Many working nurses might have to obtain bachelor degrees, and online nursing school offerings could very well be their means of attaining them. Requirements seem to be in the process of changing.
At this time approximately eighteen states have laws in the works that would require nurses (within ten years of earning an associate degree) to enroll in Bachelor of Science nursing degree programs, according to an Inside Higher Education article published in February. As this report tells it, a Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching asserts that all working nurses should have bachelor degrees.
Nurses who enroll in nursing degree programs are likely to find themselves among rising numbers of students of all ages. The percentage of college freshmen planning to pursue a nursing degree increased from 1.7 percent in 1988 to 4.5 percent in 2008, according to a Higher Education Research Institute report cited in the Dallas Morning News. Mid-career professionals concerned in part about job stability also are becoming interested in nursing, the Dallas Morning News reported. And 2009 enrollment in entry-level nursing degree programs at the bachelor level increased for the ninth consecutive year, while enrollments in graduate nursing programs surged, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
With a demand for college nursing programs outweighing the supply, online nursing school programs are accommodating many students, reports from the National League for Nursing and Dallas Morning News suggest. Nearly everything required can be undertaken online.
Colleges are moving programs in nursing online at a fast rate, the Inside Higher Education article noted. Of some 621 Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programs overall, the number of fully online programs grew from 96 in 2007 to 129 in 2009, according to statistics cited in the Inside Higher Education article. And a 2009 Health Affairs report suggested that while the nurse shortage might end in the near future, large shortages can be anticipated as baby boomers age if educational opportunities aren’t expanded.
Nurses are reportedly learning and working in different ways as a result of technology. It seems more and more that videoconferencing, hand-held devices and online learning strategies are a part of many nursing degree programs. And with healthcare educators reportedly also placing greater importance on viewing patients holistically, students in some programs are said to care for virtual patients as part of their coursework. Nursing degree programs require clinical training, and many online nursing schools accept transfer credits for clinical hours that have already been logged. Some online nursing degree programs combine in-person and Internet-based offerings to accommodate clinical offerings. Others are challenged by clinical offering shortages and, according to the National League for Nursing, are as a result experimenting with “simulated” clinical trials.
The nursing profession since 1965 has considered making bachelor degrees a requirement, according to a March 2010 report in the Journal of Professional Nursing. And the finest nursing care involves a greater need to understand and apply new technologies and put new findings into practice, writer Ellen Olshansky, a Registered Nurse, reported.
Still, the recent Carnegie Foundation report has spurred controversy in areas such as college affordability. At least one non-profit college that discovered many of its associate nursing degree recipients would pursue a bachelor degree if the price was right charged what’s considered a competitive $207 per credit hour, the Inside Higher Education report noted. Students can also apply for grants, scholarships and fellowships to offset costs associated with pursuing a nursing online degree.
Grants, scholarships and fellowships are offered for online nursing schools by schools and federal and state governments. Large companies such as Johnson & Johnson and organizations such as the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses, Health Occupation Students of America, National Association of Hispanic Nurses and United Daughters of the Confederacy have also made tuition assistance offerings such as these available. For more information on nursing degree scholarships, check the internet.