Educational entry level into nursing practice.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nursing, like other professions in the United States, is an essential part of the society out of which it grew and within which it has been evolving. The purpose and meaning of nursing as a profession have been defined by society. Society both recognizes and expects a profession to be an authority in a specialized field and this authority is legitimized through a superior knowledge base. This concept of a superior knowledge base has historically been based on the Bachelor's Degree as a minimum prerequisite for professional practice. Historical and sociological explanations are described in the article as to why nursing remained so long out of the legitimizing influence of the university. Contemporary American lifestyle of acceleration, change, tensions, and adaptive struggles are different from the turn-of-the-century life. The needs of contemporary society, and the dimensions of health care are different. The ANA Social Policy Statement and contemporary nursing theorists describe the human responses of an increasingly intelligent society within a complex health care system as the independent responsibility of the nursing profession. Does nursing have the autonomy and the authority to fulfill this contract with society? Do the members of the nursing profession agree on the parameters of a profession? Can nursing's image survive outside of these historically defined parameters of profession? It is within the context of these ideas and questions that the baccalaureate education in nursing is discussed as the minimal entry level into practice.