• Education can have a number of positive effects on the nursing profession.nursing duties image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
  
  As the profession of nursing has grown and changed, eventually gaining a partnership with other medical professions, the necessity of education has been more emphasized by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. According to this organization, considered to be the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, there are a number of positive effects that education can have on nursing.
  
  

Preparation

• One of the most notable effects that education has had on nurses currently involved in the nursing profession is that they are more prepared for their work. Nurses who have a bachelor's degree in nursing science are more prepared to enter the health care field because they have carefully studied their responsibilities, the situations and diseases they're likely to face, and the educated nurse has already begun to absorb the language and jargon of the nursing world.
  
  

Skills

• According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nurses who are more educated bring a variety of skills to their work place and profession. These skills may be learned in the classroom (such as a nursing student doing laboratory work or volunteer work that makes them more comfortable with administering injections or medication), but they don't necessarily have to come from nursing classes. Nurses who achieve a bachelor's degree will have to take a variety of general education courses that might teach them any number of skills, such as effective communication, report writing or even better job interviewing skills.
  
  

Results

• According to studies released in 2008 and published in the Journal of Nursing Administration, nurses who are more highly educated tend to get better results with their patients. Dr. Linda Aiken stated that for every 10 percent increase in the members of the nursing staff who had a bachelor's of nursing science rather than a lesser degree, there was an accompanying 4 percent drop in the risk of death for patients who were under that hospital's care.