IOM's The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health Report - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to Institute of Medicine (2010), IOM provides info concerning health-related decisions to the government and other healthcare stakeholders by the use of data that they obtain through conducting research. The stakeholders in the health sector take up these recommendations to make changes in their policies so that the provision of health services is improved. In 2010, the IOM released a report named The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. The main aim of this report was to expand medical care and patient outcomes for various populations in the lifecycle, nursing being a core component needed to achieve the goal. The report was released due to the changes in the sector of healthcare hence making the sector complex. These changes have come due to technological advancements, shortening of the stays at the hospitals, discharge from critical healthcare amenities to facilities which are communally based as well as increasing complexities of the clients. To counter these adjustments, the report has impacted the Education of the nurses as well as the practice of the nursing profession.

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The education sector of the nursing profession has been affected mainly due to the demand for nurses who are more skilled so that they can utilize critical reasoning in various situations. Among the particularities of the profession of nursing is that it has various pathways that lead to obtaining a license for an entry level of the profession. These pathways include an associate degree, baccalaureate degree and hospital-based diploma (Institute of Medicine 2010).There have been debates among the stakeholders in the health sector on the lowest education level required before one is accredited and licensed. It is in this brief that IOM recommends that for a baccalaureate degree to be the minimum level of accreditation to promote an even foundation for the new healthcare model which will come along with the reform of the healthcare sector. According to the National Academy of Sciences b. (2015) a high level of education will be important in the nursing sector due to several reasons. To begin with, there has been an expansion in the competencies that are required to practice a nursing profession. Practitioners in nursing require skills and understanding of geriatrics, public health, practice which is based on evidence, research and health policy. Secondly, nurses will be required to make very important decisions related to the sicker, weaker patients and also work complicated machines and new technology. There will also be an increasing tendency of nurses being designated to perform as primary caregivers. With the aging population increasing, nurses will be requested to help the aged manage terminal illnesses in to prevent critical care incidences as well as limiting the cases of disease progression. In addition, nurses will start using complicated information management systems that need expertise in analysis so as to ensure effective and quality care (Institute of Medicine 2010).

Education in the nursing profession is also important because nurses will have to work together with other professionals in the health sector such as physiotherapists, social workers and pharmacists a majority of whom may use medical language which may be hard for a non-medical practitioner to master (National Academy of Sciences a. 2015).

The institute recommends the following to transform the education of the nurses. By the year 2020, the percentage of nursing practitioners who hold a baccalaureate degree should increase by at least eighty percent (National Academy of Sciences b. 2015). Encouraging the nurses who hold either a hospital-based diploma or an associate degree to enroll in a baccalaureate degree nursing program through donating tuition fees or promoting a culture that nurtures ongoing studies as well as offering a differential in salaries and promotion. Increasing grants and loans to students who enroll for nursing courses (Redman et al., 2015).

The number of nurses who hold a doctorate and master's degrees in nursing should also be doubled by the year 2020 to improve the deficiencies of nurse fraternity, researchers and basic caregivers. This will ensure that there are enough qualified personnel in this sector at every level (Institute of Medicine 2011). In the last few years doctoral courses which grant doctorate of nursing practice have been initiated. The focus of these programs is to increase clinical skills and capabilities, enhance patient care and nurture skills required for management positions in the healthcare facilities. The other recommendation is to give priority and develop nursing capabilities so that the curriculum of the various nursing schools will be updated frequently. This move will make sure that graduates of all nursing institutes, at various levels are equipped to meet the present and future healthcare demands of the entire population (Institute of Medicine 2011).

Finally, IOM recommends that there should be a rise in the diversity in terms of race, gender and ethnic composition of the nursing workforce to make sure that nurses can offer culturally appropriate healthcare. IOM also discourses the importance of having a nursing education which is competency founded as well as the need for an inclusive healthcare education for various health professionals so as to establish teamwork which is necessary for quality healthcare services. This recommendation requires that nurses involve themselves with life-long education just as other health professionals since healthcare is complex and dynamic. There is no single degree program that will equip the nurses with everything they need to know in practicing their profession (Redman et al., 2015).

Just as in nursing education, there have been some implications in the nursing practice from the IOM report as well. In the contemporary world, nurses will have to keep up with the advances in technology, particularly in the medical field. This is because hospitals have been equipping their facilities with complex machines and equipment and nurses are required to become conversant with them.

Since Florence Nightingale came up with the idea of training caregivers about 150 years ago, the nursing profession has evolved and advanced with time as healthcare advances (National Academy of Sciences a. 2015). There has been an increase in the number of nursing professionals over time which has brought notable changes in the healthcare sector in the United States the advancement has also made nursing a desirable profession attracting gifted individuals hence increased roles of nurses in the health profession. Nursing practice has made it possible for some changes to occur. These include the development of high-tech health facilities, reduced durations of hospital stay, reduced work hours of physicians which boosts safety of the patient, improved capacity of the primary care in America, enhanced access to medical care among the poor, respite and soothing care together with hospice and coordination of healthcare among the elderly and the chronically ill. Nurses are too close to the patients and are endowed with skills that make them understand various care processes (Boamah et al., 2018). These skills are based on a variety of care.

The main message of the IOM report was that nurses should practice their profession to the maximum extent based on their training. The institute of medicine recommends that in every setting, every patient desire healthcare that is based on their specific requirements as opposed to that which is most appropriate for health practitioners engaged in their care. As outlined in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 nurses play a very important role in the transformation of the medical care system (Boamah et al., 2018).

The specialisation of roles of nurses and having a clear structure in place has impacted nursing practice by tasking the nurses with the role of making the medical care more reachable , improving the quality of healthcare services as well as warranting a value driven surrounding for people who need healthcare. There has been a shift of focus on healthcare provision due to the changing demographic dynamics. The focus now makes the nurses to adopt a patient based healthcare and deliver more basic care and not speciality care; provide more communal care as opposed to critical care and deliver continuous care. The recommendation also requires that nurses collaborate with other health practitioners and develop an inter-professional team. This shift will make the nurses deliver high quality medical care free from errors and very safe. Delivering healthcare in such a manner will tap the traditional abilities of the nursing profession. Nurses are best positioned to address various healthcare needs due to their numbers among the health practitioners hence their practice need to be reconceptualized and enhanced. With time nursing practice has played a core role in the health sector which seems impossible to do away with (Redman et al., 2015).

Conclusion

In conclusion the report of the institution of medicine of 2010 has had a remarkable impact on the practice of nursing profession as well as nursing education. This report strengthens the impression that there is need for nurses to acquire appropriate skills nurtured through quality training. The IOM report has also emphasized on the important role played by nurses in ensuring a quality and expanded healthcare in the United States.

References

Boamah, S. A., Laschinger, H. K. S., Wong, C., & Clarke, S. (2018). Effect of transformational leadership on job satisfaction and patient safety outcomes. Nursing outlook, 66(2), 180-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2017.10.004

Institute of Medicine (2010). Future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/249309.

Institute of Medicine. (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12956.

National Academy of Sciences a. (2015). The future of nursing: Focus on education. Retrieved from http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health/Report-Brief-Education.aspx

National Academy of Sciences b. (2015). The future of nursing: Focus on the scope of practice. Retrieved from http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health/Report-Brief-Scope-of-Practice.aspx

Redman, R. W., Pressler, S. J., Furspan, P., & Potempa, K. (2015). Nurses in the United States with a practice doctorate: Implications for leading in the current context of health care. Nursing outlook, 63(2), 124-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2014.08.003