NUR 4590 – Deliverable 6 – SWOT Analysis for Nurse Leaders Opportunity

 Opportunities that could happen in relation to this change are the ability to retain nursing staff, promote from within, further nursing education, and advance education levels. The BSN-educated nurse can fulfill leadership roles within the organization. This ability can show an opportunity to retain nursing staff and promote from within the trusted and loyal staff that is already available. Also, nurses with a higher level of education show the ability and desire to further their education, which could lead to advanced nursing degrees such as MSN, CNP, and DNP. Nurses with these educational levels can provide the organization with the opportunity to provide higher levels of staff education and improvement (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. pg. 280). These nurses are educated to the highest level and can hold educational training to improve nursing staff skills and improve client care.

Threats

 Threats that this change could pose if implementation does occur could include higher wages and possible nursing shortage. BSN-educated nurses have a higher level of education, which in turn means they will require a higher level of pay than lower graduate degree nurses. There will still be a need for support staff, such as LPNs and CNAs. If finances are a concern, the organization could do a further analysis of finances and potential cost savings related to decreased hospital readmissions and decreased hospital stay length (Wieczorek-Wójcik, B. et al., 2022). The other threat is the nursing shortage, which is a possibility since there are fewer BSN-educated nurses than nurses with associate degrees (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2021).

References

 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021). The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982.

Wieczorek-Wójcik, B., Gaworska-Krzemińska, A., Owczarek, A., Wójcik, M., Orzechowska, M., & Kilańska, D. (2022). The Influence of Nurse Education Level on Hospital Readmissions-A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074177