roles a nurse plays as a care-provider and develop the proper attitudes as a nurse professional. To reach this goal, the professional nurse should be willing to learn, collaborate with colleagues, and be involved in the community.
The opportunities for nurses have expanded into many other areas inside and outside the hospital setting. Experienced nurses with advanced degrees in nursing and social work are becoming certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and nurse practitioners. They are working in outpatient facilities, emergency care clinics, university health centers, community treatment clinics, home care, hospice programs, and private care. However, according to an article in the Business Journal (Graham, 1993), while the ever-widening definition of nursesÆ functions has created greater opportunities, finding enough nurses to take advantage of these opportunities may be difficult. More nurses retire each year than enter the field. Funding for nursing education has been cut at both the state and federal level. Budget cuts have reduced the number of openings available at nursing schools and in training programs, also.
As health care technology becomes more complex, nurses must be better trained. They will be expected to use the computers and understand the medical machinery as well as they understand the patients and their bodies (Graham, 1993, p. 44).
According to the World Health Organization (Styles, 1995), nurses around the world are responding to new health care needs in health care facilities, communities, homes, schools, the workplace and in the streets. They work with the poor, refugees, substance abusers, HIV-infected individuals, substance abusers, the mentally ill, and pregnant women.
As health care systems are being restructured and funding sources reduced, nurses are collaborating with other health professionals to provide the necessary skilled care, insi...