Regulatory Agencies and Accreditation

Regulatory agencies and accreditation bodies have played an instrumental role in the health care industry. Regulations in the nursing industry initially started with as a simple registry process to safeguard both nurses and the patients. Regulation today focuses primarily on protection of the patient, additionally; the regulation focuses on defining nursing practices with a concentration on specific to nursing education (Spector, Li, & Kenward, 2006). Regulatory and accrediting agencies play an instrumental role in nursing educational arena, thus understanding the purpose and theories behind the agencies is vital to the industry.

Purpose

The professional nursing practice has regulation and licensing requirements. These requirements are necessary to prevent harm to the patient and the healthcare industry with untrained and unlicensed personnel. Regulation can be defined as a method to control the law of the industry, thus ensuring the regulations are adhered to. Regulations require credentials. Nursing regulations define the corrective and preparatory measures. The aim of nursing regulation is to safeguard the patients from harm by unqualified individuals. States through the United States Constitution control the power to regulate the healthcare industry to ensure there are no violations (Flook, 2003).

Regulatory Agency

Several agencies and individuals work in unison to determine competency in nursing. Some of these are nurses, nurse employers, the nursing board, and nurse educators. State boards are regulated by the state and is a member of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). Nursing educators improve proficiencies in students by providing curriculum content, including current research findings with performance evaluations of the students and defining a role models for students. Ensuring nursing competence is a combined partnership among the above stated entities. Nursing educators in a higher educational setting are required to teach curriculum, which will develop competent nurses with the aptitude to take and pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) exam (Flook, 2003).

The evolving health care industry requires institutions to reassess the regulation requirements for the industry. State boards are under constant stress to improve current practices and regulations. These improvements sufficiently responding to changing environments of modernization, consumer participation in health care, and workforce supply challenges (Spector et al., 2006).

Accrediting Agents

Accreditation of nursing program initiated prior to World War II and evolved into the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). These agencies are progressive agencies seeking for rapid improvement, which evolves