IOM Future of Nursing Report and Nursing

IOM Future of Nursing Report and Nursing

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IOM Future of Nursing Report and Nursing

Introduction

In 2010 the Robert wood Johnson foundation (RWJF) committee released a report named the future of nursing: leading change, advancing health. The report was based on an analysis of the future requirements and the challenges faced by nurses. In the report, the committee articulated four main messages that should be implemented to enhance the care provided by nurses.

The committee presented recommendations to the policymakers and State governments to implement measures to enhance the care provided by the caregivers. First, it recommended transformation in nursing education. While drawing attention to the shortage in faculties and seats to train enough nurses in colleges, the report recommended that it was necessary to increase the number of nurses with a postgraduate degree and baccalaureate nurses (Noll, 2017). Further, it pointed out that nurses required additional skills to overcome the challenges they face, and advanced education was the most appropriate source of the skills. Therefore, the report indicated relevant Bodies should encourage nurses to equip themselves with the proper skill to overcome future challenges by obtaining higher education. 

The report also recommends that nurses can take up leadership roles and therefore should take up such. The experience from being bedside nurses and having direct interaction with other practitioners and patients offers them adequate knowledge to formulate much-needed policies in the profession. Additionally, the report explains that nurses should work as equal partners with other practitioners to develop guidelines for the profession. 

The report also recommended that nurses get detailed data on the resources available and the role in healthcare. Additionally, the report explained that nurses needed information just like other caregivers to ensure that they provided informed care. Further, the data would enable them to make informed decisions in the course of practice. 

Once the report was released, most nursing institutions and professionals received it and called for bodies responsible for implementing the report to FastTrack the implementation process. Additionally, state action coalitions were formed to work alongside the government and other organizations to accelerate implementing the report’s recommendations. Consequently, Montgomery, et al. (2016), indicate that the number of nurses with higher education and specifically baccalaureate nurses had increased between 2010 and 2016 from 47% to 56%. The increase in the growth of nurses taking up the baccalaureate degree program has improved drastically, and the transition can be attributed to implementing the recommendations. 

Today employers prefer nurses with baccalaureate degrees over those with associate degrees. According to Harrison et al. (2019), by 2015 more than 10% of hospitals in California required that applicants to nursing positions possess a baccalaureate degree which was an increase from about 4% in 2011. Additionally, most other hospitals in the state of California stated that they preferred such nurses Even though they had not put in measures to enforce it. The structure recommended by the program to incorporate student nurses into the residency programs increased efficiency in which student nurses become professionals (Wood, 2010) . The program aimed to ensure that nurses acquired additional skills like critical thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration, and propane leadership skills.

The stakeholders formed state collaboration units comprising mainly of the healthcare stakeholders. The unit was formed 2 implement the recommendations of the report in all states. Each state and Washington DC formed its unit, making a total of 51 units. The primary role of the units was to develop plans while considering the geographical and local requirements to achieve a successful implementation of the recommendations in the report. The unit incorporates all stakeholders involved with nurses such as consumers, policymakers, business, and care providers to achieve their roles effectively. 

The state coalitions have a significant contribution to input in the implementation of the report. First, they identify the changes the implementation units would implement and the best practices for implementing them and sharing the best practices with stakeholders in healthcare (Afam, 2012). The coalition also determines the areas that require research and identifies the practice models to replicate in local states to ensure excellent healthcare for patients.

In New Mexico, their coalition group is initiating a standard curriculum for the nursing institutions and promoting residency programs in the rural hospitals. The New Mexico education nursing consortium has been tasked with coming up with the standard curriculum. This move is aimed at increasing the number of nurses with higher education. The consortium is also charged with partnering with colleges and universities to increase the number of nurses with higher education (Afam, 2012). Finally, implementing a common curriculum enables institutions to enhance the quality of education provided to the nurses and promote sharing of faculties and technologies.

The competency of nurses in rural areas is not on the same levels as of those in cities. Therefore that explains more rural competency enhancement and residency programs are being implemented. For instance, the Idaho state university supports new graduates from rural areas with a one-year residency program which enhances their competency before joining as professional nurses. This initiative spearheaded by the coalition in partnership with the university ensures the nurse’s confidence is boosted, thus increasing the retention in rural areas, enabling healthcare access in the rural areas.

The most significant barriers facing the implementation of healthcare in my state are low salaries and a shortage of nurses. There is intensive lobbying by nursing advocates for increasing salaries for nurses. The increase will add on to the number of people enrolling to be nurses and increase the nurses in the hospitals, thus eliminating the shortage experienced.

References

Afam, C. C. (2012). The influence of leadership practices on faculty job satisfaction in baccalaureate degree nursing program. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.(AAT 3510178).

Harrison, J. M., Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Brooks Carthon, J. M., Merchant, R. M., Berg, R. A., ... & American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines–Resuscitation Investigators. (2019). In hospitals with more nurses who have baccalaureate degrees, better outcomes for patients after cardiac arrest. Health Affairs, 38(7), 1087-1094.

Montgomery, L., Benzies, K., & Barnard, C. (2016). Effects of an educational workshop on pediatric nurses' attitudes and beliefs about family-centered bedside rounds. Journal of pediatric nursing, 31(2), e73-e82.

Noll, K. (2017). Baccalaureate nursing student and faculty views of effective teaching.

Wood, R. (2010). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. The National Academies Press.