With an estimated 64 million people having seen the Institute of Medicine’s reccomendations on the future of nursing within the first year of its release, it is arguably one of the most influential pieces of medical literature of the 21st century, leaving a lasting impact on healthcare and paving an innovative path forward for the nursing profession. The institute of Medicine (IOM) is a nonprofit, unaffiliated orginazition. Its purpose is to provide advice to the government and private sector in order to make an informed health decision. The IOM was established in 1970, and for the past 40 years, the organization has been answering the nation’s most pressing questions about healthcare. “On October 5, 2010, the IOM released its reccomendations on nursing in the United States.
According to the IOM report, it is crucial that nurses achieve higher levels of education and training in order to prepare themselves for the dynamic work environment in which they will participate (IOM Forum on Future of Nursing Summary, 2010, para 1.) Higher nursing degrees provide nurses with more critical thinking skills; this will create efficiency and improved quality of care for the patient. In order to increase nursing competence, it is paramount that there is an improved education system that promotes continuous academic progression as opposed to the current disjointed system that is both archaic and ineffective. As well as increasing the percentage of nurses who attain a Baccalaureate in the Science of Nursing (BSN) to 80% by 2020, having at least 10% of BSN nurses to enter a master or doctoral program, and doubling the number of nurses who pursue doctoral degrees, the profession should institute residency training in addition to currently instrumented internship programs for novice nurses. It is not enough that nurses simply attain a BSN before heading directly into the nursing workforce; it is imperative that newly graduated