The Nightingale pledge all nurses take remains the same, but the practice of nursing is rapidly evolving. What will nursing and studying nursing look like soon? What are upcoming challenges and opportunities? Watching out for trends and developments can help nurses make the career decisions that are best for them personally.
Addressing changes in care and work environment
Changes in nursing care and education are often caused by outside factors. Nurses and nursing faculty must adapt to changes in the patient population and work environment.
Increased focus on geriatrics die to aging populations
The US population is already older than it has ever been, and the share of Americans that are 65 and older is projected to rise to 23% by 2050 (Population Reference Bureau). This will make the demand for nurses specializing in geriatric care rise further. Already, geriatric nursing is among the higher-paying specialties.
Trying to mitigate the nursing shortage
80% of nurses expect the shortage to get worse in the next five years. The aging patient population is only one of the reasons: A lot of nurses are leaving the profession due to retirement, occupational burnout, or because they prefer more flexible and lucrative roles like travel nursing.
Additionally, a shortage of nursing educators leads to qualified applicants not getting into nursing schools.
In short: Becoming a nurse is a very secure career choice and will remain so. Workplaces may continue to try and incentivize nurses to work for them and stay (e.g., through sign-on bonuses, improving benefits, and time off).
As the shortage of healthcare professionals also affects physicians, the demand for nurse practitioners is growing, and FNPs may have even broader autonomy in the future.
Increased focus on nurses’ mental health
We know that being a nurse is not only emotionally taxing at times but also demanding in terms of workload and stress levels. 4 out of 5 nurses experience a lot of stress. Workplaces are struggling to keep their nurses on board due to burnout. Awareness for this is rising and staffing levels will likely become more regulated.
On the other side, nurses themselves are becoming more aware and assertive in protecting their mental health. Nursing schools will intensify teaching self-care and awareness to help new nurses be resilient and informed.
Telehealth and blended learning: taking nursing online
Managing new ways of care delivery
Telehealth use rose steeply during COVID. Of course, there has been a decline since in-person visits are possible again, but levels have stayed higher than pre-pandemic. Being a telehealth nurse is not a separate nursing specialty, but the associated skillset is and will become more and more valued. In nursing education, teaching tech skills will need to be implemented more firmly. This includes growing areas like healthcare informatics, but also teaching about new issues like cultivating good “digital bedside manner.”
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, there are persistent disparities in who accesses video telehealth services. It will be important to look into the reasons and further focus on achieving health equity and not leaving patients behind while care is changing.
Leveraging the advantages of online learning
Even though online learning was implemented as an emergency solution in many places during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is here to stay. Online learning without relocation or commuting is less expensive and time-consuming, making going to nursing school more accessible. More flexibility makes it easier for travel nurses or working nurses to pursue a BSN part-time.
Moreover, nursing students’ learning styles are evolving. Most students are now digital natives, expecting and preferring video-based and flexible learning over traditional lectures. Online learning platforms already play a role in many students’ learning.
Schools will have to adapt and deliver their education in ways new generations are comfortable with. More schools will likely experiment with blended learning techniques in their curricula.
Use of AI and VR: integrating technology
AI can automate repetitive tasks to save time, which could help address staff shortages and improve care. Electronic health systems will likely develop, and more experiments will be run in the coming years on how to integrate AI in helpful ways. Maybe in the future, some of your colleagues walking around on the med-surg floor will be robots!
AI could also play a much bigger role in the education of new nurses. Tools like ChatGPT can assist in training by, for example, generating practice scenarios or virtually simulating patients to help students practice communication skills. The speed of evolving tech will require lots of attention in the near future, taking into account limitations as well as investigating opportunities to utilize AI in a helpful way.
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