A matter of degree

AORN Journal,  March, 2006  by Kathleen B. Gaberson,  Sharon L. Chappy

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The AORN Scholarship Program is designed to support members who are seeking educational preparation for career advancement and to extend knowledge in perioperative nursing. At the present time, scholarships are awarded to AORN members who are pursuing baccalaureate degrees in nursing or graduate degrees in any discipline, as long as the member is preparing for a perioperative nursing role. Although it generally is accepted that preparation for advanced clinical roles requires a master's degree in nursing, usually in a clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner program, some nurses believe that preparation for management roles is best accomplished through a business or public administration degree program. Others believe that a graduate degree in education is the appropriate preparation for educator roles. We believe that leaders in the profession of nursing and in the specialty of perioperative nursing should have graduate education in the discipline of nursing.

It is not necessary to seek a graduate degree in another discipline when graduate programs in nursing provide appropriate course work to prepare nurses for these roles. For example, graduate programs in nursing administration typically require students to take appropriate business courses to support nursing administration coursework. Graduate programs in nursing education typically provide courses in adult learning, curriculum design, and teaching and evaluation methods. Pursuing a graduate degree in business administration or in education does not prepare a nurse to function as a nurse manager or a nurse educator. Pursuing a degree in nursing administration or nursing education, however, does help nurses apply content from the relevant discipline to the practice of nursing. Nurses who are advanced practice nurses, nurse managers, nurse educators, and nurse researchers, among other roles, are practicing nursing and should be prepared at the graduate level with a core body of knowledge and skills relevant to nursing.

PREPARATION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE AND EDUCATOR ROLES

Some hospital administrators encourage or require perioperative nurse managers to obtain a master of business administration degree (MBA) to be qualified to manage surgical services departments. We acknowledge that hospital administrators have the right to specify the appropriate theoretical foundations and skills necessary to hold a surgical services management position in their facilities; however, we know that nurse managers can obtain the requisite knowledge and skills in nursing administration master's degree programs. Ideally, nurse executives would be prepared with both a master of science in nursing degree and an MBA, and there are numerous dual degree programs that offer this option.

The Council on Graduate Education for Administration in Nursing has long recommended that the preparation of nurse managers, administrators, and executives take place in graduate programs in nursing administration. (1) These programs prepare nurse administrators to be bicultural--to understand both the clinical environment and the business environment and be effective in interpreting the needs and realities of each side of the enterprise to the other.

Additional words of caution are in order for those nurses seeking a graduate degree in a field other than nursing. Obtaining an advanced degree in a field outside of nursing does not qualify the person to teach nursing in academic settings, and it may impose limitations on entry into some doctoral programs in nursing. As the past and current chairs of the AORN Scholarship Committee, we know from reading the personal statements that are required as part of the AORN scholarship application that some members are not aware of these limitations.

In previous years, several advanced degree applicants wrote in their personal statements that their professional goals included being able to teach perioperative nursing in an academic setting. In conversations with these applicants after they were awarded scholarships, we discovered that they were not aware that they probably would not be able to accomplish this goal with the degrees they were seeking. The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc, requires nursing faculty members to have a minimum of a master's degree in nursing, (2) and most state boards of nursing have the same requirement for approval of nursing education programs. (3) Although advanced degrees outside of nursing may meet an employer's requirements for a specific position in the organization, they significantly limit opportunities to pursue advancement as a manager, educator, or researcher in the profession of nursing.

THE NURSING FACULTY SHORTAGE

In the past several years, the media has been flooded with reports of the nursing shortage. This attention has spurred interest in nursing as a career with a resultant boost in nursing education program enrollment. (4) The Bureau of Health Professions predicted, however, that the 6% increase in supply expected for the time period from 2000-2020 will not be enough to meet the projected 40% increase in demand for nurses during that time period. (5)