Nurse Educators Desperately Needed in Nevada

I know I haven't posted in over a week. My apologies. Mark and I just got back from Jamaica where we were celebrating our belated honeymoon. It was quite beautiful and needless to say we had a wonderful time. The only sour point was that it rained every day. Apparently some tropical depression moved in and didn't leave until the last day we left. What can you do? We still had a great time despite the rain and look forward to the next trip. So much to see.

Anyway, I recently read that at a November meeting in Reno, the Nevada State Board of Nursing decided to allow teacher waivers for bachelor's degree nursing programs. The waiver, which has been in place for two years for associate's programs, lets nurses with a bachelor's degree in nursing and experience to teach the clinical lessons in venues like hospitals and nursing homes.

As most of us would agree that something should be done to increase the number of nurse educators, I believe the waiver program is a positive step forward. According to the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, Nevada is second-to-worst for nurses per capita. The issuing of waivers to increase the nurse educator staff could pull Nevada out of this slump. More importantly, over time, it would help ease the nursing shortage crisis.

Some argue that allowing those nurses with only a bachelor degree to teach classes would cheapen the profession because students would not learn nursing theory. However, I would argue that the waiver proposal would only allow bachelor degree nurses access to teach 'hands-on' based classes where nursing theory is not a central theme. And since the waivers only apply to clinical teachers, 75 percent of a school's nursing faculty still has to have a master's degree where students could learn nursing theory.

By advancing your nursing education, you can become an agent of change and a leader in your field.

Earning your advanced nursing degree online is easy! You will attain your advanced nursing degree when and where you have the time-at work, at home, it's up to you; it's all online.

Find out more about earning your nursing degree.