Table of Contents
IOM Future of Nursing Recommendations
The main factors contributing to the recommendations made on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, the Future of Nursing; are the increasing patients’ sufferings and needless deaths due to medical errors in the health institutions (Roth, Wieck, Fountain & Haas, 2015). The IOM recommendations present possible solutions to the challenges facing healthcare systems to reduce mortality rate in the country. Nursing is essential in the effective functioning of the healthcare delivery systems. According to the Institute of Medicine (2011) suggestions, as the healthcare system undergoes a radical transformation, nurses are expected to play a significant role in the entire process. In the report, IOM demands the country to expand the healthcare services to accommodate various health needs including mental disorders, chronic conditions and primary care services. Discussed in the paper is how the fourth, fifth and sixth recommendations of IOM, Future of Nursing report, would influence my options, competency and future roles in the nursing field.
Recommendation 1
Under this recommendation, the report provides for an increase in the proportion of nurses attaining bachelor degree as a minimum education level. The idea to increase more nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by the year 2020 will create diversity in the workplace to enhance quality health services. The program will help to develop nurses towards meeting the rising healthcare demands in the growing population (Buerhaus, 2008). The increased level of education will enable me to develop further skills needed to deliver safe and quality care in the health sector. The advanced skills and knowledge increase the capacity and ability to participate in the acute and chronic care management services. The attainment of high education level in nursing provides a platform to demonstrate increased productivity and improved patient outcome. Well-qualified and competent nurses always enhance quality health and patient safety across healthcare settings.
We can do it today.
Nurses practicing in chronic care and other community-based care delivery systems usually experience complexities and difficulties in such health environments (Kaakinen et al., 2014). Advancing education will help to develop competency in healthcare planning, implementation and evaluation of population-based care. Additionally, enhanced learning would support health promotion to facilitate working in such environments.
Recommendation 2
Realizing adequate supply of well-trained nurses for clinical care services, leadership roles and promoting more nursing researches in the health sector demands for the increase in the proportion of nurses with doctorate degrees by 2020. In this context, acquiring doctorate degree will enable me to become relevant in executing the expanding nursing roles which require effective leadership qualities, teamwork and a better understanding of the improved systems in the health setting. Cherry and Jacob (2016) provide that advancing education level in nursing creates an opportunity for participation in research programs, supporting the growth and development of more nurse practitioners and advanced practice nurses to increase delivery of primary care services to the patients. The advancement in education also allows the nurses to seek new roles in training and supervising new health professionals.
Recommendation 3
The continuous learning process for nurses provides them with an opportunity to gain competency required in offering care services to a diverse group of people (Goudreau et al., 2015). The ongoing learning prepares the nurses at all levels in the healthcare system to encounter the emerging health needs in the society. Engaging in lifelong learning will enable me to demonstrate a comprehensive set of clinical performances in providing care across the health settings, as well as allowing for flexibility in the workplace.
- Buerhaus, P. I. (2008). Current and future state of the US nursing workforce. JAMA, 300(20), 2422-2424.
- Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. Elsevier Health Sciences.
- Goudreau, J., Pepin, J., Larue, C., Dubois, S., Descôteaux, R., Lavoie, P., & Dumont, K. (2015). A competency-based approach to nurses’ continuing education for clinical reasoning and leadership through reflective practice in a care situation. Nurse education in practice, 15(6), 572-578.
- Institute of Medicine (US). Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
- Kaakinen, J. R., Coehlo, D. P., Steele, R., Tabacco, A., & Hanson, S. M. H. (2014). Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research. FA Davis.
- Roth, C., Wieck, K. L., Fountain, R., & Haas, B. K. (2015). Hospital nurses’ perceptions of human factors contributing to nursing errors. Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(5), 263-269.