Assignment: Recommendations for lifelong learning

Assignment: Recommendations for lifelong learning

The IOM published report, “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” makes recommendations for lifelong learning and achieving higher levels of education.

In 1,000-1,250 words, examine the importance of nursing education and discuss your overall educational goals.

Include the following:

1. Discuss your options in the job market based on your educational level.

2. Review the IOM Future of Nursing Recommendations for achieving higher levels of education. Describe what professional certification and advanced degrees (MSN, DNP, etc.) you want to pursue and explain your reasons for wanting to attain the education. Discuss your timeline for accomplishing these goals.

3. Discuss how increasing your level of education would affect how your competitiveness in the current job market and your role in the future of nursing.

4. Discuss the relationship of continuing nursing education to competency, attitudes, knowledge, and the ANA Scope and Standards for Practice and Code of Ethics.

5. Discuss whether continuing nursing education should be mandatory. Provide support for your response.

You are required to cite to a minimum of three sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and relevant to nursing practice.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

RUBRICS: Options in the job market based on educational level are thoroughly discussed. All options listed are realistic for educational level. The response demonstrates an awareness of job options based on educational level. Goals and timeline for professional certification and advanced degrees are thoroughly described. Clear and compelling reasons for wanting to attain the education are discussed. A well-developed discussion of how increasing level of education would affect competitiveness in current job market and personal role in the future of nursing is presented. The claims are substantiated and realistic for the current job market. A well-supported discussion clearly establishing the relationship of continuing education in nursing to competency, attitudes, knowledge, and the ANA Scope and Standards for Practice and Code of Ethics is presented. The discussion demonstrates insight into the importance of education to the nursing profession. A well-developed discussion of whether continuing nursing education should be mandatory is presented. Compelling rationale and evidence-based support for the argument is provided. Thesis is comprehensive and contains the essence of the paper. Thesis statement makes the purpose of the paper clear. Clear and convincing argument presents a persuasive claim in a distinctive and compelling manner. All sources are authoritative. Writer is clearly in command of standard, written, academic English. All format elements are correct. Sources are completely and correctly documented, as appropriate to assignment and style, and format is free of error.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.