Challenging the Future of Nursing

Two years ago, the Institute of Medicine began a study of the nursing profession aimed at constructing a “blueprint” for the profession’s future development.  This was meant to help the profession to better meet the developing needs of the nation’s health care workforce and the needs of health care delivery in this country.  It is easy to see the role that Health Informatics could play in pursuing the Institute’s recommendations.  The report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” which was released earlier this month had these four key recommendations:

          “1. Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.

2. Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.

3. Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United State.

4. Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure.”

In regards to their first point, the Institute identified several issues that they felt needed to be addressed.   The first issue dealt with the variability in state laws pertaining to advanced practice nurses that they felt interfered with the ability of these nurses to contribute to the health care system to the full extent of their ability.  They recommended that the government get involved in establishing a national standardized “scope of practice” for these nurses.  Another issue they identified was the high turnover rate of new nurses and they emphasized the need for transitional residency programs.  These programs smooth the transition from nursing student to professional nurse and have been shown to be quite effective in reducing staff turnover amongst new graduates. 

To their second point, a recommendation was made for improvement in the quality and scope of nursing education to better prepare nurses to meet the increasing demands on their profession that the future holds.  The report stated that nurses must receive more training in “leadership, health policy, system improvement, research and evidence based practice, and teamwork and collaboration, as well as competency in specific content areas including community and public health and geriatrics.”  They also felt that nurses would need higher levels of education to meet the increased expectations that will be placed on them.  They made a call for more opportunities and assistance for nurses to obtain higher education as well as for increased diversity within the ranks of the profession.

Their third point was a call to nurses to accept their rightful place alongside other health care professionals in being part of the solution to the challenges the future holds for our country in delivering safe and equal care for all.  Nurses must accept this responsibility, but they must also be accepted by the other health care professions as peers in this important endeavor.  Efforts must be made to cultivate the relationships needed for successful collaboration, innovation and reform.

The fourth point acknowledged the limitations of our current data systems and infrastructure in helping to predict work force requirements.  Improvements in this area would help provide timely data to inform decision making in regards to the needs of the health care workforce and the delivery of care to the population.

I am currently enrolled in a Master’s Program in Nursing and Healthcare Leadership.  In reading the recent recommendations of the Institute of Health on the future of Nursing, I can’t help but wonder if the findings were “leaked” at an earlier time as I see the fundamentals of these recommendations permeating the curriculum of my newly formed School of Nursing already.  They seem to be following the Institute’s key points exactly.  I can also understand now why they were strongly encouraging all the students to take a Health Informatics course in our first quarter.  They, like me, must have seen that the Internet and associated technologies would play an important role in education, communication, data collection, innovations in health care delivery and health care reform.  Though aspects of this Informatics class have challenged me, I hope I am able to ultimately meet those challenges and learn my lessons well so I may be as effective as possible in meeting my responsibilities as a nurse leader.