The Future of Advancing Health, Nursing, and Change That Leads
The Future of Advancing Health, Nursing, and Change That Leads is a report that is responsible for providing nurses with an understanding of their roles in the current changing healthcare system, making recommendations on nursing leadership transformation, using an improved education system to transform nursing practical's, higher education levels, as well as training, and ensuring that the entry level has a workforce of BSN which provides a similar foundation for the latest care ways that will be implemented (Catherine, 2011).
Nursing Profession Reform
According to the IOM research, the nursing profession can only meet the expanding emerging demands, aging population, and new technologies if they reform. The introduction of Affordable Care Act in 2010 will bring change in the healthcare system for instance from a healthcare provider model that is centric to a model that is patient and family centered. A patient and family centered model involve treatment that will not focus more on episodic hospitalization but prevention and management of chronic care. Care aspect will be taken to the communities and settings of public health hence it will be necessary for those working in the health system to have various sets of skills and knowledge. Some acute care hospital nurses will as well be required. According to Holmes (2011), the transformation of the nurses training and education will be critical because it enhances a high quality of patient care. Implementing the recommendations will enable the ability of nursing to meet the collaborative health delivery's challenges. Development and implementation of policies close gaps of the healthcare delivery systems and this will be facilitated by highly educated nurses who play a significant role in policy execution and development. According to Davis (2011), freedom to practice provides increased opportunities of interdisciplinary and aids in fulfilling the IOM report's objectives.
IOM Committee Meetings
The IOM has a committee which conducted five meetings. The meetings were inclusive of three technical workshops of gathering information and three additional public forums to examine the workforce of nursing capacity to fulfill a public and reformed healthcare system demands. It as well considered obstacles that nurses face in their line of duty, for instance, legal barriers to the advance practice registered nurses (APRNs) exercising their roles as per their professional training. At such a time nurses are of much importance hence the barriers have to be eliminated and nurses must be permitted to work as per their vocational training. Nurses are responsible for meeting the current needs of healthcare, and they do this through their scientific knowledge, adaptive capacity, and numbers. The committee also came up with a recommendation of nurses working throughout that is from disease control and promotion of health to diagnosis that is early. APRNs give physician services such as physical therapy, test evaluation, social work and assessment on the condition of patients (Institute of Medicine, 2011).
IOM Reports and Nursing's Role
IOM has produced various reports since its foundation 40 years ago on safe, high quality, efficient and a patient centered system. Its present report expands on these by dealing with the major roles of nursing by a demonstration on how achievement of a successful healthcare system is based on the nursing future.
Nurses as Leaders and Innovators
The IOM report supports opportunities for nurses to lead and shape their healthcare careers. Nurses have had many leadership and specialization opportunities such as those in health information technology, management of chronic diseases, caring for the old and case management. They should be on the frontline in coming up with new ways of improving the healthcare systems. Nurses have an advantage of knowing more on health, the processes involved and this knowledge can be used to improve or transform the health care quality and enhance savings on cost. Various organizations have encouraged nurses to broadly take part in leadership for instance in their work settings (Trossman, 2010).
Education and Workforce Requirements
A study conducted on the implementation of the IOM report recommendations found out that almost 80 percent of institutions required a bachelor's degree from newly hired nurses. There was however 94 percent of facilities that offered tuition to enhance completion of BSN. Only 25 percent needed the nurses to own a BSN within that period, and 9 percent had a differential pay for nurses with the BSN. As a result, it was concluded that to have a well educated workforce, forceful measures must be adopted for instance the degree completion requirement and policies of wages for those working towards attaining advanced degrees (GW Public Health, 2013). The report encourages nurses both individually and as a profession to embrace the needed change that prevents illness, promotes health and cares for everyone. Nurses, however, cannot make these changes on their own therefore the report emphasizes on professional collaboration and support from multiple sectors that is the nurses work together with other departments. Here all health professionals, nurses, stakeholders and decision makers are required to work as a team to make the needed changes that enhance a readily available, high quality and cost effective health care system.
References
Catherine, G. (January 10, 2011). IOM Advocates for Higher Levels of Nursing Education. Retrieved from http://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/2011/01/10/iom-advocates-higher-nursing-education/
Davis, H. Jr. (April, 2011). From our readers…A staff nurse perspective on the IOM Future of Nursing Report. American Nurse Today, 6, 4. Retrieved from http://www.americannursetoday.com/from-our-readersa-staff-nurse-perspective-on-the-iom-future-of-nursing-report/
GW Public Health. (December 5, 2013). Studies Assess Impact of IOM Report on Nursing Reforms. Retrieved from http://publichealth.gwu.edu/content/studies-assess-impact-iom-report-nursing-reforms
Holmes, A. M. (2011). Transforming education. Nursing management, 42(4), 34-38.
Institute of Medicine. (January 26, 2011). The Future of Nursing: Focus on Scope of Practice. Retrieved from http://iom.nationalacademies.org/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health/Report-Brief-Scope-of-Practice.aspx?page=2
Trossman, S. (2010). IOM report calls for more nurse leaders throughout health care. The American Nurse. Retrieved on January 22nd, 2016 from http://www.theamericannurse.org/index.php/2010/11/30/iom-report-calls-for-more-nurse-leaders-throughout-health-care/
