IOM Summary
The Institute Of Medicine (IOM) established by National Academy of Sciences is designed to advise the federal government of United States on matters concerning medical care, education and research. With the passing of health care legislation called Affordable Care Act, (ACA) which focuses on making primary and preventative care more affordable to diverse population of United States, the health care system is provided with the opportunity to transform the care delivery by providing a higher quality and patient-centered services. Responding to the need to transform the health care system, the IOM co-joined with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to create Initiative on the Future of Nursing in the year 2010 and came up with a nursing practice model.
The IOM report recommends that “nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training” (IOM, 2010). It acknowledges the need for nurses to take …show more content…
a greater role in health care settings in other to keep pace with the changing and complex health care system. Nurses have the ability to play a major role in transforming the healthcare system in such a way that it will yield a more high quality care to the consumers. The introduction of the Affordable Care Act, gave rise to new health care structures which will eventually create new roles and opportunities for nurses and in other to acquire that , the report recommends transformations must occur in nursing practice, education and leadership aspects.
According to the report, improvement on nursing care that is accessible and cost-effective requires a transformation of nursing practice. High quality care and patients safety will be achieved if nurses are allowed to practice to the full extent of their education. Today, the society is experiencing shortage of primary health care professionals. Expanding the role of nurses is beneficial, especially the Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) who work mostly as primary care providers, providing the same services to patients just as physicians yet they are not allowed to practice independently and mostly acknowledged as substitutes to physicians. Report also shows instances where VA healthcare, Geiseinger Health system of Pennsylvania and Kaiser Permanente redesigned roles for nurses, using APRNs to provide primary care to patients and their actions evidently showed that APRNs just like physicians are able to provide safe, effective, and efficient care with more positive and cost-effective health outcomes. Nursing practice can be transformed if most people follow the footsteps of these organizations in utilizing and exploiting fully nurses’ talents and skills equipped through their educational acquisition especially if the public policies and some regulatory, cultural and organizational barriers that constraint the expansion of practicing scope for nursing profession are removed.
The IOM report also recommends a transformation in many areas of nursing education in other to prepare graduates to work effectively and efficiently in collaboration with other health professionals and to thrive well in a complex health care setting. They insist on the need for nurses to enter into practice with a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN). BSN nurses are better prepared academically to possess sound skills in problem solving and leadership. BSN nurses also demonstrate autonomy in decision making and in carrying out patient care in a more complex and less structured environment. Also the committee believes that educational curriculum should be revised to prepare APRN nurses clinically to take up roles in primary, acute, long term and other specialty areas. They stress on the need to have more graduate nurses prepared at the doctorate level so as to produce more researchers and more faculty nurses. They also pointed out that new graduates transiting from school to practice environments should be smooth and internship is recommended to aid nurses to adapt easily in their different areas especially in community and public health settings. Entrance into nursing program should be less restrictive and should be more ethnically and culturally diversified and must be encouraging to all genders. However, nurses at all level must be encouraged to rise in their level of education by enrolling into higher educational courses with support from their employers to assist in funding their education and school of nursing should utilize modern technologies to encourage distant learning via online.
To bring about transformation in the leadership area, nurses “should be full partners with physicians and other health professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States” (IOM, 2010).The IOM committee strongly recommends that nurses at all levels need strong leadership skills to contribute to patient safety and quality of care.
Health care system requires nurses who can team up and collaborate effectively with leaders from other health care professionals, serving as strong advocates for clients and involving themselves in making decisions concerning how to improve the delivery of care. The committee also stated that in other to occupy the leadership roles, nurses must perceive policies at local or national level as something that they can help amend and revise to increase quality and value of care and to ensure delivery of care is patient-centered. They encourage nurses to enroll in leadership programs in quest to develop leadership skills so as to work independently with patients and their families especially in homes and community
setting.
I personally believe the IOM report calls for action, and we need to seriously consider the recommendations so nursing practice can truly increase patient outcomes. There’s already an advancement in the struggle to live up to the reports recommendation since 2010 as more nurses are striving to pursue BSN programs in pursuit to meet up with the IOM projection of 80% of RNs to have BSNs by 2020. Higher education levels mean better prepared nurses to do broad assessment of a patient from holistic perspective which enables them to identifying potential problems earlier.
As a registered nurse, I practice with more confidence knowing that my job as a nurse is not only restricted to the bedside I feel motivated and empowered by the IOM report knowing that with the leadership skills, any nurse can become a facilitator of change.
REFERENCES
Institute Of Medicine. 2010. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx
IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2001. Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Institute of Medicine; October 5, 2010.
The IOM report recommends that “nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training” (IOM, 2010). It acknowledges the need for nurses to take …show more content…
a greater role in health care settings in other to keep pace with the changing and complex health care system. Nurses have the ability to play a major role in transforming the healthcare system in such a way that it will yield a more high quality care to the consumers. The introduction of the Affordable Care Act, gave rise to new health care structures which will eventually create new roles and opportunities for nurses and in other to acquire that , the report recommends transformations must occur in nursing practice, education and leadership aspects.
According to the report, improvement on nursing care that is accessible and cost-effective requires a transformation of nursing practice. High quality care and patients safety will be achieved if nurses are allowed to practice to the full extent of their education. Today, the society is experiencing shortage of primary health care professionals. Expanding the role of nurses is beneficial, especially the Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) who work mostly as primary care providers, providing the same services to patients just as physicians yet they are not allowed to practice independently and mostly acknowledged as substitutes to physicians. Report also shows instances where VA healthcare, Geiseinger Health system of Pennsylvania and Kaiser Permanente redesigned roles for nurses, using APRNs to provide primary care to patients and their actions evidently showed that APRNs just like physicians are able to provide safe, effective, and efficient care with more positive and cost-effective health outcomes. Nursing practice can be transformed if most people follow the footsteps of these organizations in utilizing and exploiting fully nurses’ talents and skills equipped through their educational acquisition especially if the public policies and some regulatory, cultural and organizational barriers that constraint the expansion of practicing scope for nursing profession are removed.
The IOM report also recommends a transformation in many areas of nursing education in other to prepare graduates to work effectively and efficiently in collaboration with other health professionals and to thrive well in a complex health care setting. They insist on the need for nurses to enter into practice with a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN). BSN nurses are better prepared academically to possess sound skills in problem solving and leadership. BSN nurses also demonstrate autonomy in decision making and in carrying out patient care in a more complex and less structured environment. Also the committee believes that educational curriculum should be revised to prepare APRN nurses clinically to take up roles in primary, acute, long term and other specialty areas. They stress on the need to have more graduate nurses prepared at the doctorate level so as to produce more researchers and more faculty nurses. They also pointed out that new graduates transiting from school to practice environments should be smooth and internship is recommended to aid nurses to adapt easily in their different areas especially in community and public health settings. Entrance into nursing program should be less restrictive and should be more ethnically and culturally diversified and must be encouraging to all genders. However, nurses at all level must be encouraged to rise in their level of education by enrolling into higher educational courses with support from their employers to assist in funding their education and school of nursing should utilize modern technologies to encourage distant learning via online.
To bring about transformation in the leadership area, nurses “should be full partners with physicians and other health professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States” (IOM, 2010).The IOM committee strongly recommends that nurses at all levels need strong leadership skills to contribute to patient safety and quality of care.
Health care system requires nurses who can team up and collaborate effectively with leaders from other health care professionals, serving as strong advocates for clients and involving themselves in making decisions concerning how to improve the delivery of care. The committee also stated that in other to occupy the leadership roles, nurses must perceive policies at local or national level as something that they can help amend and revise to increase quality and value of care and to ensure delivery of care is patient-centered. They encourage nurses to enroll in leadership programs in quest to develop leadership skills so as to work independently with patients and their families especially in homes and community
setting.
I personally believe the IOM report calls for action, and we need to seriously consider the recommendations so nursing practice can truly increase patient outcomes. There’s already an advancement in the struggle to live up to the reports recommendation since 2010 as more nurses are striving to pursue BSN programs in pursuit to meet up with the IOM projection of 80% of RNs to have BSNs by 2020. Higher education levels mean better prepared nurses to do broad assessment of a patient from holistic perspective which enables them to identifying potential problems earlier.
As a registered nurse, I practice with more confidence knowing that my job as a nurse is not only restricted to the bedside I feel motivated and empowered by the IOM report knowing that with the leadership skills, any nurse can become a facilitator of change.
REFERENCES
Institute Of Medicine. 2010. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx
IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2001. Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Institute of Medicine; October 5, 2010.