Future of Nursing

1204 Words5 Pages
IOM: The Future of Nursing Report
Larry Ziehm
Rio Hondo College
AND 151
Professor G. Biesemeyer, MSN, RN
July 16, 2012

IOM: The Future of Nursing Report
With the diverse needs of a growing population, the United States yearns for an improved health care system, improved health outcomes, and an accessible but quality health care system. I believe nursing will be the profession that will have perhaps have the biggest role, as they deliver compassionate care to their patients, which will carry across ones lifespan. The nursing profession is one of the fastest developing fields in the health care industry, not only here in the United States; but also in the world. According to Mcneal (2012), “Clearly the focus of healthcare needs to change from illness care to prevention.” The dynamic health care industry has without a doubt changed over the last couple decades and as a result the necessity for changes in nursing practice has become increasingly important. The Institute of Medicine: The Future of Nursing Report discusses so many positive key messages to improve nursing care; but three seem to have the greatest impact in my mind, in regards to the future of nursing, the transformation of the: nursing practice, nursing education and nurse’s role.
Nursing Practice
According to the IOM’s report, nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training; however due to state regulations and licensing, scope-of-practice is faced with many limitations. Gennaro (2012) states, “A number of different initiatives are underway to en-sure that nurses are able to practice to their full ability... The goal of these endeavors is to ensure that advanced practice nurses are able to practice to the full scope of their education.” I constantly ask myself, is the juice worth the squeeze? Meaning is the end result worth the hardship I’m about to
Open Document