Introduction
During the last several years, the field of nursing has been considerably changed and improved. There are more people, both, males and females, who want to become nursing and help people in hospitals and at home. They choose among the existing variety of academic institutions, consider their advancement opportunities, and identify the tracks that are appropriate for them. In this paper, several opportunities a professional nurse with a BSN may have in terms of clinical and management tracks will be described and analyzed to comprehend how people should make their choices.
Advancement Opportunities of a Professional Nurse
Despite the fact that Registered Nurses are in high demand among employers (Lillibridge & Fox, 2005), advancement opportunities for BSN nurses can be found in different areas and last during different periods of time. For example, an ordinary staff nurse may become a head nurse with time and continue moving up the career path to become a hospital’s chief of nursing. It is a kind of management advancement in nursing. There is also a clinical type of advancement. BSN nurses may become APRN nurses and provide patients with specialty care in such areas as psychiatry, pediatrics, surgical, etc. Finally, BSN nurses have a chance to change the field of their work and become teachers for other potential nurses. The years of experience can be used to explain the peculiarities of nursing to people with a short-term practice.
Clinical vs. Management Tracks
Nursing opportunities in the clinical and management tracks may vary considerably. There is research that proves that students’ expectations and the reality of clinical practices differ, and students have to reorganize their knowledge and theories in regards to the practices they have to be involved in (Papathanasiou, Tsaras, & Sarafis, 2014). In other words, clinical tracks create significant challenges for nurses to be overcome and analyzed. In their turn, the opportunities in management tracks are directly dependent on the abilities of nurses to apply their knowledge (Mosadeghard, 2013). Nurse managers have to develop policies and use their experience to gain opportunities. A BSN helps to become a leader in the sphere of nursing management and teach other people.
Track Preference
Poor education and the inabilities to find a successful practical application of theoretical knowledge gained seem to be one of the main challenges in the current nursing field. There are many people, who want to help patients and different people in need. Still, they lack the professionals, who can explain how nursing should be organized. Therefore, I want to get by BSN and obtain an opportunity to become a good teacher for potential nurses as soon as I get the required portion of practice. My personal advancement is a serious and complicated way where I have to be a good student and follower at the beginning in order to become a good mentor and supporter for nurses at the end.
Conclusion
In general, nursing is the sphere that requires professionals and people, who are ready to devote their lives to what they are doing. It is complicated. Still, the opportunities in the clinical and management tracks inspire many potential nurses to get their BSNs.
References
Lillibrudge, J. & Fox, S.D. (2005). RN to BSN education: What do RNs think? Nurse Educator, 30(1), 12-16.
Mosadeghrad, A.M. (2013). Occupational stress and turnover intention: Implications for nursing management. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 1(2), 169-176.
Papathanasiou, I.V., Tsaras, K., & Sarafis, P. (2014). Views and perceptions of nursing students on their clinical learning environment: Teaching and learning. Nurse Education Today, 34(1), 57-60.