In 2010, the Institute of medicine released a report that focuses on the Future of Nursing. In this report the IOM focuses on nursing issues that impact the way health care is delivered and also discusses advances in practice. “Nursing has more than 3 million members, making the profession of nursing the largest segment of the nation’s health care workforce” (Institute of Medicine, 2015). This statistic reinforces the need for nurses to receive support in the way of education, primary care, and nursing leadership roles.
Nursing education has been reevaluated over and over since the days of Florence Nightingale. This reevaluation of education standards for nursing continues to evolve. The IOM report has reevaluated nursing education, and organized recommendations that will prepare the nursing field for growth (Institute of Medicine, 2015). These recommendations also address the need for health care to evolve with the needs of the patients. “To realize this vision, nursing education must be fundamentally improved both before and after nurses receive their licenses” (Institute of Medicine, 2015).
This need for improvement was originally addressed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in2008 (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2015). As the population grows and chronic conditions continue to rise, continuing education for nursing is imperative to face new and ever changing challenges. For example, obesity is a major and still growing problem in the United States (Stencel, 2015). The use of Nurses in education of these patients must be recognized. Education is needed to instruct the patient on changes that IOM Report Impact on Nursing 3 promote health.
This includes education on lifestyle, medications, and prevention of chronic conditions. The impact of the IOM report has already begun to change the education needs for nurses. Employers across the nation are choosing to hire nurses with more advance degrees, and are also providing tuition reimbursement for nurses already employed (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2015). Manytimes this isin order to achieve the Magnet credentialing designed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, also known as the ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2015). The Magnet Recognition Program advances three goals in health care organizations.
First, they promote quality in a setting that supports professional practice (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2015). Second, they identify excellence in the delivery of nursing services to patients/residents (American Nurses CredentialingCenter, 2015). Third, they disseminate best practices innursing services (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2015). This Magnet credential recognizes the MOI’s recommendation that eighty percent of nurses need to be at a baccalaureate level or higher by the year 2020.
“Now is the time to eliminate the outdated regulations and organizational and cultural barriers that limit the ability of nurses to practice to the full extent of their education, training, and competence” (Institute of Medicine, 2015). As nursing reaches for higher education goals and greater responsibilities, standards for nursing practice must evolve as well. With this greater education, nursing should be supported in practicing with less limitation. They should also achieve greater trust of their advanced knowledge so that nurses can practice to their full potential.
The advanced knowledge of physicians is needed in many areas of health care, and there is a need for IOM Report Impact on Nursing 4 physicians to delegate primary care practices to nurse practitioners who are fully capable of carrying out these practices. “ No studies suggest that APRNs are less able than physicians to deliver care that is safe, effective, and efficient or that care is better in states with more restrictive scope of practice regulations for APRNs” (Institute of Medicine, 2015). Changes in practice to meet the IOM report recommendations focus on nurses being able to practice within their scope and totheir full potential.
This means practicing with more autonomy, receiving education reimbursement and incentives for higher degree levels (Institute of Medicine, 2015). This also means nurse residency programs for new nurses and nurses changing to a new area of nursing (Institute of Medicine, 2015). The IOM also suggests an increase in the number of nurses who are voting board members in institutions (Institute of Medicine, 2015). The nursing field must become more empowered to be active voices for nursing as growth continues in the healthcare industry, and with higher education and increased support from reports like the IOM report, this vision can be achieved.
The Author of this essay, specifically, has chosen to pursue a Bachelor’s level education while seeking employment that will further the knowledge of hospital medicine, and offer a more open scope of practice. The author hopes to find a position in a hospital that has a robust internal education program, and respects the Nursing field while supporting hire education goals. Through the research for this essay, the Author has also discovered a desire to learn more about the scope of practice of a Registered Nurse.
The Author will also be attempting to educate others in the field about the need to protect and build the scope of nursing. IOM Report Impact on Nursing 5 As health care continues to supporta growing population and demands on nursing increase due to more Americans gaining health insurance through the American Care Act, the nursing field must grow to meet the demands. This means growth both in numbers and in strength, which means more nurses taking on leadership rolls in institutions and new nurses must receive better support as they enter the profession. Nurses in history where the physician’s aids that followed orders, now nursing has become an entity that is more autonomous, with education and strength in science (Creasia & Friberg, 2011).
As mentioned before, the IOM report suggests increasing the nurse’s education level with a bachelor’s degree to eighty percent, but also suggests doubling the percentage of nurses with a doctorate(Institute of Medicine, 2015). This alone will create more leadership rolls in nursing. With the added recommendations for nurses to receive better residency programs; stronger nurses with more confidence in nursing practice will be produced.
With the push for APRNs to take on more autonomy in a primary care setting, nursing rolls as leaders will increase due to the APRNs abilityto practice withinfullscope with less restrictions and more support within each state. Nurses couple scientificprinciplewith people skills. Afrequent expression is that nursing is both high tech and high touch (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). These definitions invariably go on to indicate that “professional nurses are educators as well as managers, colleagues, mentors, researchers, and advocates for health. An understanding of all of these roles and their parallel identity characteristics is essential for a nurse to be successful” (Creasia & Friberg, 2011).
The IOM report supports this definition of the nurse being ‘high tech and hightouch’byproviding statistical research that enforces the need for higher education as well as increased autonomy for nursing to give their patients the best care possible by providing better tools, skills , and recourses (Creasia & Friberg, 2011). With higher education and more support from institutional board, the IOM Report Impact on Nursing 6 healthcare fieldwill ultimately produce more confident nursing professionalsthat are willingto take on more leadership rolls. References IOM Report Impact on Nursing 7 AMERICAN NURSES CREDENTIALING CENTER. (2015, JANUARY 29).
ANCC WEB PAGE. RETRIEVED FROM WWW. NURSECREDENTIALING. ORG/ CREASIA, J. L. , & FRIBERG, E. (2011). CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS: THE BRIDGE TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING PRACTICE. MOSBY. INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE. (2015, JANUARY 29). INSTITUE OF MEDICINE WEB PAGE. RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://IOM. EDU/ STENCEL, C. (2015, JANUARY 29). NATIONAL ACADEMIES. RETRIEVED FROM NATIONAL ACADEMIES WEB SERVER: HTTP://WWW8. NATIONALACADAMIES. ORG.