Contemporary Nursing Practice: Changes, Comparisons, and Communication

This paper discusses the changes in contemporary nursing practice, including the impact of technological advancements, nursing shortages, and increasing specialization. It also compares the practice competency of ADN and BSN nurses, explores evidence-based practice, and highlights the importance of effective communication among interdisciplinary teams.

Running head; NURSING PRACTICE 1
Contemporary nursing practice
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Contemporary nursing practice
In modern times, the nursing practice has changed. According to Djukic, Stimpfel, &
Kovner, (2018)These changes has been enhanced by new technological advancements in
healthcare, emergent models of care and the rising demands of healthcare in the population. The
rising care demands in the population has been caused by increase in diseases, increasing life
expectancy and increase in population. Serious challenges such as nursing shortages have also
led to changes in the field. This paper focuses on the changes in nursing practice, comparisons
between associate and baccalaureate nursing and different communication trends in modern
interdisciplinary nursing communication.
Changes in nursing practice
Nursing training has shifted towards being more demanding and also more formal as
emphasis is not only put on teaching the skills but also the theoretical background that demands
learning of the skills. In addition, there are more nursing degrees such as an associate degree,
masters and bachelors. There has also been an increase in responsibility that nurses have over
patients. Today as opposed to previous years, advanced nursing practices includes making
diagnoses and prescriptions in some instances.
According to Boswell, & Cannon, (2018), technological advancements have also changes
the way nurses do their job. Just to mention a few, nurses no longer file data manually but they
use electronic health records. There are also mobile apps that help nurses to conduct research,
administer medicines and provide better monitoring on the patient. Lastly, there are more
specializations and positions in the field for the registered nurse in positions such as forensic
nursing, geriatric and bioinformatics. Flexibility in the field has increased as nurses today can

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also work in different environments such as nursing homes, educational institutions, and
correctional centers, travel nursing and medical offices.
Compare contrast between ADN and BSN practice competency
There are several similarities and differences between the ADN and the BSN nurse based
on their practice competency. The differences in the competency between the ADN and the BSN
mainly emerge from the differences in training whereby the BSN has more training to meet
national patient demands and improve on quality and efficiency than that of the ADN. The BSN
therefore performs more complicated tasks than the ADN. In many circumstances, the BSN
nurses are also assigned leadership roles such as supervising other nursing staff. As opposed to
the ADN the BSN has more career options. This makes the BSN nurses who wish to advance
their knowledge to acquire more leadership roles and improved competency which puts them
above the ADN nurse.
Dang, & Dearholt, (2017) explains that one basic similarity is that both ADN and BSN
nurses is that both are trained to provide high quality patient care. This makes the quality of care
as a bare minimum for all nurses that gradually improves with experience. However, there is still
an observable difference in the level of skills and proficiency as the ADN nurses are trained
more on technical skills while the BSN are trained more on proficiency.
Nursing care approach to decision making
The approaches to care and decision making also differ between the ADN and the BSN.
Decision making in nursing environment is influenced by skills and experience. For instance, in
a situation where there are nursing shortages, an ADN nurse is likely to be inclined more towards
hiring new workers whereas the BSN is likely to explore leadership possibilities and potentials

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such as changing the management models, the type of leadership and the organizational set up of
care. This is because the ADN nurse focuses on problems as bits whereas the BSN nurse is able
to view a problem as a whole (Muller, & Bester, 2016).
Significance of evidence based practice
Evidence based practice in nursing involves integrating evidence in clinical operations by
conducting research to inform decisions and justifications for actions argues Matthias, & Kim-
Godwin, (2016). It is important to base practice on evidence because it helps to improve the
quality of care and patient safety. Basing practice on evidence allows nurses to make effective
decisions that are centered on the best interests of the patient. In addition, it helps to increase the
pool of knowledge that nurses have in the field. The overall effect is that it helps to improve
efficiency at the work place.
The RN-BSN preparation for practice prepares students to make evidence based
judgments by educating nurses on the steps of evidence based practice. These steps includes
asking questions in areas of uncertainty, searching for information to answer questions, critical
examination and analysis of evidence and information, integrating all the knowledge acquired in
the day to day activities to improve expertise and finally conducting evaluation to assess the
impact of the informed decisions (DiCenso, Guyatt, & Ciliska, 2014). .
Communication among interdisciplinary teams
Modern healthcare approaches demands a patient centered holistic approach towards
care. This is achieved through effective communication and collaboration among various
healthcare providers that impact the patient’s health. These include the hospital care, the home
care providers, the drug sellers and the clinics that a patient visits for regular checkups. It is

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important for all these healthcare providers to have patient history and to keep updated on the
patient’s progress. With the advancement of health information technology, nurses use the
electronic health records to update information.
According to Moran, Burson, & Conrad, (2016), nurses also develop certain other
applications and integrated data systems depending on their respective departments within the
healthcare organization. The use of efficient forms of communication improves safety and
efficiency in various ways. Efficient communication and storage of information minimizes
errors, arbitrary deletion of important information and malicious distortion of patient files ad
information. In addition, electronic storage and communication increases ease of access to
information and it as well optimizes on space which increases the holding capacity of the
organization.
In conclusion, it is important to point out that nursing practice has changes over time due
to various technological advancements, challenges facing the health sector such as workforce
deficits, increased chances of specialization and also the advancement of new ideas relating to
practice. In addition, it is also important to point out that it is important for nurse to make
evidence based conclusions as well as utilize modern tools of effective communication to
enhance the efficiency, patience safety and the quality of care.

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References
Boswell, C., & Cannon, S. (2018). Introduction to nursing research: Incorporating evidence-
based practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Dang, D., & Dearholt, S. L. (2017). Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice: Model and
guidelines. Sigma Theta Tau.
DiCenso, A., Guyatt, G., & Ciliska, D. (2014). Evidence-Based Nursing-E-Book: A Guide to
Clinical Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Djukic, M., Stimpfel, A. W., & Kovner, C. (2018). Bachelor's Degree Nurse Graduates Report
Better Quality and Safety Educational Preparedness than Associate Degree
Graduates. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.
Matthias, A. D., & Kim-Godwin, Y. S. (2016). RN-BSN students’ perceptions of the differences
in practice of the ADN-and BSN-prepared RN. Nurse educator, 41(4), 208-211.
Moran, K. J., Burson, R., & Conrad, D. (2016). The doctor of nursing practice scholarly project.
Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Muller, M. E., & Bester, P. (2016). Nursing dynamics. Pearson Southern Africa (Pty) Limited.