The Highest Level of Nursing Practice

The Highest Level of Nursing Practice

The topmost rank among the levels of nursing practice is to have a PhD; you can only attain this by studying a doctorate degree in Nursing. You cannot just attain this just by skipping other degrees, you should first consider taking a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree before proceeding to a doctorate degree.

Of course if you’re a nurse, it feels better to be a RN or a registered nurse; you can get that after passing the nursing licensure exam that is offered for graduating nursing students. But wouldn’t it feel so much better and more prestigious if you were carrying a PhD badge? To have a PhD is never easy; it entails determination, discipline and diligence. If you are planning to take a Doctor of Nursing Practice level, be sure you know what you’re getting in to because graduating with a PhD is not as easy as bachelor’s and master’s degree. The course normally includes clinical characteristic of nursing than academic study. This means that you go under advanced leadership practice; you apply what you’ve learned for you to become an advanced practice nurses.

There are several doctorate practices for nursing. You can take Doctors of Medicine or MD, or if you want to be more specific and you want to be a dentist, then I suggest you take Doctors of Dental Medicine. Other schools who offer doctorate degree have Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctors of Psychology, and a lot more. It’s your choice what you want to excel in. Surely, to have a doctorate degree will earn you respect and recognition in your workplace and everywhere you go.

Nursing Education

The relation between the Levels of Nursing Practice and Nursing Education

There are different levels of nursing practice that is related in the field of nursing education. One cannot just jump to the highest level of nursing practice without having to go to the process of formal education. Also these levels differentiates nurses from one another; skills and knowledge, description of jobs, salary, work shifts, participation in the hospital and a lot more. If you think that all nurses can be a doctor’s assistant, well think again.

There is a ladder that signifies the step-by-step procedure in attaining the highest level. Getting to know the basics of care giving is probably the first step in nursing; you can attain that by a 2-month education as a certified nursing assistant. If you are a certified nursing assistant then you’ll probably be the one to help patients walk, reach something, help them go to bed or take another position, feed them.

LPNs or Licensed Practical Nurses on the other hand are different. LPNs progress in terms of their knowledge and skills compared to the CNAsor certified nursing assistants. Even though LPNs can do the things that normal CNAs do, they can also cover up wounds of patience, give alcohol massages, direct medications such as giving injections, analyze the progress of patients, and any other orders that a higher nursing rank can give. They still cannot take orders from doctors directly.

If you want to have the opportunity to work with doctors, I suggest you get registered. Registered nurses are those who pass the nursing licensure board exam. Their knowledge has been tested and so are their skills. They can work in hospitals to assist doctors in different operations; they also have the proper knowledge in making equipments work in the hospitals. Of course they are paid higher than CNAs and LPNs.

The Different Levels of Nursing Practice

The Different Levels of Nursing Practice

We all know that health care has always been in demand in our society due to aging. People need to be taken care of especially when they get old and dependent to other people who can aid them daily. It would be hard to walk alone when you’re 85; people who get sick and old seek attention and help. Nursing have become a growing profession nowadays that is why a lot of college students are taking Bachelor of Science in Nursing as their course to qualify in the different levels of nursing practice they have to undergo.

There are four (4) levels of nursing practice. The first and easiest to attain is to be a certified nursing assistant or CNA, however if you’re just a certified nursing assistant, your job description is very limited; you can’t even be an assistant of a doctor in the hospital. Sometimes you are even referred to as a nurse’s aid. More or less, what nursing aids do is to bathe the patients, dress them, clean them, and help them walk to the bathroom, etc. Their task is very basic.

The next level is the Licensed Practical Nurses and the Licensed Vocational nurses. In this level, the nurse still does the same task as those of a certified nursing assistant however LPNs or LVNs can analyze the patient’s condition whether it is improving or worsening.

The higher level to LPNs and LVNs are the Registered Nurses or RNs. They are the ones assisting the doctor in the hospital. Besides having the capacity to do all the tasks that are assigned to CNAs, LPNs, and LVNs, registered nurses can operate the machines in the hospitals they are assigned to.

The highest among the levels of nursing practice is the Advanced Practice Registered Nurses or APRNs. These people have certain specialties like CRNA or certified registered nurse anesthetist, CNM or certified Nurse Midwife, and a lot more.