A critical discussion regarding the scholarly development of the nursing profession - A call to action

In keeping with many other professions, the professionalization of nursing has occurred globally in recent decades (Porter-O'Grady, 2021). In the USA for example, calls for baccalaureate nurse education in the 1960's spearheaded university level relationships and heralded the advancement of scholarship within the profession (Aiken, 2014). In Ireland, two decades of unprecedented changes occurred arising from a government ‘Commission on Nursing’ in 1998 resulting in the current all-graduate nursing workforce, supported by growing numbers of advanced and specialist nurses with clear pathways for preparation, and significant ongoing national investment in postgraduate education at modular/continuous professional development (CPD), higher diploma and masters level. This situation is also reflected in the UK (House of Commons Education Select Committee, 2019). However, neither the USA or the UK have a consistent approach to graduate preparation or advanced practice and in both jurisdictions a practical apprenticeship approach is still evident and growing in the form of Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) in the USA and Nursing Apprentice in the UK (NHS, 2021). While there are debates around the aforementioned multilevel approach to the preparation of the nursing workforce, not least confusion for prospective employers, a more worrying concern is the lack of strategic planning for higher-level development within the profession.