Future Of Nursing

Nurses make up the greatest sector of health care workers, and are vital to meeting the objectives of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA). Identifying the barriers that nurses face, and recommending a plan to overcome those barriers, were the goals of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in their two-year movement to “assess and transform the nursing profession” (The National Academies of Sciences, 2016). This paper will recapitulate the IOM report, Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. It will also recognize the position of the RWJF and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) on the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. It will stress the implication of the IOM report as it

RWJF is a private foundation dedicated to raising the health of all Americans (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Website, 2001 - 2015). RWJF approached the IOM to address the issues of nursing in response to the changing face of health care. With the IOM’s mission to improve national health, and the longstanding commitment of RWJF to nursing needs, the two organizations collaborated to establish a two-year initiative to look at the future of

The initiative recognized that nurses have the opportunity to change health care, as we know it, and transform it to meet the needs of the ACA. The barriers that were identified include “outdated policies, regulations and cultural barriers” (IOM, 2011, p. 85). While increasing the scope of practice for APRNs was a large part of this key message, cultural diversity, gender diversity, and the aging workforce were also highlighted.
Nursing Education
The second key message focused on the recommendation that registered nurses receive greater levels of training and education. This message emphasized the need for nurses to enter the work force with a baccalaureate degree, or obtain it shortly afterwards. It also stressed the need more graduate nurses, specifically “nurse faculty and researchers at the doctoral level” (IOM, 2011, p. 164). Innovative solutions were devised to speak to nursing school capacity and curriculum in order to attain the IOM recommended goal of 80 percent of nurses holding a BSN by the year 2020.
Nursing