Why a Graduate Nursing Degree Is Important

In 2010, the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a seminal report titled “The Future of Nursing, 2011” This report reflected the results of a two-year study conducted by the IOM in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) . Three recommendations of the report state that nurses should:

• “Practice to the full extent of their education and training,”
• “Achieve higher levels of education and training,” and
• “Be full partners with physicians and other healthcare professionals in redesigning health care.”

The report also stated specific goals for increasing education among the ranks of nurse professionals:

• “Double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020,” and
• “Increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020.”

This report identified nursing as an under-utilized and yet essential resource in healthcare. Report recommendations called for elevating nurse executives to be coequal partners in the senior leadership team, with the CEO, CMO, COO, and CFO, in making decisions concerning patient care and the delivery of healthcare services.

“The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity” builds on the recommendations of the 2011 report and “explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while“:

• “keeping costs at bay,”
• “utilizing technology,” and
• “maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030.”

Through their recommendations and goals, these reports call for the advancement of education at all levels of nursing. An increased level of educational achievement leads to the expansion of nursing engagement and participation:

• Expanded Clinical Role – increased acceptance and use of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS),
• Expanding Patient Care Role – broader adoption of the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) role,
• Expanded Leadership Role – the emergence of the Patient Care Services title, and
• Seats on hospital and health system Board of Directors.

Predicating all of these expanded roles are nurse professionals pursuing and obtaining advanced education in clinical and leadership specializations.

In 1990, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) established the Magnet Hospital Recognition Program for Excellence in Nursing Service, known today as the Magnet Recognition Program . Since its inception, the program has expanded and refined to establish a nursing best practices model for hospitals and long-term care facilities in the United States and internationally.

The Magnet Recognition Program provides a model for achieving excellence in nursing practice. The Magnet Model includes five nursing components:

• Transformational Leadership,
• “Structural Empowerment,”
• “Exemplary Professional Practice,”
• “New Knowledge, Innovations & Improvements,” and
• “Empirical Outcomes.”

Together, these components expand and elevate the role of nursing within healthcare systems. While nurses at all levels are affected, those who wish to take leadership roles need additional education. In fact, among its many certification requirements, the Magnet Model includes two that explicitly address minimum education requirements:

• The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) must possess, at minimum, a master’s degree, and
• All Nurse Managers and other nurse leaders must have a nursing baccalaureate or graduate degree.

As of 2022, the number of certified Magnet Hospitals has increased to 612 in eleven countries. Furthermore, healthcare organizations are influenced by the Magnet Model, even if not formally eligible for certification. These organizations adapt many Magnet Model guidelines and principles to redesign and improve their healthcare delivery models.

More broadly, the Magnet Recognition Program establishes requirements for professional practice and operational and clinical Evidence-Based Practice and research. In turn, these requirements emphasize advanced education to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills.

In 1999, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) began an effort that resulted in establishing the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) role. As defined by the Clinical Nurse Leader Association (CNLA), the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) integrates the efforts of the patient care team with a focus on evidence-based practice, safety, quality, risk reduction, and cost containment. The CNL role places a nurse in a central care management position. This role requires graduation with a Clinical Nurse Leader master’s degree or post-graduate certificate and CNL certification.

The adjacent chart shows an increase in Nurse Practitioners from 200,600 in 2019 to 258,230 in 2022. This increase in the number of Nurse Practitioners is due to several reasons, including:

• A significant increase in newly insured patients,
• Increased emphasis on preventive care,
• A large and aging baby-boom population,
• A broader Scope of Practice enables NPs to offer more services to more patients,
• The public increasingly recognizes NPs as a primary healthcare resource, and
• More cost-effective primary care.

The adjacent chart illustrates how Nurse Practitioners are a more cost-effective source of primary patient care than Family Practice Physicians. This chart shows the mean average wages of an NP to be $124,680, just over half of $224,460 for Family and General Practice Physicians. This substantial cost savings leads many healthcare organizations to integrate NPs into their primary care services.

Finally, Nurse Practitioners fill a void left by a shortfall in newly trained physicians. In a report titled “Projecting the Supply and Demand for Primary Care Practitioners Through 2020” , the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis reported that without changes to the primary care delivery system, a United States physician shortfall of 20,400 by 2020.

This shortfall has not abated. In June 2020, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) issued a report titled “The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2018 to 2033” . This report projected a shortage of between 21,400 and 55,200 primary care physicians by 2033.

This ongoing trend will continue to increase the demand for Nurse Practitioners by more healthcare organizations.