A nurse
is a healthcare professional who, in
collaboration with other members of a health
care team, is responsible for: treatment,
safety, and recovery of acutely or
chronically ill individuals; health
promotion and maintenance within families,
communities and populations; and, treatment
of life-threatening emergencies in a wide
range of health care settings. Nurses
perform a wide range of clinical and
non-clinical functions necessary to the
delivery of health care, and may also be
involved in medical and nursing research.
Nurses have been working in the professional
field since ancient times.
Typically,
nurses are distinguished from one another by
the area they work in (critical care,
oncology, nephrology, pediatrics, adult
acute care, geriatrics, psychiatric,
community, occupational health, etc.).
Bodies such as the American Nurses
Association and the Canadian Nurses
Association have both supported a move
towards the creation of national specialty
certifications in order to support more
specialized nursing roles.As nursing roles and specialties
are continually changing, the
International Council of Nurses states
that nursing education should always include
continuing education activities; while
educational preparation is expected to vary
between countries, all nursing jurisdictions
are encouraged to promote continuing
education as an important form of
professional education.
Nursing
education varies widely, and continues to
produce an array of options as nursing roles
evolve and also expand in scope. Educational
preparation as a nurse may include
certificate, diploma, associates, bachelors,
masters or doctoral preparation.
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An Associate of
Science in Nursing (ASN)
is an entry-level
tertiary education
nursing degree. In the
United States, this type
of degree is usually
awarded by community
colleges or similar
nursing schools. Some
four year colleges also
offer this degree.
Students awarded an
Associate of Science in
Nursing are qualified to
sit for the NCLEX-RN and
apply licensure as a
Registered Nurse.
Many nursing schools
offering a bachelor's
degree have "fast-track"
programs to enable
practicing nurses with
an associate's degree to
earn a bachelor's degree
in approximately two
years. In some
institutions this is
called "Bridging."
The Bachelor of
Science in Nursing (BSN)
is a four year academic
degree in the science
and principles of
nursing, granted by a
tertiary education
university or similarly
accredited school.
Though one is eligible
to sit for the NCLEX-RN
licensing examination to
become a registered
nurse after graduating
from either a two year
program with an
Associate's Degree (ADN)
or from a four-year
program with an
Bachelor's Degree (BSN),
the BSN prepares nurses
for a professional role
away from the bedside
with coursework in
nursing science,
research, leadership,
and nursing informatics.