There are some universal truths that have continued to preserve through times and as Malcolm X clearly understood, education is the key to success and a bright future. In fact, if every single one of us didn’t believe this, we would not have chosen to pursue our nursing education at Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing. And during our time at the school, we have realized that education is not a destination but a journey due to the simple fact that change and progress are facts of the world we live in.
The necessity for continuous education is also heightened by the fact that the pace of progress has never been greater as it is now. Technological progress has been putting new tools at nurses’ disposal and like every other profession, the body of knowledge in the nursing profession also continues to expand at a rapid pace. One is almost tempted to believe that the infamous Moore’s Law which has governed the computing sector for decades now applies to almost every profession in some regard. With progress come greater expectations and nurses are expected to utilize latest technology and knowledge to improve the quality of healthcare.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Nursing Oaths & Honors Student Speech".
There is no denying the importance of technical education which is why we all chose to attend Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing. But our time here and our experiences outside school have taught us that education exists in various forms and takes place almost everyone for as long as one is willing to learn. This is why we nurses should strive to learn something everyone and from everyone. It is even more important because nurses are being called upon to play greater role in the respective organizations they serve. In addition to providing care to patients, nurses are being encouraged to work with other stakeholders in the healthcare setting to improve operations and management. Nurses’ role in healthcare settings will continue to expand which also creates greater need for both formal and informal education.
Not only our work environments have been changing but the patients we serve are also increasingly coming from diverse cultural backgrounds. When we chose to become nurse, we explicitly or implicitly agreed to provide the best care we are capable of providing to our patients. This growing cultural diversity of patients calls us to acquire greater knowledge of cultures because the world will continue to become smaller and smaller as a result of globalization. Thus, we nurses should make active efforts to acquire cross-cultural knowledge which again shows the importance of informal education.
The importance of education is also heightened by the fact that our national healthcare system is going through the most radical transformation in nation’s history. We have finally embraced the universal healthcare system which will enter millions of Americans into the system. As a result, our already full hands will be responsible for taking care of many more and this requires us to become even more efficient with our resources and skills.
The transformation of the nursing professional is not only being shaped by increasing body of knowledge and technological progress but also evolving philosophies as to what healthcare should be about. There used to be a time when the emphasis was on acute care but now the focus has shifted to primary care. In addition, healthcare providers including nurses are increasingly providing education to patients. But being knowledgeable and being a teacher are not the same things. One can be the most knowledgeable individual in his/her respective field yet he/she may not be a good teacher. One of the qualities of good teachers is the ability to communicate ideas in a way that the audience can understand it. As a result, nurses do not only need to acquire technical knowledge but also soft skills in order to become effective educators.
I am not oblivious to the fact that one’s credibility is extremely important and I am not here only to preach the benefits of continuous education but have been doing the same myself as well. When I first decided to join the nursing profession, I thought an associate degree will be enough to get me into the door and I was not wrong. But I soon realized nursing professional’s ability to provide quality care to his/her patient is directly related to his/her education. This inspired me to go for undergraduate degree. By the time I completed my undergraduate education, I had realized the need and importance of continuous education. This prompted me to go for Masters in Family Nurse Practitioner and now I am certified as Family Nurse Practitioner at federal level as well as in the State of California. But my educational journey doesn’t stop here. In the near future, I aim to pursue my Doctorate in Nursing Practice. It is my utmost desire to further advance the body of knowledge in the nursing profession and further enhance the status of nurses in the healthcare profession.
I would like to use this opportunity to seek commitment from my fellow nurses that we will further advance the profession just as those who came before us did. We are lucky to be in one of the most exciting times and it is up to us to demonstrate that nurses will be at the forefront of healthcare innovation in the 21st century.
