Nursing education must evolve to meet the changing demands of the field, but with limited resources and external hurdles like the COVID-19 pandemic, gaps have continued to persist.
Faculty shortages
Much like nurse shortages, nursing faculty shortages have caused issues in the industry.
"We need to develop stronger academic-practice partnerships to meet both student needs and address faculty shortages," Candace Mori, PhD, RN, interim chief nursing officer at Cleveland-based MetroHealth, told Becker's.
At MetroHealth, bedside nurses have guest lecture opportunities in nursing schools. The system is also trying to develop more partnerships in nursing research between clinical and academic nursing.
Trying new education models
MetroHealth is also experimenting with new learning opportunities to help students have a deeper understanding of the field.
"For instance, we could think outside the traditional clinical rotation model and have students work on a nursing unit as part of a team, earning both course credit and a paycheck," Dr. Mori said.
The benefits of such models are twofold. First, students could increase their knowledge and have reduced onboarding time once they're hired. Second, it would give students a clearer understanding of a bedside nurse's duties.
"This clearer understanding could lead to greater career satisfaction and improve retention rates for hospitals," Dr. Mori said.
Specialty nursing education
Many hospitals are closing pediatric beds because they do not have the specialty nurses to care for those patients, Jesus Cepero, PhD, RN, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care services at Stanford (Calif.) Medicine Children's Health, told Becker's.
To address the gap, Stanford Medicine has created yearlong education programs that bring new nurses into the hospital and give them specialized training.
"Unfortunately, many general hospitals can't offer this kind of specialized training," Dr. Cepero said. "I believe one of the biggest needs is for organizations like ours to provide educational support to regional and local hospitals, so they can continue to effectively care for pediatric and women's health patients in their communities."
Data analytics and management skills
With advances in technology comes greater data analytic capabilities, and these are something nurses could use more education on, Barbara Vazquez, DPN, RN, chief nursing officer at San Antonio-based Christus Children's, told Becker's.
"We will need to teach nurses how to use data analytics to inform patient care and improve outcomes," she said.
Nurses are also taking on more leadership roles, which require more education in management and organizational skills.
"Organizations will benefit from this investment early on with charge nurses and nurse managers," Dr. Vazquez said. "These are the individuals running the day-to-day operations and they should have the training necessary to make informed decisions in complex high-pressure situations. They should also understand how to appropriately manage productivity and the significance behind these metrics."