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Challenges and prospects for nursing in the next decade

EDITORIAL

Challenges and prospects for nursing in the next decade

The foreseeable demographic and epidemiologic changes in Brazil, and in a good part of theworld, are marked by the highest proportion of elderly in the population. It is probable that in2021, we will have more than 13.0% of people who are over 60 years of age. Consequently, it isestimated that the increase in prevalence rates of chronic diseases and exogenous causes such asstress and physical exhaustion associated with lifestyle, and the sequelae resulting from accidentsat work and in transit, trauma and addiction to illicit drugs, will cause major dependence ofindividuals and families on the care of nurses.

We have many canons and for a long time they will be necessary, both in care and control oftransmitted and preventable diseases with agility in the system of immunization and epidemiologicalsurveillance; coverage in the care of women during pregnancy and childbirth, childhood, andfinally across the life cycle, in which professional nurses work.

The health indicators are poor and the ratio of 0.6 professional nurses per 1000 populationcontrasts with countries that have the best health indicators and in which the ratio varies from 9 per thousand inhabitants as nurses in Japan, 10 in the United States, 11 in Canada and 12 nursesper 1000 inhabitants in Germany.

With 1,480,653 members, the profession of nursing is the largest segment of the workforce ofthe country's health care. Within this contingent, only 18.4% are professional nurses, 43.5% arenursing technicians, 37.6% are nursing assistants, and 0.5% are clerks. They are present in homecare, professional training, research, and especially in hospital services, next to the client, twenty-four hours a day(1).

In 2021, 4.3 million people will be in the nursing profession; it is projected that 37.0% will beprofessional nurses, 61.5% technicians, and 1.5% nursing assistants. It is expected that the pyramidwill be inverted due to actions already in practice. By 2021, the majority of the auxiliary nursingstaff will be technical nurses, primarily due to the COREn-SP partnership with the Governmentof the State of Sao Paulo to create the Technical High School Network Program that will certainlyhave the backing of the federal government.

The nursing undergraduate degree will increasingly be an option for social and professionalmobility for members of the nursing team. In general, nursing assistants and technicians step intothe many undergraduate courses in private schools. On the other hand, public schools, besidesforming their contingents, should offer specialized courses to graduates of private schools.

Opportunities for post-graduate programs with scholarships abroad, and the promotion ofinterchange of students and professors of higher education with foreign institutions is a currenttrend that will bring a positive impact on the future of nursing.

The teaching of nursing, which is aimed at human well-being, beyond the traditional biomedicalteachings and the integration of technology and humanism, will use more simulation technologiesand distance learning. Besides the research area, studies conducted about evidence-based healthcare, taking into account the preferences and values of the client, point towards the clinicaldecisions that ensure the best outcomes(2). New communication technologies for learning will bekey to the success of accession of injury prevention and treatment. Interactive management(multiprofessional) will offer windows of opportunity that will enhance the strategic vision sharedby nurses and other professionals(3).

Professional nurses will have new partnerships, for example, with engineering, with respect toinnovation projects for equipment and commodities; with economy and information technology,which should contribute to the formation of the pro-active, entrepreneurial professional, withsystematic clinical reasoning and the power of synthesis.

However, nursing as the science of care that works with and for people has as fundamental ethicalrelations permeating all areas of education, whether in technical courses, undergraduate, or graduate school.

Technology is increasingly an indispensable tool for the nurse, but it is not a substitute, because to meetthe health needs of human beings, we will increasingly require competent nurses and supportive care.

REFERENCES

Profa. Dra. Lucila Amaral Carneiro Vianna

Professora Titular da Escola Paulista de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP, São Paulo(SP), Brasil

  • 1. Cunha IC. Projeto competências, coordenadora. São Paulo: Coren; 2008/2010.
  • 2. Nichols MR, Harris NR. Evidence-based nursing practice. In: Roux G, Halstead JA, editors. Issues and trends in nursing:essentialknowledgement for today and tomorrow. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Pub.; c2009. cap.11, p.237-60.
  • 3. Health Services, Coverage, and Access, Health Care Workforce, Quality and Patient Safety, Public Health: consensus study[Internet]. [Last updated 3/2/2011]. National Academy of Sciences; c2011. [cited 2011 Oct 13]. Available from:http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Quality/PatientSafetyHIT.aspx

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    02 Dec 2011
  • Date of issue
    2011
Escola Paulista de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Paulo R. Napoleão de Barros, 754, 04024-002 São Paulo - SP/Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 5576 4430 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: actapaulista@unifesp.br