It’s my opinion that nursing took a wrong turn back when it became degree-based. There are good and bad aspects to both hospital-based and degree-based nursing training but I’m of the view that everything you can learn about being a fantastic, bedside nurse can be learnt sufficiently, if not in superior fashion, in hospital-based training. Nursing is a practical profession, vital to the effective, safe functioning of any hospital. It’s not to say that there is not a place for some academia in nursing, but that should be an option for those who want to go into reasearch or teaching.
I don’t support independant nurse practitioning! If you want to learn about diagnosis, and wish to order x-rays, and prescribe (as opposed to dispense) drugs, then you want to be a doctor. There is already a training path for this, There shouldn’t be a second one via nursing. The solution to health workforce shortages is not to take professionals from one area of practice, where they are already in short supply, and get them to do the jobs of another group, also in short supply. The solution is to train more of each professional group to do their own jobs, competently.
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