Strategies to Help Nurse Practitioner Students Research Proposal

Nurse Practitioners and Strategies the Students Can Adopt to Succeed in School

Nursing students worldwide face quite a number of challenges in the course of undertaking their highly engaging and mind-intensive nursing practitioner programs. Non-completion of the practitioner program means that the student is not adequately prepared to practice as a nurse. This paper looks into the various challenges nursing practitioners undergo, and the ways or strategies to overcome them (Curtis, 2013).

Nursing Practitioner Challenges

Financial Burden

One of the main challenges identified by nursing students is lack of sufficient money; many of the students reveal that they have to work part time to make ends meet, apart from studying. For some of them, the work means that they cannot attend class, and thus have to extend their programs (Loftin, Newman, Dumas, Gilden, & Bond, 2012).

Lack of Moral and Emotional Support

Lack of moral and emotional support has also been identified as a major barrier to nursing course completion, particularly, affecting the minority of the students. Lack of support is manifested in several spheres in the lives of nursing students, including discrimination and racism, loneliness and social isolation, and lack of family support (Loftin, Newman, Dumas, Gilden, & Bond, 2012). The lack of support often results in students feeling isolated and lonely, and thus devoid of the zeal needed to complete the program.

Discrimination

Multiple studies have shown that nursing students have, in the past, been subjected to racism and discrimination by patients, hospital staffs, peers, and preceptors and faculty factors. For instance, according to Loftin et al. (2012), a Latina student reported being told by a male patient that he wanted to be taken care of by a white nurse; such comments can demoralize a nursing student, causing him or her to discontinue their practitioner studies or services.

Family Issues and Lack of Support

Lack of family support is also an impediment, especially for male students, whose families do not fully support them because of stereotyping the profession as one that is meant for females only (Loftin, Newman, Dumas, Gilden, & Bond, 2012).

Lack of Academic/Mentoring Support

In the past several years, some students have reported difficulty in comprehending course materials, whereas others have cited lack of support and direction as their main challenges; this could be because of the small numbers of faculty members dedicated to mentoring programs. Lack of direction results in demoralization, and thus, some students can discontinue their nursing learning programs (Loftin, Newman, Dumas, Gilden, & Bond, 2012).

Lack of Technical Support

Lack of computer access and technological knowhow is one of the other major barriers to the successful completion of nursing practitioner studies. A number of the students reported not being able to have constant uninterrupted internet connection at home for studies, or informational searchers; some even lacked personal computers. Lack of access to PCs cannot not only contribute to failure, but also embarrassment of the student.

Cultural Barriers

In a study conducted by Loftin and her colleagues (2012), the minority of the nursing students cited lack of exposure to cultural diversity as one of the issues that could be a barrier to…