Introduction
The profession of nursing presents the largest proportion of the health human workforce in the national healthcare system. Therefore, it applies that these practitioners play a fundamental role in achieving the overall goals of public health. However, the achievement of nursing profession has been prevented partially by the variations existing in the care system among other changes within the community. In this regard, it was critical for the nursing communities to address the sustainability of nursing profession in the identified changes. This address was implemented to ensure that health could advance progressively depending on growth and changes in the healthcare systems. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report was setup to project the future of nursing in respect to the prevailing issues and predetermined incidents.
Leading Change and Advancing Health
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the IOM were setup to evaluate the requirement of various changes and transformations in the nursing profession (Thomas, 2013). The plan was projected by a committee selected by the IOM from the RWJF Initiative to identify a strategy that could solve these problems associated to community change. This committee developed a report to address four points in order to advance the health sector.
First, it recommended that nurses ought to practice training and education in their full capacity in order to ensure professionalism of each to all states (Kuehn, 2010). Essentially, the variations caused by the scope of learning from state’s laws led to differences and contradictions in practices. The full education and training practices ensure that the nurses are fit in a professional perspective regardless of the state’s laws. Secondly, the committee recommended the formation of progressive learning and training for the nurses. This factor was established to ensure that nurses remain competitive in respect to progression of the healthcare needs. For instance, the nurses have to learn new strategies of dealing with diseases as well as studying the application of new equipments in the treatment systems. Thirdly, it was important to present a strategic approach of dealing with information devolvement among physicians and practitioners. In this regard, the committee recommended that the nursing profession ought to be incorporated fully in designing the healthcare system. This idea was implemented to ensure that the suggestions of the nurses were considered while making changes or introducing new approaches in the United States of America. It was also profound to create an effective system of information on workforce plans and policies. The comprehensive collection of data would not only assist in identifying changes, but also project future needs and solutions. Such data included the demand of nurses in the health care system.
Importance of the IOM ‘Future of Nursing’
The IOM was significant to the current and future course of the nursing profession in practice, education, and workforce development. It was clear that the first recommendation suggested full education and training for the nurses. The practitioners would obtain high levels of education to assist them in handling the patients. They would be able to learn upcoming ideas and develop new knowledge within the healthcare system. Such development can enable the care services to become effective. In essence, changes may be implemented in developing the new course of diseases and patient’s needs. There are possibilities of discovering new tactics to handle patients in respect to their individual needs. In respect to the nursing practices, progressive education can ensure that new ideas are injected to the system continuously. Furthermore, the establishment of an improved education system to enlighten nurses and ensure that they reach high levels of training including master and doctorate facilitates progression and advancements in strategies. The inclusion of nurses in designing the care system is another opportunity to boost the capacity of these practitioners in education and practices. It implies that the nurses are consulted when designing the health care system in the United States. Finally, the collection of comprehensive data to monitor workforce in the nursing profession provides information regarding the demand and supply of these skills. The data allows the nursing profession to modify strategies of teaching and operating in respect to changes of various aspects of the care system. It implies that managers can determine the demand and surplus of nurses at the national level.
State-Based Action Coalitions
The states have small and manageable systems of administrations including the development of policies. The implementation of the action coalition at the states’ levels allows a greater number of people to access a service. In this regard, the state-based action coalition improves the penetration of health and healthcare services to small sections of the United States (Runde & Flanagan, 2010). Furthermore, it facilitates the leaders to reach the practitioners at an individual or group level when they are in small numbers. The campaigns to implement the IOM report can reach many people while using this system. The first initiative of Florida action coalition is establishing a relationship with the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence to execute these recommendations. Secondly, this state held the Florida Nursing Summit involving the Florida Center for Nursing in a collaboration learning activity fostered to enable the achievement of various recommendations within the IOM report together with the Florida Blue Foundation (Graudal, 2015). In this manner, these initiatives allow the coalition to reach the nurses and implement the education properly. They motivate the nurses and encourage them to advance their education standards by delivering information. However, the earlier organizational setup of learning institutions where progressive learning was not considered properly became a significant barrier in attaining the professional goals of Florida’s nursing. These institutions must be modified to incorporate the suggested changes in the nursing profession. Therefore, it is clear that the changes may take a lot of time to establish fully. However, the allocation of funds to encourage students and establishment of infrastructure to facilitate these changes are some of the key solutions for these challenges. Once these resolutions are implemented, the development of the health system may align with the IOM report to foster the advancement of healthcare services.
Conclusion
The improvement of the nursing profession must remain updated in accordance to the new healthcare requirement. It is prudent that nurses remain on the top practices in order to curb arising issues in the healthcare system. These aspects include the progression of disease agents and ineffectiveness of earlier practices. The implementation of the IOM ‘Future of Nursing’ ensures that nursing is setup in an organizational working plan. It warrants that the nursing profession exists progressively by discovering new ways of dealing with patients and delivering the best healthcare services for years to come. Consequently, there are various vital achievements bound to advance the profession of nursing in terms of tactics and abilities when handling their roles throughout the globe.
References
Graudal, N. (2015). Where Science and Policy Conflict: Impact of the 2013 IOM Report on Sodium Intake in Populations. Curr Hypertens Rep Current Hypertension Reports, 17(2), 9-9.
Kuehn, B. (2010). IOM: Boost Nurses’ Role in Health Care. JAMA, 7(23), 2345-2345.
Runde, C. E., & Flanagan, T. A. (2010). Developing your conflict competence: a hands-on guide for leaders, managers, facilitators, and teams. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Thomas, J. (2013). A nurse’s survival guide to leadership and management on the ward. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.