Transition from Enrolled Nurse to Registered Nurse - Essay Example

Instructor: Transition from enrolled nurse to registered nurse Name: Institution: Course: Date: The nursing profession is categorized based on one’s education level, competence and the level of practice. Nurses in hospitals may all be referred to as nurses but they all play different roles in the process of assisting doctors in the duty of taking care of patients through the assessment to the diagnosis stage where the doctor concludes. In Australia especially, nurses will only perform certain tasks if their level of education tally with the duty that is being assigned to them. This article will focus on the stages that a nurse goes through from being an enrolled to a registered nurse. This is quite a journey that nurses have to go through so as to ensure that they are termed as competent and their services can be recognized depending on how they perform or score in the practice which is rated and an individual given all the reasons as to why they do not qualify to become nurses. Registered nurses have to go through undergraduate level by undertaking the Bachelor of Nursing while the Enrolled nurses are the ones whose education level is a t the certificate or diploma level. In Australia, the nursing workforce is said to be full of multitier body of professionals who work singularly based on their clinical guidelines and ones educational pathway (Jacob, et al, 2011, 303). All these professionals have the opportunity to pursue higher level education in relation to nursing hence the conversion process where one graduates from being an enrolled nurse to a bachelor of nursing nurse and then to the registered nurse. Even though this process calls for different sacrifices such as social, financial and even family hardships before the commencement of the study, it is always worthwhile. All these nurses are expected to perform varying tasks as they all meet a given strength in their competence level or standards. This is because; they all have different accountability and responsibilities hence the need to understand the differences between the registered and enrolled nurses (Cubit, & Lopez, 2012, 207). Nurses play different roles and even though this may seem to be a universal right, they all search for their professional identity. Many people have argued that there being different classes of nurses and they are all nurses is a little more confusing. Thus has been worsened by there being a debate on what different roles the different classes play (Jacob, et al, 2011, 304). Nurses are required to register as a professional which is a way of regulating their professional conduct, maintaining standards as well as being able to know their different scope of practice as they are different classes (Ralph, N. 2013, 225). Research has proven that previously, the process of registration was different as compared to now where nurses have to have a given qualification so as to register. Before, nurses would only succeed in hospital training programs so as to register but now, they have to register with the board of nursing examinations. Even the definition of nursing has proven to be difficult as these two categories perform different tasks even if they are all regarded as nurses. It is said that one can easily differentiate their physical tasks which can be well documented, their knowledge base is different but their professional judgment and the way they solve their problems can not be easily articulated. In all these therefore, where one goes to school and how long they spend in their clinical placement makes all the difference. Enrolled nurses are given vocational trainings between a year and half and it is during this time that they get their certificates or diploma level. It is from here that one progresses to become a registered nurse once they undertake a tertiary course in nursing for over three years. They can also take shorter time depending on their previous level of education. Registered nurses are more recognized since their level of accountability and responsibility is high (Ralph, 2013, 230). They are also responsible for the wrong doings based on their actions or even those of their fellow colleagues who are under them as they can also become supervisors. With regards to supervision requirements, the enrolled nurses are expected to be responsible of their own individual actions and nursing care as they also operate under the supervision of the registered nurses. Enrolled nurses have for some time now been considered as the core feature of contemporary health care delivery in Australia. Therefore, it seems that career opportunities for enrolled nurses are limited and their transition is more or less dependent on their being able to learn and get to another educational level like the registered nurses. Their career progression thus depends on them being able to converse into registered nurses (Deppoliti, 2008, 260). They have to also go through the experience where they grow and develop personally, achieve professional success and emotion. They also have to go through personal, social and professional commitment whereby they have to sacrifice their social, financial and familial hardships so as to commence their studies which will guarantee them transiting into registered nurses. Enrolled nurses have come to know that for them to achieve their goals of working hard with higher and increased responsibility, develop their career and experience more job satisfaction, they have to study hard and be able to achieve the title of a registered nurse. This is possible as the available push factors will contribute tone excelling or not. There are though negative emotions that can make one not to progress and become a registered and this may be due to the reduced opportunities that are available for them to advance their careers, lack of professional development whereby these nurses even though they advance their careers, they will still be nurses save for them being able to supervise others, they will nor become doctors but they will remain as nurses (Burns, P. & Poster, 2008, 63). There is a lot of confusion on the roles of nurses and the scope of their practice which can contribute to one not being encouraged to progress in their career. One can also lack encouragement from either the inner self, colleagues and family thus fail to advance their career and want to maintain their status quo. This could be simply because, if even one does progress and they will still maintain the same role and perform the same roles, one may be tempted not to advance their career. Role erosion is another reason as to why one would not be converting to a registered nurse. There are perceived prejudice that tends to degrade nurses on the fact that they perform most jobs compared to doctors and yet they are the least paid or overworked in the healthcare institutions. Creation of personal care assistant has also contributed to nurses in the lower level not to upgrade their levels of education. Last but not least, there is a belief that the roles that enrolled nurse plays may go into a state of limbo hence nurses opt to remain in their current state as opposed to the new state that they may be introduced to (Michael, et al, 2011, 19). These are some of the reasons as to why some enrolled nurses do not want to transit and become more competent in another level of role performance, accountability, responsibility as well as supervision. More to the push factors, there are other factors that sometimes would contribute to an EN from enrolling into a BN (Bachelor of Nursing) (Ralph, 2013, 226). Lacking awareness that there are credit transfers which can be used to give one a chance to study; fear of academic expectations; some may have extended family responsibilities; some view that studies do cause financial constraints though in the short term; fear of being alienated from friends and colleagues from the EN department, lack of time which can always be created, and some view the transition as being disloyal to the other team members (Chunta & Katrancha, 2010, 558). It becomes easy for one to get into the BN after changing their attitude, one can be able to upgrade and be able to be open to clinical experiences that are new and more exciting. This becomes an eye opener to an EN as they know now that they knew little about nursing and thus the difference in the categories even though the roles may be similar, experiences are different when compared. It is important for one to get into this bachelors course with an open mind, be ready to learn and have computer literacy as well as be ready to know that it is challenging and unless one is ready for the challenge, then they will have problems. Research has shown that those interested in taking BN have shown great improvement and they are now more enthusiastic and excited, confident, ready to grow in knowledge as they become more able to carry out research and more aware of the career prospects that they can have in future after the completion of their course. The transition to the registered nurses is always challenging to enrolled nurses as they sometimes are not ready for such responsibilities (Jacob, et al, 2013, 157). This raises questions as to if the EN were ready for the challenge ahead of them. This is because; this transition calls for more accountability, increased responsibilities as their scope of practice is widened and more is expected from them as they take care of patients in the process of their assessment. Therefore, it is important for the already transited RNs to offer the new graduates support so as to motivate them in their new venture (Michael, et al, 2011, 21). This is because; older RNs assume that the new entrants are ready for the challenge ahead of them hence they do not support them thus this should be taken care of. It is good to also consider that there are enrolled nurses who may not be willing to convert into registered nurses. Their decision and support should be respected as we all have different interests and our decisions are based on some issues that we have already dealt with or we are planning to deal with. Therefore, those who are not ready for the challenge should not be forced to enrol into it. Research has shown that hospitals are suffering from shortage of nurses. To bridge this gap therefore, there is great need to ensure that new graduates are well taken care of by being given information on what they expect from the practice of nursing (Kelly, & Ahern, 2007, 916). Practitioners have already established ways through which new graduates are incorporated into the system. They have come up with ways of differentiating between new registered nurse graduate’s education for practice and the actual practice. This gap was created due to the knowledge and skills that the nurses learnt in class and what they are expected to deliver as they offer their services. Even so, different levels of skill acquisition have enabled the practitioners to know in which category the new nurses are in (Jacob, et al, 2013, 160). It is said that new graduates are above the novice stage since they belong to the advance beginners stage as their experience have exposed them into knowing how to practice as they have already been faced with situations that are real and they have dealt with such situations of assessment. Nurses require support as they transit into the new level of accountability and responsibility. Health care institutions have thus devised ways through which these nurses can be supported from their advance beginners into competent people who can offer much better services. This has been done whereby interventions such as internships, externships, nurse residencies, lengthy orientation programs as well as assignments given by nursing mentors have been proven to be effective in ensuring that new graduates are well prepared for their new venture. It is here that new graduates are rated based on how competent they are. This is because there is a difference between competent, competence and competency. If new graduates are tested based on their ability to judge well, have great knowledge base, skills and professional values then they are said to have competency (Saghafi, 2012, 25). It is true that new graduates face a complex and demanding transition to practicing nursing. This is because; they should not only be socialized on how they should operate as the undertake their practice but instead, their training should be holistic in that they are able to be accountable for their patients as well as learn the formal and informal rules and regulations of the healthcare institution which will contribute to shaping their behaviors. It is evident that new registered nurses are always fearful of the new venture even though they are competent, they are faced with the challenge of how appropriate will they offer their services based on the knowledge that they have (Burns, P. & Poster, 2008, 67). The idealized roles are different from the real role. Being able to differentiate these two roles makes it easier for the new graduates to decide to adapt into the new situation instead of fleeing from the expected responsibilities. It is here that nurses can be able to foresee their future into this field or abandon the same field especially when they carry out the first assignment. The shortage in workforce and the economic constraints that have been evident have adversely affected the healthcare institutions raising the questions on whether we will still receive personalized care like before, if the scope of practice will change for the nurses and their level of education (Deppoliti, 2008, 255). There are questions that have been raise on why there are insufficient numbers of nurses entering the nursing profession as well as many of them leaving the same field to seek for other forms of employment. It is important therefore to understand these transitions and how effective does the profession support, retain and sustain their staff members. Nurses as well ought to be informed that they should be flexible in their search for jobs as they should not only learn how to balance the demand for employment with personal needs as they transit into this field of practice to people’s health. Socialization is very important in the nursing profession as it helps in shaping the new graduates in their new role of transition. It affects the retention rate of nurses as they are able to operate well in this new environment. Socialization is said to have a great impact on the graduates’ work as it becomes of quality and they are able to perceive themselves positively as they offer their services. Socialization has the ability to enable new graduates perceive things differently hence they are satisfied with what they do and how they do it which would not have been the case if they were not socialized (Feng & Tsai, 2012, 2066). Lack of socialization contributes to nurses performing poorly; they are also not committed to remaining in the same institution hence the increased turnover of nurses. Nursing is termed to be a caring profession but why does it seem to be affected by the actions of the same caring individuals as they bully others. These are some of the questions that we need to get answers and be able to make this field live its perceived objective of offering caring services to both the staff members as well as the patients who come for services. In conclusion, it is important to understand that when one transits from one level to another, one may be faced with positive as well as negative changes some of which if not given appropriate support, one can make mistakes or even fail to realize their potential. Nurses therefore need to be guided in making informed decisions on whether to enrol into universities to get more knowledge on how to offer caring services to their patients. This is because; knowledge is power and skills always open more opportunities for us as we venture into different fields of operation. It has been documented that the transition period is always stressful to new graduates as they are faced with many challenges and if this period is not well governed then nurses can have a negative attitude towards change and this would not be appropriate. Change is said to be as good as rest and nurses have been grateful to those who have given them a helping hand as they progressed into the registered group of nurses. They have said that this change has greatly affected their view of nursing as they have been able to learn more and become more knowledgeable and ale to face any challenge with regard to their practice. Transition even though it is so stressful, it is worth it in the long run as one becomes able to offer heightened accountability, increased responsibilities as well as be able to supervise other either in the same field or even at family level. Bibliography Burns, P. & Poster, C. 2008. Competency Development in New Registered Nurse Graduates: Closing the Gap Between Education and Practice. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. Vol 39, No. 2. Chunta, K. S. & Katrancha, E. D. 2010. Using Problem-based learning in staff development: Strategies for teaching registered nurses and new graduate nurses. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. Vol 41, (12).557-564. Cubit, K. & Lopez, V. 2012.Qualitative study of Enrolled nurses transition to registered nurses. 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Vol 17. 18-21. Ralph, N. et al, 2013. From EN to BN to RN: An exploration and analysis of the literature. Content Management Pty Ltd. Contemporary Nurse. Vol. 43(2). 225-236. Saghafi, F. et al, 2012. New graduate nurses’ experiences of interactions in the critical care unit. Content Management Pty Ltd. Contemporary Nurse. Vol. 42(1). 20-27. Read More