Homework Lance
Future of Nursing
Kim Denson RN CCM
GCU- Trends and Issues in today’s healthcare
Future of Nursing
With our nursing force being the biggest part of the country’s healthcare workforce. It is super important to stand behind them and understand what they need from their leaders. The nurses in the actual field should have involvement in decisions being made in all of healthcare.
The work of Robert Wood Johnson Initiative was and is the changes needed for the nursing profession. In 2008 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the IOM started to change the nursing profession. (National academics 2017) He developed the manuscript on what needed to happen to change. Part of the changes that needed to happen included nurses have the ability to practice at their full extent of their training. Nurses are trained and educated to do skills, it is asking that nurses be able to practice what they have been trained to do. Robert also thought that nurses should achieve higher levels of education. An easier transition needed to be able to advance nurses in their careers. For example, moving from RN to BSN then to MSN or DNP. I speak for a lot of nurses I know that if it would be easier and affordable many would move thru to higher nursing degrees. Nurses should be full partners to their healthcare team is another part of the manuscript to change the nursing profession. Redesigning healthcare to empower our nurses to have the autonomy to make decisions. When nurse develop leadership competencies they should utilize those skills in their work settings. One barrier that I see to nurse’s ability to be autonomous is when hospitals allow the financial team to dictate what happens in hospital operations. That is a huge barrier that some hospitals develop and cause a lot of good nurses to leave due to the disconnect between nurses and the corporate finance team. Another part included effective workforce planning and policy making thru improved data collection. (National academics, 2017)
The importance of the IOM report related to nursing practices, education and workforce begin with the role is to break it down into recommendations. It broke it down to recommendations to the specific bodies. For example, congress, State, CMS, and the office of personnel management and the department of justice. Each has specific tasks associated with their role. Some of the recommendations are deleting any scope of practice and allowing nurses to function at their highest potential. Nurse Residency programs are one of the recommendations. Allowing nurses to have that type of program to study and follow an APRN in actual practice is amazing. Increasing proportion of nurses with BSN to 80% by 2020 is another recommendation. The action items for the specific bodies are all very obtainable. Another recommendation is engaging nurses in lifelong learning. And doubling nurses with DNP by 2020. Nurses I know are advancing thru to these types of degrees. DNP is becoming very popular. It is nice to be able to go to the same college to get advanced degrees also. It helps nurses obtain higher degrees by being able to just continue to advance with their current college.
The role of the Texas state based action coalition is to better care, better health and lower healthcare costs. It is done at the state level in every state and every state has different goals. Another objective is to have healthier communities in Texas. Transforming nursing and healthcare in Texas are objectives of the coalition as well.
One initiative the state of Texas is working on is “Give Texas Nurses Full authority to heal.” (Campaign for action, 2017) Texas is a rural state and this initiative would allow more Texans to seek healthcare services. Currently patients can’t get seen by APRN’s. That is a barrier to patient’s receiving care they need. Currently they are overcoming the barrier slowly but surely because two legislations have introduced bills to each house to ease state restriction. With this possible passing of new bills, it would allow the patient’s in Texas to have access to healthcare services sooner. It would prevent patient’s from seeking primary care services in the emergency rooms. It would open up and help patient’s get diagnosis sooner and start treatments sooner. It is a great initiative that is super impressive. A second initiative involves “What do climate change and health have to do with nursing? “The magnitude of climate change on health is more evident and there is an interest to have a department to oversee all of the public health concerns. They would mitigate mosquito control programs, issue health alerts during heat days and work to develop plans to asses flooding hurricanes and disasters. They also help develop waste management plans, educate staff on environmental issues, and most importantly conduct research on climate change and health. A barrier to this incentive is identifying a competent nursing department to address changes needed and start awareness to the problem. A way to overcome it is by starting a movement that understands that the environment is key to one’s health. It is super important and challenging to also begin teaching on climate and the key improving patient’s health.
Overall patients are the number one focus of improving the nursing profession. They are the reason why we do what we do and why we strive to improve the nursing profession every day. The future of nursing has some great things going on as were working day to day and don’t even realize what goes on behind the scenes to help our patient’s and our careers. In reading the IOM report and Robert Wood Johnson’s foundation, It has taught that the nursing profession is striving for excellence and is dedicating time and education of nurses to get educated and be able to practice at the high levels in which they are trained to do. Working together to form a great working force of nurses is key to success.
Future of Nursing. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved from: on July 1st, 2017. http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing/Future%20of%20Nursing%202010%20Recommendations.pdf
State Coalition Initiatives. Retrieved from: On July 1, 2017. https://campaignforaction.org/state/texas/
Future of Nursing Report. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved July 1,2017.Retrieved from: http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing/Future%20of%20Nursing%202010%20Report%20Brief.pdf
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