Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health
Health professionals have strived to ensure safe, less costly and more efficient system of care for more than a decade with an objective of reducing medical errors and offering more preventive care. The nursing profession is the largest in the healthcare sector not only in the United States but globally. We have more than 3 million registered nurses which is quite a large figure when compared to other health professionals. Despite a large number of nurses, the demand for more nurses is necessitated due to an increasing number of Americans accessing healthcare. Nurses are believed to have close contact with patients and can work in various settings to offer safe, effective and more quality healthcare services. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine devised a two-year initiative aimed at transforming the nursing profession in such a way that nurses could hold the future of healthcare. This was after the identification of challenges nurses faced trying to fulfill the promise of a reformed health care system. With the different education levels for the nursing profession, quality and safety of healthcare for all will be guaranteed since the nurses relate directly with patients and have more improved ways for caring and improving the overall healthcare.
In the future of Nursing, the role of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation committee initiative developed the IOM report which examined the number of nurses that were required to meet the needs if a reformed healthcare system. In the report, RWJF had the role of developing national recommendations that could address all the services offered by nurses in an environment with a shortage of nurses. The committee was also required to recommend appropriate nursing education system that could warrant safety and quality healthcare provisions. The report was to include actions and national policies that could be used in all levels of leadership. The committee was also expected to come up with a changed healthcare system, and that led to the development of IOM report.
The committee was also expected to state ways with which healthcare systems could attract and retain well-qualified nurses that could be allocated in multiple care settings. How the system could expand the nursing faculty was left as a role of the committee where recommendation on how to increase the number of nursing schools and how to redesign nursing education was left as their role. This was to ensure adequate and qualified nursing professionals were selected who could meet the current and future healthcare demands. The committee was also to develop the idea on the role of nurses in healthcare workforce in addressing the current and future technology. Additionally, RWJF committee was to examine the innovative solutions associated with health professional education together with care delivery by nurses.
The IOM report was important in nursing practice as it identified their roles and significance in the healthcare system generally. It also pinpointed all barriers that prevented the nursing profession as a career to respond to changes experienced in a healthcare system. The IOM report stated all the importance of nursing as a profession and the education need that could assist them to meet the increasing need for healthcare. The scope of nursing was included in the report which highlighted all the areas of practice where nurses are required for the provision of not only primary care but also extensive care.
To nursing education, the IOM report promised a high level of education for all nurses and an improved education system that could provide the best education to all nurse professionals. Due to the complexity of patients’ needs and increasing demand for quality healthcare, nurses are expected to attain the top most level of education in all aspects of healthcare including system improvement, leadership, and health policy so that quality is assured in their care.
To the nursing workforce, IOM report advocates readiness if nurses to partner with other general health care workforce so that redesigning healthcare system can be effective. Their involvement in redesigning the healthcare system is to identify problems and devise solutions to such problems occurring in the healthcare field. The nursing workforce should ensure an effective workforce planning which will act as a guideline for achieving their goals in the redefined healthcare system.
State-based coalitions have a significant role in the Future of Nursing. They are responsible for campaigning at all levels of leadership which include local, regional and state level. The coalitions are made up of health professionals, government agencies, education institutions, and physician organizations. The stakeholders in the coalition also assist in solving any healthcare workforce-related issues likely to occur in their region. The coalition advances the goals of Future Nursing by ensuring an increased number of education systems that train qualified nurses. They also work together to ensure health care gets to all neighborhoods who are in need of it.
The two initiatives led by New York State Action coalition include fostering interprofessional collaboration in the healthcare system and removing scope-of-practice barriers. In fostering interprofessional collaboration, the coalition ensures that all nurses collaborate equally with other healthcare providers and patients for improved care. A collaboration of all healthcare professionals determine the success of the healthcare industry and more so the nursing profession. This is because there is improved communication and coordination between providers and patients hence improved quality and safety of patient care. Helping nurses to understand the importance of collaborating with other health professional is the first initiative of the New York State Action coalition.
The second initiative was to remove the scope-of-practice where nurses will be allowed to work in any field of practice to offer quality healthcare. This will allow nurses to participate in all levels of the region with an aim to meet the increasing demand for quality and safe healthcare. Removing the scope-of-practice will help the nurses collaborate with stakeholders from other fields who will facilitate meeting the goals of IOM.
Fostering interprofessional collaboration in New York will help to advance the nursing profession because they will learn a variety of practices including treatment of patients hence increasing their competency. Their leadership skills will also be enhanced due to interaction with other health professionals. Removing the scope-of-practice will help the nurses to obtain experience in different fields which will also advance their nursing profession. It will also help them integrate with more useful people who will help them overcome challenges experienced in their field.
The barriers to advancement currently experienced in New York include lack if finances to advance education as required by the redefined healthcare system. The stress and fatigue experienced in the workplace hinder the advancement of nursing as a career because they lack time to advance the career. Declining resources also act as a barrier to the advancement of nurses in New York.
The Nursing advocates in New York can overcome these barriers by reducing the cost of education for nurses so that they can advance with ease. They should also train more nurses so that they can work in shifts to reduce the stress and fatigue experienced when they are less in the field. Nurses should also be allowed to work to their full potential so that chances of advancement can be identified.