Impact on Future Nursing

Nurses from around the world are selecting a career in the health care industry that is experiencing a reform never envisioned. The needs of patients have become more complicated and in order to deliver high-quality care nurses have to implement competencies in leadership, health care policy, system improvements, research, teamwork, collaboration and evidence-based practice.

The Institute of Medicine report on the future of nursing leading change, advancing health has been widely cited and referenced by many health care organizations. The impact on the profession of nursing is significant as health care leaders, policymakers, and funding agencies take into consideration the recommendations and plan strategies for implementation. The Institute of Medicine report outlines what is needed to develop an essential and varied nursing workforce that will meet the health care challenges within America. Some of the key recommendations consist of the following:

• Nurses should practice the full scope of their education.

• Nurses should pursue higher levels of education, and nursing programs should work to provide academic progression opportunities that are continuous for learners.

• Nurses should emerge as full partners with other health care professionals in redesigning health care.

• Data collection and management processes should be improved to better inform workforce planning and development of policies.

The implications of this report for nurse educators and the future generations of nurses are considerable. While creative solutions have been reached for addressing concerns about education potential, the author proposes that meaningful discussion about the future of nursing will not occur unless there is a thorough examination of nursing education and advancement toward transformation.

Nursing Education

The report issued by the Institute of Medicine recommends an increase in the number of nurses holding a bachelor’s degree from fifty percent to eighty percent by the year of twenty-thousand and twenty. Approximately half of the faculty within nursing schools will reach retirement age with the next ten years and the anticipated attritions will create the beginning of a crisis (Aiken, 2011).

Higher education and training levels should be attained by nurses through an education system that promotes continuous academic progression. There is an emphasis for more nurses to enter into the workforces with a bachelor’s degree or pursue this degree during the early stages of their careers.

Nursing Practice in Primary Care

It is anticipated that the Affordable Care Act of two-thousand and ten will set many demands on health care professionals. It will offer many opportunities to create a system that will be more focused on the patient. The legislation has begun the process of transferring the focus of the health care system away from acute and specialty care. The need for this transfer has become vital due to chronic conditions, primary care, prevention and wellness, and the alleviation of opposing situations, such as infections acquired in hospitals. This challenge can be met by empowering nurses to practice to the full extent their education and training. It will be vital to transform the nursing practice in order to improve health care. The quality of care has increased due to the utilization of the full nursing potential therefore establishing greater value.

Nursing is one of the most versatile vocations within the health care industry. As a result, new career directions for nurses have emerged, creating a range of talented candidates for selection leading to expanded opportunities of practice and responsibilities for nurses. Nurses have been an enabling power for change in health care along a multitude of dimensions (Institute of Medicine, 2011).

Currently, nurse practitioners, physicians and physician assistants, provide the majority of primary health care in America. It is estimated that physicians account for two-hundred and eighty-seven thousand primary health care providers, nurse practitioners are eighty-three thousand and physician assistants are twenty-three thousand (Institute of Medicine, 2011).

The Nurse’s Role as a Leader

Strong leadership will be essential in order to realize the vision of a transformed health care system. It is perceived that the public does not envision nurses as leaders. Not all nurses establish a career with the desire to become a leader. In order for ongoing reforms to occur within the health care system, nurses will need to be leaders in the design, implementation, execution, evaluation, advocacy and support phases of the process.

In addition, leadership skills and competencies will be necessary for nurses to perform as partners with health care professions in the redesign efforts across the health care system. Through research and practice, evidence-based improvements to health care will need to be identified. The improvements once tested will need to be accepted through policy changes implemented across the health care system.

Conclusion

Transformation of the nursing practice for a dynamic health system requires groundwork for re-inventing the education program for nursing (National League for Nursing, 2011). To prepare a more educated and diverse workforce, nurse educators and clinical practice partners will have to work together to create new models of academic progression that encourage graduates to pursue advanced degrees more efficiently and inexpensively (National League for Nursing, 2011). The author would make changes to its practice based on the goals Institute of Medicine report by focusing on implementing education programs for academic progression. One way is to motivate nurses to pursue advanced degrees is by establishing professional development plans and offering a tuition assistance program.

It may be very difficult to generate enough health care faculty and nurses to occupy leadership and executive positions requiring graduate-level education if entry-level nursing education does not advance entirely to the bachelor degree level. The educational establishments and learners will react favorable to financial incentives which are the American way of effecting change (Aiken, 2011).

References

Aiken, L. (2011). Nurses for the future. The New England Journal of Medicine

Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

National League for Nursing. (2011). Academic progression in nursing education. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.