Ben Philipson

A new report from the National Academy of Medicine, formerly known as the Institute of Medicine, recognizes the growing role nurses play in healthcare in the United States and examines the progress made in the last few years.

The report, Assessing Progress on the IOM Report The Future of Nursing, is a follow-up from a 2010 report, and had been requested by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to determine the progress made on the recommendations presented in the original report.

Following the release of the 2010 report, RWJF and AARP created the Campaign for Action, a nursing initiative to advance the recommendations of the report.

The committee that wrote the new report found that while significant progress has been made in many aspects recommended in the first report, there are still areas that require additional progress. The new report includes 5 areas that require more attention and focus.

“While nurses are a known and integral player in meeting America’s primary and acute care needs, there’s growing recognition that nurses are a critical lynchpin in building bridges among health care, the community, and the social supports needed to create a Culture of Health—so that everyone in America lives the healthiest life possible,” RWJF CEO and President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, said in a statement.

The new report outlined challenges remaining in the areas of healthcare delivery and scope of practice, education, collaboration, leadership, diversity in the nursing profession, and workforce data.

 

• Removing barriers to practice and care. The committee recommends removing scope of practice restrictions and increasing interprofessional collaboration to improve healthcare practice in the interest of patients.

• Transforming education. The committee recommends expanding efforts to support academic pathways; exploring ways to create and fund transition-to-practice residency programs; promoting the pursuit of doctoral degrees; and promoting interprofessional and lifelong learning.

• Collaborating and leading. The committee recommends expanding efforts for interprofessional collaboration and leadership development and encouraging nurses to serve in executive and leadership positions.

• Promoting diversity. In 2010, the report identified a lack of diversity, and the committee recommends continued efforts to prioritize diversity.

• Improving data. The committee recommends improving data collection through collaboration among organizations and associations and creating more robust data sets and considering how they can be organized and made available to researchers, policy makers, and planners.

“A strong nursing workforce is critical to helping people achieve health security and live their best lives, and at AARP, we agree with the committee that consumers need and deserve access to the high-quality care that nurses provide,” said Susan Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute, and chief strategist at AARP’s Center to Champion Nursing in America.