As nurses, we are charged with the care of individuals and their families across a wide scope of practice to render quality, compassionate care in a timely manner. Our reputation among the public is one of honesty, trust, and caring, ranking nursing as the most trusted profession for 18 consecutive years. However, with increased complexity of patient care, technological advancements, understaffing, COVID-19 fatigue, and limited time to spend with patients, are nurses pulled in too many directions? Can we reasonably maintain both competence and caring with those left in our charge, including the next generation of nurses?
Patients enter the healthcare system sicker than patients of the past. We now care for patients on the floor that 20 years ago would have been in the intensive care unit. Higher patient acuity equates to time-intensive care and an increased cognitive load on nurses providing the care. Patients also have shorter lengths of stay, often requiring extensive home-based nursing care after discharge. It is necessary for home care nurses to have a level of nursing competence to rival the health condition complexities required to provide complex care for this patient population. Further compounding these concerns is the integration of technology across all facets of care and the responsibility to have a working knowledge of these devices.
The use of technology has surged in the clinical care setting, leaving a gap between healthcare technologies and patient needs requiring experiential learning to understand how technology supports quality patient care. Educators, like myself, seek to narrow this gap by introducing technology into nursing curriculum through active learning strategies and more engaging teaching methods to help ensure students are better prepared for their transition into the workplace. Even with these efforts, technological devices evolve so quickly that our students undoubtedly encounter a different version of a product by the time they enter practice.
Technology aside, just encountering the healthcare system as a new nurse often triggers feelings of anxiety. I remember that time well—navigating an unfamiliar work environment while juggling a full patient load, med passes, documentation requirements, communicating with members of the healthcare team, and lack of confidence in my skills and judgment. What is unique now, however, is the change in the healthcare landscape brought on by the pandemic. New nurses must maneuver within an environment strained by heightened levels of unparalleled stress that has led to critical understaffing worldwide. Experienced nurses are leaving the profession in droves, resulting in a shortage of appropriate preceptors. Yet, available preceptors are overburdened, exhausted, and far too burned out to support the developmental needs of new nurses, raising questions regarding the ability of the profession to adequately mentor the workforce of the future. How do we build and sustain resiliency among new nurses facing these additional hurdles? How do nurses incorporate compassion and caring into patient care when pulled in so many directions with little time to complete the multitude of tasks and responsibilities?
It’s simple, really; we model it. The acquisition of knowledge does not stop upon graduation. It falls to preceptors, mentors, role models, colleagues, and peers to not only demonstrate competent care, but foster compassionate care merging the art and science of nursing. Nurse leaders, we can promote an environment of professionalism and responsiveness that provides nursing resources needed to create a culture of safety. Nurses have the honor of caring for patients when at their most vulnerable. Should we not extend the same to our colleagues, peers, and those following in our footsteps? We are raising the next generation of nurses, and they deserve our patience, compassion, understanding, and support as they navigate the many challenges to becoming a competent and caring nurse. Will future nurses still be considered the caring profession? Will future nurses agree? I sure hope so.
Ann Loomis, PhD, RN, CNEcl, is a professor at Purdue University School of Nursing in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, and a member of Sigma’s Delta Omicron and Eta Lambda Chapters. She is the recipient of Purdue University’s 2021 Exceptional Early Career Teaching Award. Photo credit: Purdue University.