Nursing Regulations

After taking the relevant high school and college studies, registration is paramount for anyone pursuing a nursing career. It is an exercise that is the Bords of Registered Nurses regard highly, to determine who is academically qualified to obtain nursing licensure. For instance, to become a registered nurse4 in California, one must obtain a license through the California Board of Registered Nurses. The board vet candidate’s academic qualification and passes them through a screening program integrated with the National Council Licensing Examination. However, due to developments in the healthcare sector and the emergence of healthcare issues such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, some of the regulations seem to compromise the nursing curriculum development or redesign of nursing programs.

The California Board of Registered Nurses hinders unregistered nurses from working fully or maximizing their potential. According to Mastrogiannis (2013), nurses and midwives are often qualified and are critical members of the healthcare sector, yet they are not fully utilized due to restricting programs. As such, the California Board of Registered Nurses requires that any nurse working in a healthcare facility be registered and approved by the BRN. While the licensure program may not favor all nursing candidates, it is arguable that a nursing program may leverage the efficiency and effectiveness of decision making and healthcare advocacy of nurses who may, in one way or another, fail to acquire licensure. That way, the California Board of Registered Nurses affects the curriculum development in that all programs designed or redesigned must account for the legislation of all nursing candidates.

The regulatory commission focuses on education – among other things, to evaluate the nursing school curriculum approval, online nursing programs, regulate studies of continuing students, ensure evidence-based nursing education, and control academic works and publications’ standards. That way, the commission ensures that nursing students receive adequate knowledge and skills required for evidence-based nursing care and are suitable candidates for licensure by various state nursing boards (Oldland et al., 2020). The commission’s main idea is to protect the public against unsafe healthcare practices, which in turn fosters the delivery of competent, accessible, effective, appropriate nursing care.

The standards for becoming a registered nurse in California are mostly related to an academic qualification. For instance, one must be either of the following to become a registered nurse in California; an associate degree program student nurse, a holder of a bachelor of science in nursing, and an entry-level master’s nursing program. Besides that, one may qualify through LVN 30 unite option or military medical corps. As such, the NCLEX pass rate, tuition, and accreditation status reveal that nursing licensure’s main goal is to ensure nursing preparedness to meet diverse patients, function as leaders, and ensure health benefits to all patients (Institute of Medicine (US) Committee, 2011). This means that nursing curriculum development and program design must not only insist on the academic qualification, – which seems like a key factor in licensure but on the competencies of nurses.

Both online and face-to-face nursing programs are monitored over the same guidelines and standards as the California Board of Registered Nurses. Nevertheless, the regulatory commission ensures that both options do not compromise the quality of nursing education offered and that graduates can deliver competency in healthcare services. 

Nursing educators must align with the practices of the state. While a nurse educator may have conformed to some traditional nursing standards and practices, statutory nursing boards tailor guidelines and standards which might be different from those of a nurse educator. That way, nursing educators have been affected adversely, as they have to conform to new program designs and curriculum developments (Fawaz et al., 2018). Besides, the California Board of Registered Nurses accepts candidates from other professions besides healthcare, such as the military. This brings in issues concerning interprofessional collaboration in the nursing curriculum, in which a nurse educator must develop competency. 

At times, this may lead to ineffective learning outcomes, as suggested by Fawaz et al. (2018), that interprofessional teams may lack a shared perception of the curriculum’s tasks and objectives. Besides, the Board of Registered Nurses’ guidelines and standards that affect the curriculum and program design end up affecting the faculty development in nursing schools. For instance, due to demand for nursing school services, in a situation where few administrators are willing to fill such positions due to low wages, nursing schools end up hiring or engaging in non-academic activities. This disrupts the structure of nursing faculty, yet educators must synchronize themselves into such situations.

To sum up, registration in nursing is paramount, yet, the nursing boards of registered nurses often experience standards and guidelines that affect the nursing curriculum. For instance, the California Board of Registered Nurses hinders unregistered nurses from working fully or maximizing their potential. Nevertheless, the regulatory commission ensures nursing education is adequate for safe healthcare practices. Both online and face-to-face nursing programs are monitored over the same guidelines and standards, which impacts the nursing educator regarding their traditional standards, faculty structure, and practices in the environment.

References

Fawaz, M., Hamdan-Mansour, A., & Tassi, A. (2018). Challenges facing nursing education in the advanced healthcare environment. International Journal Of Africa Nursing Sciences, 9, 105-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2018.10.005

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee. (2011). The future of nursing. National Academies Press.

Mastrogiannis, D. (2013). Curriculum Development and Evaluation in Nursing. Nurse Education In Practice, 13(6), e49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2013.09.008

Oldland, E., Botti, M., Hutchinson, A., & Redley, B. (2020). A framework of nurses’ responsibilities for quality healthcare — Exploration of content validity. Collegian, 27(2), 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2019.07.007