Future of Nursing



Future of Nursing

Introduction

In 2009, US healthcare encountered so many critical challenges in the delivery of quality healthcare services to the Americans. It was the time when nearly half of the Americans were contaminated with the different chronic diseases. This entire situation was the result of lack of coordination among healthcare providers. The problems faced by healthcare were repeat testing and procedures, shortage of nurses and healthcare professionals and rehospitalization issues. In order to deal with these acute challenges required an alteration in the healthcare system and transformation of workforce. For that purpose, not only professionals but also nurses were supposed to help in leading change in healthcare with their adaptive capacity and improved scientific knowledge.

In 2010, Institute of Medicine (IOM) did the partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in order to restructure the healthcare through the transformation of the nursing profession to improve the value as well as quality of US healthcare.

Discussion

Nursing is the heart of patient care and hence it plays a significant role in healthcare to deliver best patient care. With the collaboration of The Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the health care sector of US has seen major changes in the healthcare settings. They brought a revolution through transformation of nurses. They identified the significant role of nurses in effective and efficient conducts of the healthcare system. Their key areas of alterations were:

They simply reconceptualized the functions and roles of nurses.

They increased the nursing faculty.

They made sure to redesign nursing education in order to get well prepared and knowledgeable nurses who were able to meet the current as well as future healthcare issues.

They examined the innovative solutions that can be achieved through the adequate delivery of nursing services.

They hired and retained skillful nurses for the acute care, primary care, long term care and ambulatory care.

They highlighted that hiring the more workforce would not solve the issues, but there is a need for educated, skillful and patient centered nurses in order to provide high quality, cost effective patient care, and other complex patient related issues.

Importance of the IOM Future of Nursing

The Institute of Medicine produced a comprehensive report in the future of nursing that highlighted the role of nursing in the healthcare settings. They did a thorough examination of the entire workforce of nursing. They identified the critical issues of healthcare, patients, diversity in patients, and quality patient care. Nurses can contribute to improve the health of US population through providing quality care. The report has four key messages of IOM in order to improve the healthcare:

Nurses need to get higher education and training from a trusted and recognized education system.

Nurses have to be educated, and they should practice their education and training.

Nurses need to be partners with healthcare providers, professionals and physicians in order to redesign the US healthcare system.

There should be effective workforce planning as well as policy making required to get better infrastructure information.

The main purpose of the IOM's future of nursing is to lead the change and ...