THE IMPACT OF IOM REPORT ON NURSING - Assignment Example

? THE IMPACT OF IOM REPORT ON NURSING The recommendation of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the future of nursing has been viewed by nearly 64 million people within the first year of its publication, undoubtedly indicating that it is one of the most inspiring pieces of medical literature of the 21st century, not only having an enduring influence on healthcare but most importantly creating a pioneering route ahead for the nursing profession. The fast changing dynamics of nurses’ practice in the last decade has made it necessary for the health industry to bring about important changes in nursing practice. In an endeavor to sustain and enhance the potential of nursing and progression in healthcare, the Institute of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWIF) produced an action oriented blueprint ‘The Future of Nursing: Leading change and advancing health’. This report presented recommendations for undertaking changes to support in developing an affordable healthcare system that not only endows a varied populace with superior and empathetic care but simultaneously endorses disease prevention and individuals’ wellbeing. This paper shall discuss the impact of IOM report on Nursing Education (Transforming Education), Nursing Practice (Transforming Practice), and the Nurses’ role as a leader (Transforming Leadership). Transforming Education With the dawn of the 21st century, our nation is encountering a lot of new trends and challenges in healthcare, most importantly, as the population of elderly people is escalating with the approaching decades and concern being changing to a graver and broader diversity of chronic ailments. For this reason, the IOM report has recommended providing nurses with an enhanced system of education that helps them accomplish higher levels of education and training as well as endorses flawless academic progression (IOM, 2011, p. 163). Moreover, according to IOM it is also important to direct the educational systems for preparing nurses towards community settings like primary care, long-term care and public health. The IOM committee further suggested that the nursing curriculum in schools should be reassessed, renewed, and made adequately adaptive in science, technology, research, and rich fundamental theories as it will augment their decision making skills concerning dynamic clinical situations in all settings and thereby, meet the continual changing requirements in health care. Another recommendation stated that the entrance level qualification for nursing practice should be upgraded to acquisition of a baccalaureate degree rather than simply a diploma or associate degree in nursing. The impact of this will be that nurses shall become better equipped with competencies to participate in configuration of health policies, financial decision-making, leadership, and quality enhancements. In fact, nurses will be imparted with additional critical thinking aptitudes which will enable them to provide more effective and enhanced quality of care to the patient (IOM, 2011, p. 169-170). The IOM suggested that by 2020 the percentage of nurses who attain a Baccalaureate in the Science of Nursing (BSN) should be augmented to 80%, among which minimum 10% of BSN nurses should be persuaded to enter a master or doctoral program, to help twofold the number of nurses who take up doctoral degrees in future (IOM, 2011, p. 163).. This recommendation is paramount as this will produce more nurses at Master’s and Doctoral levels who will be able to serve as primary care providers, researchers, and become part of the faculty team which is huge requirement in this profession currently (IOM, 2011, p. 163). Another arena which the IOM pinpointed which needs to be improvised was the ongoing crisis of nurses with the right skills. This crisis is due to the high turnover rates primarily caused by the hurdles confronted by new graduates when transferring skills into practice. For this, the IOM suggested initiation of nurse residency programs as this will assist in delivering complete knowledge and skills in providing safe and quality care as outlined by the standard of nursing practice (IOM, 2011, p. 179-180). Transforming Practice Another key message that the IOM has highlighted is the need to transform practice and allow nurses to practice to the full scope of their education and training. Most often, nurses with appropriate education such as a Master’s or Doctorate degree are restricted by legal barriers, historical, cultural, policies and restraints from incoherent State regulations from operating to their fullest extent of practice. Such nurses who are even referred as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNS) should also be permitted to provide primary care and not be constrained by State laws and regulations. The IOM committee determined that such restrictions should be removed in order to enable the nurses take up the responsibilities they can and should be taking during this time of great need. Many APRNS also face problems purposely created by the physicians who challenge the former’s scope of practice in the fear of losing their own professional roles in the light of the autonomy of nurse in practice. The physicians tend to overlook the efficacy of these nurses and their knowledge in enhancing a community, public, and primary care based novel healthcare system. The IOM highly recommended forming guidelines based on the nurses’ knowledge and proficiency (IOM, 2011, p. 96-97). At present day, most nurses can be found working in specialty care despite of the fact that primary care, long term care, and acute care are the requisite of most aged people today. This vacuum of deficient nurses that has been generated in the health care system can only be filled with enhancement in education of nurses which may start from the period they acquire license till the time they stop working or depart from the health community. Nurses can alter their practice in the direction of particular and distinctive needs of individual patients only if they sincerely involve in continual education, communication enhancement, practice to the extreme scope of their knowledge and practice, and become acknowledged with the new technology and techniques being used in the health care system. This has been proved through various researches that such trainings tremendously help in plummeting medication errors, comprehending laboratory outcomes and diagnostic assessments, and other medical tools (IOM, 2011, p. 143). These transformations and enhancements can assist nurses in playing a big role in changing the system of health care. A study at John Hopkins have revealed great attenuation in blood infection and medication errors because of nurses’ practice of infection control endeavor and nurses’ safety practice respectively (IOM, 2011, p. 90). Even Geisinger health system and Veteran affair have integrated front line RN’s and APRN’s in their health-care to counter the rising need and stipulation of care (IOM, 2011, p. 92-93). These examples along with various others reported in the IOM testimony clearly indicate that well trained nurses can pioneer to enhanced and affordable health services. Transforming Leadership For the transformation of the health system, nurses’ participation in effective leadership is very vital suggested the IOM report. Till recently nurses have been simply acting as serviceable go-getters, that is doing what has been ordered to, however, to provide effective care it is necessary that they should be contemplative strategist who make well-versed decisions and their actions are based on education, substantiation, and experience. Nurses, physicians, other healthcare professional, and patients are all mutually dependent on each other for providing quality care. For this purpose, it is necessary that they work as mutual partners but unfortunately this is not the case, nurses are presently lacking in the area of leadership. For this reason, the IOM recommended that all nurses should obtain leadership skills and competencies as this will enable them to perform as full partners with physicians and other health professionals in the commencement, execution, and appraisal of actions as well as promoters in the current transformation of healthcare (IOM, 2011, p. 222). The primary task of nurses as leaders should be to recognize the problems, formulate a strategy, trail it, and modify it as per need to ensure continual improvement and thereby, achieve the set goals and objectives of providing efficient care. With nurses serving as leaders, ample versions of research findings to upgrade practice settings, nursing education, and formulation of guidelines will be made available. The full potential of nurses’ education and practice can only be derived if they are given the full of scope of becoming leaders and act as mutual partners of other health care professionals. In addition, nurses should also have increased communication with all the members of the health care system which is inclusive of physicians as well as professional and care nurses so as to achieve excellent leadership and strategy making persona, effectual personnel and superior infrastructure of data compilation. Many reports have confirmed improved patient outcomes, lessening of medical errors, and smaller staff turnovers with this approach of nurse leadership. (IOM, 2011, p. 223) The IOM report has made me realize the real need of higher education in nursing and as a Registered Nurse (RN); I have decided to advance into a MSN degree after completing my BSN program as this will help me meet the educational goals accredited in the report. Currently, my prima motto is to become an efficient nurse practitioner and actively improvise the practice in primary care. I hold strong interest in taking up a more front-line RN approach along with active participation in policy formation by getting involved in different committees and boards. The IOM report has been an eye-opener especially regarding transforming education and as a RN with only few years of experience in nursing, I have clearly understood the importance of further enlightening myself on the prospect of nursing practice, as this will escort me to my own future. Conclusion These recommendations accentuate the intersection between the miscellany in the United States and actions taken by nurses. Theses recommendations only center on the way nurses can offer the best care to the patients instead of focusing on the problems nurses face during practice. However, IOM is quite a comprehensive report for the progress of the nursing practice as it concentrates on full degree of practice, progression in education and edifying of communication structure. In conclusion, with my knowledge of the impacts of all the above desirable transformations, I intend to consider education as a lifetime learning tool which will enable me to achieve desired positions in practice, and where I can contribute to health care reforms in the ever evolving health care system. This report highlights very significant matters that will facilitate us in accomplishing the vision of transformed health care system. References IOM. (2011, Oct. 05). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 85-254. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx Read More