•Review the four recommendations in the IOM report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health and find your state’s action coalition. Discuss your state’s action coalition’s work as it aligns with these four recommendations. Is each recommendation being addressed? Based on your analysis of the website, how would you describe your state’s progress toward meeting the IOM recommendations?
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report titled “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” provides a comprehensive framework for transforming healthcare through nursing. The report offers four key recommendations that aim to improve the delivery of healthcare, enhance nursing education, and promote nursing leadership. For this assignment, we will review these recommendations and analyze how our state’s action coalition aligns with them.
The first recommendation of the IOM report is to remove scope-of-practice barriers to allow nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training. By eliminating these barriers, nurses can contribute their expert knowledge and skills to provide primary care and meet the healthcare needs of the population. Upon exploring our state’s action coalition website, it is evident that they heavily focus on this recommendation. They have actively advocated for legislative changes to grant autonomous practice rights to nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and clinical nurse specialists. The coalition has published several resources and position statements highlighting the importance of removing scope-of-practice barriers and expanding the role of nurses in healthcare.
The second recommendation calls for nurses to achieve higher levels of education and training through seamless academic progression. This would enable nurses to progress from an associate degree to a baccalaureate degree and beyond, creating a highly skilled workforce. Our state’s action coalition recognizes the significance of this recommendation and has taken various measures to promote higher education among nurses. They have established partnerships with academic institutions to facilitate seamless progression programs and provide financial incentives for nurses pursuing advanced degrees. The coalition also organizes workshops and conferences focusing on the benefits of higher education for nurses. While progress has been made, there is still a need for further collaboration between academic institutions and healthcare organizations to fully implement seamless academic progression in our state.
The third recommendation emphasizes the importance of increased collaboration between healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes. This collaboration extends beyond traditional care settings and involves interprofessional education and practice. The state’s action coalition has recognized the significance of this recommendation and actively promotes interprofessional collaboration. They have developed programs to facilitate interprofessional education and encourage collaboration among healthcare professionals. The coalition has also initiated interdisciplinary forums and conferences to provide a platform for dialogue and shared decision-making between various healthcare disciplines. Despite these efforts, there are still barriers to overcome in fully integrating interprofessional collaboration in practice settings, such as conflicting professional roles and lack of organizational support.
The fourth and final recommendation of the IOM report focuses on nurses taking on leadership roles, both within healthcare organizations and in policymaking arenas. The state’s action coalition acknowledges the importance of nursing leadership and has undertaken various initiatives to promote leadership development among nurses. They offer leadership training programs, mentorship opportunities, and scholarships to enable nurses to develop their leadership skills. Additionally, the coalition actively engages in policy advocacy to ensure that nursing perspectives are represented in healthcare policymaking. While progress has been made in cultivating nursing leadership, there is still room for improvement in terms of diverse representation and broader inclusion of nursing leaders across healthcare organizations and policy arenas.
Overall, our state’s action coalition demonstrates a strong commitment to addressing the recommendations put forth in the IOM report. They have made significant strides in removing scope-of-practice barriers, promoting higher education, fostering interprofessional collaboration, and cultivating nursing leadership. However, it is essential to acknowledge that progress is an ongoing process, and there are still areas where further work is needed. Continued collaboration among stakeholders, ongoing advocacy efforts, and sustained investment in nursing education and leadership development are crucial for our state to fully meet the IOM recommendations and achieve transformative change in healthcare through nursing.