The Future of Nursing

The Impact of the 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report on the Future of Nursing in Education, Practice and Leadership

This organization was designed to secure the services of prominent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters relating to the health of the public. “The Institute acts to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education” (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 5) In October 2010, The IOM (Institute of Medicine) released the report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. This report examines the changing roles of nursing in healthcare, changes in nursing education and

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report: The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health; was a product of collaboration between the IOM and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). They worked together to research viable solutions for the current healthcare systems problems. The IOM is an American non-profit , private organization. Providing national advice on medical and health topics, with the goal of improving the health of the nation, is the purpose of the IOM.

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.

The report shows that the part of nursing must be expanded so that nurses are able to practice to the fullest degree of their education and training. Currently, advanced practice nurses (APRNs) work according to the scope of practice guidelines set forth by their individual state, meaning these highly educated nurses may not be working to the extent of their training but to the individual state laws. The report offers recommendations to streamline these idiosyncrasies and get rid of the red tape so that nurses can work in their appropriate manner and deliver safe quality care to some 32 million Americans who will before long gain access to health care services (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2012). The report correspondingly finds that nurses need to attain advanced levels of education and training through an enhanced education structure which encourages a cohesive academic progression as to safeguard the delivery of quality health care services. Patients are becoming progressively more complex and nurses need to attain the proper skills to care for these persons. Nursing education must embrace the continuous move towards a streamline approach to higher degree programs (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 2). Nurse residency programs

Not all nurses go into the profession with leadership ideas. The nursing profession must produce leaders throughout the health care system. Leaders must function as workers, and administrators with leadership qualities, while still meeting their budgets and running effective units with high functioning and happy staff members. They need to trouble shoot necessary and work with the medical faculty while pleasing their staff and the administers.

This paper will discuss various aspect of the future of health care focusing on the future of how nursing will play an ever-important role in the reformation of health care. Presentation regarding, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the future of nursing, at the Institute of Medicine report entitled, “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” will help set the stage for this paper. Discussion will be had regarding the relationship of the Institute of Medicine to that of the nursing profession and the foreseeable changes to practice based on the Institute of Medicines recommendations. Further discussion will be had no the

Impact on Nursing of the 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the future of nursing.

According to the IOM report, the nursing profession is undergoing fundamental changes within the underlying operations of the field. A new regulatory environment coupled with increased scrutiny of the profession will dramatically impact the nursing profession. As the report indicates nurses, in the near future, will have job requirements that are business oriented. Nurses will need to have a better understanding of quality management methods in addition to overall concepts of management. As the health care system continues its rapid reform nurses must also be cognizant of the effects these changes will have on their overall roles and responsibilities. This involves a transformation of the roles and responsibilities of nurses as they enter the profession. As the health care landscape continues to change, so too must the nurses of the future. A dedication to continual learning is therefore needed to help diminish the influence of antiquated and obsolete knowledge regarding the profession.

As approximately 78% of the nurses in practice in 1965 were graduates of hospital-based diploma programs, concern was expressed regarding the impact of the document on the status of these nurses. (Levinski, 2013). Therefore, in 1966, the ANA Board of Directors approved the publication of a brochure A Date With the Future which interpreted the meaning of the position paper for graduates of hospital schools of nursing. The brochure stated:

Nursing practice is also one of the key messages addressed in the IOM report. The report suggests that “nurses should practice to full extent of their education and training”. Furthermore, “nurses should be full partners with physicians and other health professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States. This report has a great impact on nursing practice. The IOM report suggests that greater focus on managing the transition from nursing to practice. It recommends that regulatory reforms must be made to allow nurses to expand their scope of practice (IOM report, 2010).

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) will have a great effect on nursing. According to this article nursing will have to change it role in the ACA and the three main categories that need to be changed and redeveloped is transforming practice, education and leadership.

Nursing leaders are crucial to any nursing organization. They motivate, empower, influence, and communicate the organization’s vision to create change within the organization. Great nursing leadership depends on great nursing leaders. This paper will define nursing leadership and describe leadership characteristics. It will further depict the democratic style and transformational theory of nursing leadership. While exploring leadership in action, this paper will illustrate the aspects of nursing.

Leadership may mean different things to different people, the consensus opinion of experts in this field is that leadership is using power to direct and influence activities of people to achieve set goals or targets. Nursing leadership is all about every nurse providing, facilitating and promoting the best healthcare services to client and to the public. Leadership is a shared responsibility. (CNO 2012). The nursing profession need leaders that can build the capacity of nurses through mentoring, coaching, supporting, developing the expertise and management skills of nurses to make a difference to the quality of patient care at all levels of the profession ( McIntyre & McDonald, 2014 ). At the core of every leadership either political or managerial is power and how the leader uses it. While it is practically impossible to lead without power, how the nurse leader uses this power not only determine the leadership style but also the results or outcomes of what is achieved through the process.

Upon considering the past and future of nursing, many changes have already taken place, and even larger changes are expected. With the recent rate of technological development, the heath care system is certain to follow in its advances at nearly the same pace. Many predictions for the future of medicine are based on computerized technology. The use of telemonitoring, video and “smart houses” are already being used by some companies today, and will be utilized more frequently in the future. This will enable one nurse to care for many more patients than he/she is capable of safely caring for currently. This is very important due to the baby-boomer generation growing older and the