats and challenges as a means to greater strengths and further opportunities.
The essay should be at least six (12) pages in length and cite from at least four (7) credible sources in the body of the essay. A Works Cited/Reference page with four sources should be included and all citations need to be in correct MLA format. This is a persuasive essay – the essay should clearly identify your argument, develop main points that support the argument, and provide evidence to give credibility to your main points. The essay will be assessed on: legitimacy and use of sources, formatting and MLA strength of thesis (argument) and main points, paragraph-building, and overall logic of defense.

2. OUTLINE you will look to use either the Rogerian method or the Toulmin method.

The Rogerian outline should have the following organization:

Introduction
Summary of opposing viewpoint
Statement of common ground or understanding
Statement of your claim and position
Statement of contexts
Conclusion (appealing to self-interests of the audience)

The Toulmin outline should have the following organization:

Introduction of the topic
Thesis claim
Grounds (reasons and evidence to support the claim
Warrants (connections between the grounds and the claim)
Backing (support for the warrants)
Rebuttal (including qualifications)
Conclusion.

3. After gathering seven potential sources, for your “Opportunities/Threats in Your Field” persuasive essay, create seven annotated bibliography entries.

Four entries will use the descriptive annotation

Three entries will use the analytical annotation

**Make sure you follow the template guidelines for MLA

4. Create a Research Log for all your seven sources;

Evaluating Source Material: Factors to Consider
• Relevance to research question
• Relationship to other sources: agree, disagree, expand
• Author/Authority: reputable? knowledgeable? Objective & disinterested?
• Affiliation/Sponsor: legitimate organization or publisher?
• Accuracy: well written, logical, consistent in itself and with other sources?
• Age: up to date?
• Bias v. Objectivity: conveying knowledge or selling a product/prejudice?

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Tutor:

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Date:

Opportunities and Threats in Nursing

Outline

1. Introduction
2. Nursing career is one of the most challenging professions, yet the most important as it deals with restoring life and saving human life.
3. Internal forces that influence nursing career choice are the internet, evidence-based practice, inter-professional teams, long-working hours, harassment, bullying and sexual advances.
4. External forces determining the choice of nursing profession are nursing standards, economic changes, educational opportunity, job insecurity and nursing curriculum.
5. Even though the nurses are faced with major challenges and threats such as long working hours, burn out and unfavorable working environment, the outcome is worth through witnessing sick people recuperate and get back in life, which motivates an individual to seek through by utilizing available opportunities such as the internet and continuous education to gain expertise in the career.
6. Current developments in nursing career
7. Increased specialization
8. Continued growth in telehealth
9. Increased need for doctoral education
10. Nurses shortage
11. Self-care implementation in nursing
12. Changes in standards and regulations
13. Internal Forces
14. Strengths
15. Evidence-based practice
16. Inter-professional teams

• Availability of the internet necessary for both education and practice

1. Personal attitudes, perception and knowledge
2. Weaknesses
3. Consideration of a female profession
4. Long working hours

• Harassment, bullying and sexual advances

1. Nurse shortage
2. External Forces
3. Opportunities
4. Education advancements
5. Representation by nursing associations

• E-nursing activities

1. Threats
2. Specialization
3. Nurse burnout

• Medical errors

1. Economic changes
2. Changes in standards and regulations
3. Conclusion
4. Nursing profession is very demanding
5. A nurse has to handle both internal and external factors and understand the threats and weaknesses and find a way to handle them and use strengths and opportunities to deliver the best.

Opportunities and Threats in Nursing

Introduction

Nursing practice is one of the most challenging professions, yet the most paying in the form of satisfaction and fulfillment from witnessing patients blossom back to life after alleviating the physical suffering. The nurses are tasked with important duties of promoting health, preventing diseases, and helping patients cope with illnesses. The nurses are attributed to society’s health status, and they have the power and expertise to promote wellness. The choice of a nursing career is affected by knowledge and perception. The nursing profession offers a wide range of career opportunities from the entry-level to doctorate. Therefore, nurses have an opportunity to continuous education and attaining skills they need to acquire more skills and expertise to promote positive expertise and improved outcome. In addition, a higher level of education is equated to better pay; therefore, nurses are urged to pursue continuous education.

Nurses have to be vigilant as they are faced with various external and internal forces. An individual should only take a nursing career as long as they have all the necessary qualities from empathy and patience to help deal with their diversity. The nurses should learn about sacrifice, especially when they have to work for long hours, particularly in emergency cases. However, they should also establish available opportunities such as the internet and evidence to achieve their career goals and enhance patients’ outcomes. Even though the nurses are faced with significant challenges and threats such as long working hours, burn out and unfavorable working environment, the result is worth through witnessing sick people recuperate and get back in life, which motivates an individual to seek more knowledge by utilizing available opportunities such as the internet and continuous education to gain expertise in the career.

Current Developments in Nursing Career

Over the past ten years, a nursing career has changed a lot affecting the practice preferences and operations. There is increased specialization with a growing demand for registered nurses specializing in specific medical areas such as obstetrics, psychiatry, gerontology, among others. These fields are advantageous for the career since the applicants can select the area they prefer to specialize in, thus gaining only the essential skills (Fehr 7). The specialization provides an opportunity for career advancement. Since the nurses gain certification in a specific area, they can select whether to practice individually or get hired as private or public care providers.

The increasing adoption of technology has changed the nursing practice. For instance, telehealth growth will enable the nurses to handle their patients with much ease through videos, remote monitoring, electronic communication, and phone consultation. Therefore, it will be an opportunity to achieve the nursing profession’s goals of promoting health among all people and solving disparity issues. Critical care is a major challenge in nursing, which can be promoted virtually, especially in rural areas. The method will ease up the nursing profession since it can ensure patient care.

The increasing need for doctoral education has promoted a large number of nurses to enroll in doctoral programs to enhance their education and get skills for improved practice. Due to the nursing practice’s dynamic nature, continuous education is essential to attain updated information concerning the practice. The economic changes have increased finance needs, and nurses are taking advanced education programs to achieve better wages Glerean et al. (392). Given that nurses are among the poorly paid people, doctoral education is an opportunity to embrace to secure better pay Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is the highest nursing education level.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) data show that the United States is facing a significant nursing shortage problem. It is a result of the increasing baby boomers’ age and increasing demand for health care services. Therefore, there is an opportunity to fill the gaps in the career that is available for both male and female applicants. Due to the shortage, the employers are offering bonuses, money, and tuition reimbursements, thus benefiting the available nurses and motivating others to join the profession.

The implementation of self-care in nurses has enhanced the preference and changed the attitude towards nursing. The practice is associated with trauma, stress, and pain, which causes an emotional and physical toll on the practitioners. Through self-care, the nurses can maintain their mental health, quality of life, and job satisfaction (Fehr 14). Therefore, nurses no longer need to fear the issues of burnout and fatigue as they are also provided with an opportunity to care for themselves. Studies illustrate a correlation between a healthy working environment and nurses’ productivity.

Changes in standards and regulations determine licensure, certification, and scope of practice. The development of licensing boards has ensured job safety by protecting the trained nurses. In some states, the nurses can practice individually as the nursing regulations allow it, while in others; the nurses have to practice under a physician. The nurses are also allowed to change the state of practice, which is an advantage in the practice since any nurse can select where to work.

Internal Forces

The strengths of a nursing career enable the professionals to fulfill their practicing goal. Nursing is an evidence-based practice with the current availability of information and evidence from clinical evidence. Nurses are trained with research skills which they can analyze and utilize essential knowledge to treat specific health problems. Due to health information, there is more information available for nurses to improve healthcare outcomes. The inter-professional teams empower the nurses to handle the nursing challenges. Since the nurses have special skills, they can combine them when addressing different issues, such as addressing a modern healthcare problem. The availability of the internet in nursing practice facilitates online classes for nurses to develop their education while still working. In addition, it can also be used in seeking clinical answers, in a case where the nurse is facing a challenge while attending to a patient. Glerean et al. (390) personal attitudes towards the profession, perception, and knowledge are essential as they influence dedication and determination.

The nursing career has various weaknesses, which can hinder effective practice and low career experience. Male individuals willing to pursue the career are intimated by affiliation of the vocation with women. Therefore, there are more female practitioners even though more men have been joining the profession in the past few years. A nursing career is associated with long working hours. The minimum working hours are eight, while the maximum are twenty-three hours. A nurse may be required to take extra shifts due to the nursing shortage problem. The nurses are thus tired, and it lowers the quality of the services they provide. Since female nurses are considered care providers, they face sexual harassment and bullying from male physicians, colleagues, and patients, thus create a hostile environment that interferes with effective practice. However, various opportunities can be utilized to overcome these challenges and achieve career goals.

External Forces

Nursing practice presents various opportunities for practitioners. One can join the career at the entry-level, and they will still get a chance to practice, contribute to the medical community, and earn money. Education advancement opportunities are available for the nurses to take higher levels to handle more health complications and get a better payment. Continuous education is also a requirement by the certification and licensing boards to keep the nurses updated with current information essential to improve healthcare services quality. The nurses have representation from various associations such as the American Nursing Association. The platform allows them to air their grievances (Davis-Ajami et al. 17). Therefore, in the profession, the nurses do not have to face the challenges alone as they seek membership in the nurse association and with others; they seek to improve their overall career. E-nursing presents the opportunity of handling the nursing professions with much ease. E-nursing provides different opportunities for nurses to interact, share the common challenges they face, and find a solution.

However, nurses need to learn about possible threats they will encounter while in practice. The first threat is specialization. If the nurses do not seek specialization, they might have hardships securing a job since most groups prefer practitioners with specific skills and expertise. The nurses have to be aware of nurse burnout caused by the long working hours and lack of self-care. If the practitioners are tired, they are likely to cause medical errors such as misdiagnosis, which may worsen the patient’s health or cause death. Such medical mistakes may lead to licensure revocation or a suitcase, which destroys the nurse’s reputation. Economic changes may lead to job insecurity and discourage students from applying for the nursing course and seeking a guaranteed security profession (Burke et al. 640). The nursing standards and regulation threaten to practice since there are specific rules the nurses have to failure, especially licensure, which affects the career.

Conclusion

The nursing profession is very demanding, and the practitioners have to understand their environment to achieve their professional goals. While joining nursing education, an individual should have a positive mindset and attitude towards the practice, focusing on the patient’s outcome rather than personal goals. Dedication and sacrifice are essential as they motivate an individual throughout the practice. Despite the challenges of nurse shortage causing long working hours, harassment, and male challenges, nurses should always hold in the strengths and opportunities such as evidence-based practice to acquire knowledge and information to handle specific health problems. The nurses should also seek specialization through continuous education to attain specific skills that guide handling particular health problems. While the practitioners join nursing organizations, they get representation, especially when dealing with specific issues such as harassment, sexual abuse, working hours, and minimum wage. However, when the nurses are faced with issues of lack of particular skills or knowledge, they can rely on the inter-professional teams for assistance. When working for long hours, the nurses can use the internet to get help to avoid misdiagnosing the patients. Through specialization, the nurses can gain specific skills, which will be essential despite economic changes, thus securing their job. Nurses should always seek self-care. It is the key to effective practice as they will gain mental and physical welfare needed to handle the patients’ health needs.

Annotated Bibliography

Analytical Annotation

Davis-Ajami, Mary Lynn, Linda Costa, and Susan Kulik. “Gap analysis: Synergies and opportunities for effective nursing leadership.” Nursing Economics 32.1 (2014): 17.

Davis-Ajami et al. assesses the gap in nursing practice career, focusing on the synergies and opportunities for effective nursing leadership. The gap analysis is a comprehensive process that guides the identification, understanding, addressing, and bridging the gap in service delivery and nursing career. Through the analysis, Davis-Ajami et al. identifies some of the challenge’s nurses face, such as the need to maintain quality. The author points out some of the nursing practice opportunities, such as the ability to enhance individual care experience, reduce the cost of care, and foster population health. Davis-Ajami et al. uses gap analysis to show the challenges in nursing practice can be identified, and available chances embraced to promote personal and professional growth. Therefore, the nurses have to identify the difference between the desired and actual practice conditions. The authors address a strength that nurses can use to develop their careers and outcome. The evidence-based benchmarks provide the nurses with the ability to improve individual experience and overall practice.

Fehr, Christel. “Diversity in Pre-nursing Majors and Nursing Program Applicants.” (2020).

Fehr’s essay focuses on how diversity has changed the nursing career. The author identifies the diversity of the United States as a major challenge in the nursing career. He also addresses the source of disparity in healthcare delivery as the diversity of people with 70% Caucasians and 85% women. The author illustrates that nurses inherit the healthcare system’s challenges by using a study of nursing programs from 2016 to 2019 with 326 sample students who applied, only 66% of which 64% of the applicants were admitted. There was no statistical significance between gender and graduation and ethnicity and graduation, which explains any person’s opportunity despite their background to pursue a nursing career. The United States is a majorly majority-minority community, while the profession is predominantly female occupying 93% positions and males with only 7% of nurses. The largest gap in the profession is race and ethnicity, which is a significant challenge for the practitioners.

Descriptive Annotation

Burke, Ronald J., Eddy SW Ng, and Jacob Wolpin. “Economic austerity and healthcare restructuring: correlates and consequences of nursing job insecurity.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management 26.5 (2015): 640-656.

Burke et al. identify the economic factors that influence nursing career. Using data collected from 289 nursing staff in California hospitals, the authors established that the economy is responsible for restricting and downsizing, which is a major threat to the nursing profession due to job insecurity. Job insecurity has associated challenges such as negative working attitudes, lack of satisfaction, an effect on the nurses’ psychological well-being, and perceptions of the hospital operations. Economic downsizing is related to government efforts to reduce the deficit during an economic recession. Cost reduction has been provided as the main suggestion of assuring the nurses of their job security, which addresses the profession’s threats. Personal demographic factors also affect the threats and weaknesses of the profession.

Glerean, Niina, et al. “Perception of nursing profession–focus group interview among applicants to nursing education.” Scandinavian journal of caring sciences 33.2 (2019): 390-399.

The article examines the perceptions of nursing career using focus group interviews. The perceptions of the interviews determine the opportunities and challenges faced in the profession. Some of the challenges identified were the nurse characteristics; for instance, female nurses are associated with bullying by colleagues and some patients. The profession benefits in job security, which can be considered an opportunity to develop one’s profession through educational possibilities, the enhancing expertise. One of the threats identified in decision-making is that the nurses have to take responsibility for their decision, especially regarding patients’ outcomes. Another opportunity is the multi-professional teams where the nurses help each other complete their tasks, thus making the work bearable. The nursing career perception range from attitudes, experience, and knowledge, which determine how the nurses handle the challenges and threats they face and capitalize on opportunities and strengths to develop personally and professionally.

Works Cited

Burke, Ronald J., Eddy SW Ng, and Jacob Wolpin. “Economic austerity and healthcare restructuring: correlates and consequences of nursing job insecurity.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management 26.5 (2015): 640-656.

Davis-Ajami, Mary Lynn, Linda Costa, and Susan Kulik. “Gap analysis: Synergies and opportunities for effective nursing leadership.” Nursing Economics 32.1 (2014): 17.

Fehr, Christel. “Diversity in Pre-nursing Majors and Nursing Program Applicants.” (2020).

Glerean, Niina, et al. “Perception of nursing profession–focus group interview among applicants to nursing education.” Scandinavian journal of caring sciences 33.2 (2019): 390-399.