Developing the nursing occupation through continuous skilled development

A number of difficult years.

Recent years have been particularly difficult for the nursing occupation. We fought a virus that wreaked havoc on our patients, families and ourselves. We have grappled with problems with equity, diversity and inclusion and have needed to adapt the best way we educate nursing students, moving from face-to-face models to hybrid and online models. Faced with a shortage of competent staff, we’ve developed progressive workforce and care models while specializing in supporting resilience.

Through all of this, we recognized the necessity to accumulate recent knowledge and skills through continuous skilled development to maintain up with the demands of the changing health care paradigm.

“We learned something new every day.”

Investments in skilled development are essential to make sure we’re prepared to look after our patients and to assist shape and lead the longer term of health care. Every day through the pandemic, we learned something recent about caring for Covid-19 patients. Learning recent skills, investing in recent knowledge and education, difficult ourselves to take into consideration situations otherwise and being mindful can all help fuel and focus our nursing journey.

Willingness to take risks and challenge the established order.

Our occupation was built on nurses who were willing to take risks, learn, and challenge the established order. The way forward for our occupation might be secured if enough of us have the courage to maintain going.

This Nurses Month, allow us to remember to speculate in our own skilled development and knowledge to maneuver our practice and occupation forward and optimize patient outcomes.

Author: Anne Dabrow Woods, DNP, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, AGACNP-BC, FAAN, chief nurse, Health science, research and practice, Wolters Kluwer