Can you influence the “Future of Nursing”?
by Sylvain Trepanier, DNP, RN, CENP
In 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) published a landmark report on the Future of Nursing. The report includes four key messages and eight specific recommendations. (Link to report.) The four key messages are:
- Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.
- Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.
- Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States.
- Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure.
In order to support the four key messages, the authors of the report identified for the nursing community a road map which includes eight recommendations:
- Remove scope of practice barriers
- Expand opportunities for nurses to lead and diffuse collaboration improvement efforts
- Implement nurse residency (transition to practice) program
- Increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020
- Double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020
- Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning
- Prepare and enable nurses to lead change to advance health
- Build an infrastructure for the collection and analysis of professional health care workforce data
This report offers an excellent road map to our profession and all healthcare providers and leaders. As nurses, we have an obligation to take action now in order to meet the needs of our patients today and tomorrow. What actions will you take to ensure a bright future for our profession? How can you make a difference and implement any of the eight recommendations listed above?
