IOM Future of Nursing Recommendations - Essay Example

IOM’s 4th recommendation that proposes an increase in the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree from 50 to 80 per cent by 2020 is a noble idea that should be embraced by everybody. On my part as a nurse, I will ensure that this becomes a reality by becoming one of the nurses with a baccalaureate degree. To do this, I will ensure that I enrol for the baccalaureate degree within 5 years of my graduation with diploma degrees. It is also a matter of fact that pursuing this degree course requires a lot of funds. In this case, I will put all my effort into seeking scholarships from both public and private sponsors to ensure that this dream becomes a reality. Through this means, I believe I will be among the 80 per cent of nurse graduates with a baccalaureate degree by 2020. It is also important that healthcare organizations offer tuition reimbursement to help develop a culture that promotes further education and giving promotion and salary differential according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (n.d.).

The quality of healthcare must be improved to a higher level. This can only be realized through research and development to increase diversity by ensuring that more nurses in the country acquire a doctorate. In this connection, for me to fit into this 5th recommendation of IOM, I will ensure that I enrol on a doctorate program in the next five years after graduating with a baccalaureate degree. It is also acknowledgeable that this would require a lot of funding and dedication from individual schools and the public at large. However, since I have a lot of passion for education that would enable me to better the lives of others in the future, the sky is the limit. In case I find it difficult to pay tuition fees, I will seek assistance from well-wishers and the government to offer me a scholarship. In the end, I believe I will be among those who form part of the double-digit number of those with a doctorate by 2020. It would also be beneficial for university trustees and academic administrators to create salary and benefits packages that are competitive in the market to recruit highly qualified academic and clinical nurses like myself.

For me to be able to fit into the sixth recommendation of IOM future for nursing, it would be imperative for faculty and healthcare organizations to create, and prioritise competencies so that curricula can regularly be updated to ensure that graduates at all stages are well prepared to meet both current and future healthcare demands of the population (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (n.d.). It would also be crucial that healthcare organizations and nursing schools develop a culture that promotes learning by providing resources for inter-professional continuing competency programs. More schools should also be established to absorb those with an interest in furthering their education. I believe that when all this is put in place, I will be able to engage myself in a lifelong learning process.

It is a matter of fact that when all other factors are constant, the more one is educated the more options he or she would have in the market. This is because someone with only a diploma degree in nursing may only become a mere nurse but the more one advances the more opportunities open up. In this regard, by increasing my level of education I would become more competitive in the market, in that, I can become a nursing manager, Nursing director, administration director, associate professor of nursing, head of nursing or nursing home administrator once I attain a doctorate. All these job opportunities are in high demand and are among the best paid across the globe. For instance, the average salary of a nursing manager is $65,000.

Increasing my education level would indeed affect my role in the future of nursing. Firstly, it would allow me to bring about health reforms that are required for the well-being of citizens and the country at large. Secondly, it would enable me to advance the quality of services in the nursing profession by initiating various research and development. For instance, up to date, no one has been able to identify how HIV and Aids can be cured. Therefore, I believe that advancing my level of education will enable me to improve my research skills and one day come up with a cure for this stubborn disease. This will ultimately bring change in the future of nursing and healthcare as a whole.