How have nurses responded to the rapidly changing health care system? By harnessing the power of advanced education, such as clinical simulation nursing, modern practitioners are taught to combine innovativeness, critical thinking, and insight with the age-old heart of the profession: the need to provide care and advocacy to the sick and vulnerable members of their communities for positive outcomes.
As hospitals, clinics, and care centers face challenges such as staffing and budgetary constraints, concern over cost of care, and a growing population of elderly and chronically ill patients, the role of nurses is expanding. No longer simply serving as caregivers, nurses are thought-leaders, publishing scientific research, addressing policy, and collaborating with colleagues to shrink knowledge gaps. They apply knowledge and their skills.
Technology is there to help guide the way. Nurses and patients alike are using mobile medical applications to track, train, and educate. And more and more tasks are going digital: test results, blood work, X-rays, and prescription fills can be completed with the touch of a screen. Even basic medical instruments are getting smarter, adapting to the needs of a single patient, while electronic medical records (EMRs), teleconferencing systems, and cloud computing systems allow nurses to examine trends via health information databases and multiple sources of patient information. Today's nurses have tools undreamt of by past generations and benefits of clinical simulation nursing training.
As the practice of nursing becomes more complex, these tools are essential. Education, which includes and clinical simulation nursing technology grant practitioners the ability to be caregivers as well as innovators, both learners and instructors. And in a world where patients are proactive in researching their own health and symptoms, nurses must be receptive to personalized need -- to guide users to trustworthy applications and websites, nurses must first educate themselves.
Clinical simulation nursing education is critical to the evolution of the profession because it allows them to practice rare events repeatedly in a safe environment. Advanced degrees prepare nurses for unique challenges, and allow them to make difficult, on-the-spot decisions. But with sensitivity and an eye for innovation, modern nurses make a big difference in the care and safety of patients
Also read the article by Dr. Charles Tiffin, Provost, Capella University, who speculates on the changing role of today's nurses.
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