IOM Future of Nursing Report
Different initiatives within the US healthcare care system have been central to the betterment of the nursing profession. One such undertaking is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which sought to ensure that all Americans access healthcare services and were insured. The nursing profession has yet to achieve the fundamental goals from both the perspectives of care provision to the patients and the continuous development of the nurses themselves. In light of the future of nursing, this paper analyzes the IOM future of nursing report and the state-based action coalition with the view of determining the likelihood for the advancement of the profession.
Work of the Robert Wood Foundation Committee Initiative
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) focus on discussing, examining, and debating potential solutions to complex healthcare problems was what propelled the organization to partner with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, n.d.). The country was at a crucial stage, while many healthcare reforms were being formulated and implemented. During the collaboration between the two organizations to create the RWJF initiatives, both the entities were in harmony that the country was in need of accessible, quality care that could only be attained via effective nursing and leadership. The two organizations would later work together to try and bring credibility and visibility, mobilizing staff and resources is a robust partnership to assess challenges that were affecting the future of the nursing profession. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
RWJF approached IOM in 2008 and proposed a partnership that would assess and respond to the challenges that faced the nursing profession. A collaborative partnership ensued that would create a perfect blend due to integration of the mission of IOM and the commitment of the RWJF to enhancement of the nursing profession via skills, numbers, and competence. The two organizations created a 2-year initiative that culminated in the future of nursing report. The initiative was foregrounded by the work of the IOM committee, with the RWJF being tasked with the production of a report that would act as the blueprint for the future of nursing via a focus on the institutional and public policy changes at the local, state, and national levels (Institute of Medicine, 2015). As such, the foundation was dedicated to cooperating with IOM to shape the future of the nursing profession.
Key Messages
The report on the future of nursing contained four key messages that could lead to the attainment of the overarching and specific objectives and findings. The first message is the assertion that nurses should practice as per the full scope of their education, experience, and training. The country’s nursing program is detailed and covered numerous aspects of the practice, ranging from family care, administration, psychiatry, and perioperative, among others. This approach to nursing education means that every nurse has his or her area of specialization, and thus, should be supported and empower to practice as such. The second key message relates to the need to improve the education system of nurses in order to promote academic progression. Enabling nurses to pursue further education is critical to ensuring that caregivers feel appreciated and motivated by the prospect of assuming higher leadership positions within their organizations (Nursing Shortage, 2019). The third message encourages nurses to partner with other caregivers such as physicians to redesign the care system. This prospect recognizes the advances in the care sector into one that is interlinked and requires a multidisciplinary approach to care provision. Through this collaboration, the system will leverage the strengths of every party, thus fostering care outcomes. The final key message is on policy and workplace planning to enhance information infrastructure. The care sector is becoming more reliant on information technology, whose exploration will facilitate care delivery in ways that are more effective and efficient.
Role of State-based Action Coalitions
Action coalitions are underpinned by the desire to execute campaign works at different levels, such as local, regional, and state. These coalitions comprise representatives from businesses, education, healthcare organizations, and others to enhance healthier communities via nursing interventions. These action campaigns seek to advocate for a care system that underlines the role of nurses as partners in propelling healthier populations (Fact Sheet: The impact of education on nursing practice, 2019). The action campaign intends to use nursing as a critical tool through leadership, practice, and education through the following approaches: enhancing nursing leadership, promoting diversity, supporting collaboration, eliminating impediments, and promoting innovation.
The name ‘’action coalitions” was coined by the Future of Nursing undertaking to strengthen nurses to practice at the highest levels via the collaboration of various state players. State-based coalitions comprise robust networks of organizations and individuals at state and national levels that work towards the common goal of advancing health (Boivin, 2017). The coalitions have leadership panels, co-leaders, and members that deliberate on the different interventions and structures that states set up to implement the various recommendations of IOM.
Summary of Initiatives
North Carolina has implemented action coalition initiatives through joint ventures and education centers to implement IOM recommendations throughout the State. These initiatives concentrate on nurses’ education, patients’ safety, nursing practices, and interprofessional education via AARP and RWJF. The first of the two initiatives is access to care. Through the 2020 initiative, the state has added 302 more nurses to boards. Collaboration and communication among multiple healthcare organizations within the state have propagated generation of ideas that can enhance resource utilization and permit provision of accessible and affordable care (North Carolina Action Coalition, n.d.). This collaboration has been responsible for establishing the workforce data center in action coalition. Further to ideas, the collaboration enhances the sharing of information regarding the performance of healthcare initiatives, thus enabling the sector to implement improvement strategies. The second initiative in the state is that of scholarship programs while organizations have raised funds over the past years to support educational progress of nurses at graduate and undergraduate levels. Education enables nurses to attain skills and expertise that prepares them better to handle dynamic and complicated care scenarios.
Barriers to Advancement
North Carolina experiences several barriers, which advocates have been at the forefront of attempting to overcome. The IOM report has been difficult to fully adopt due to the reduced resources. Authorities have not dedicated as much resources to implementation compared to other states. Not all organizations have embraced the ideas of building action coalitions, which has further provided obstacles to advancement. Nursing advocates continue to urge resource allocation to the endeavor. In addition, these advocates have been holding seminars, conferences, and meetings to educate the professionals within the nursing sector that collaboration is of the essence.