Future of Nursing

Future of Nursing
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation committee recognized that nurses play a pivotal role in the healthcare system. It launched an initiative to reform the nursing profession leading to the report on the future of nursing. The committee deliberated on four major issues to efficiently engage nurses in transforming the United States health care system. The first major area that the committee focused on is education and training. The committee made recommendations to ensure that nurses exercise the full mandate of their training and education. It also addressed the need of supporting nursing students’ transition into practice and develops their skills further (Institute of Nursing of the National Academies, 2010).
Reform on the education system to ensure seamless education opportunities for nurses is another key area identified in the committee report. The committee recognized that continuous learning empowers nurses with improved competencies required in the delivery of superior care. High levels of education and training is imperative in meeting demands requiring expertise in medical technologies, information management systems and efficiently leading care across health professionals teams. It is also necessary for nurses to train together with physicians and other health professionals both as students and in their career as a lifelong practice to continuously provide better care. The committee also stressed the importance of incorporating sensitivity to ethnic and cultural dynamics of care in training (Institute of Nursing of the National Academies, 2010).
The committee also stressed the key area of impressing upon nurses to take up leadership roles in collaboration with physicians and other healthcare practitioners. It recommended that nursing education embed leadership in the curriculum to mentor nurses in leadership competencies and ensure that graduate students are ready to take up leadership roles. It envisioned embedding skills needed in helping nurses to identify problems and solutions in the health system and participating health policy decision making and implementation capacities. Nurses’ collaborative effort with other leaders is essential in redesigning health services is pivotal in improving health care (Institute of Nursing of the National Academies, 2010).
The fourth area requiring reform is information management to accurately appraise the need for various health practitioners. The committee recognized that predicting immediate and future staffing needs require a systematic assessment enabled through improved information and data management infrastructure. The goal is achievable through proper implementation of the Affordable Care Act through the national health care workforce commission’s analysis of the supply need of practitioners across professions (Institute of Nursing of the National Academies, 2010).
The report has a significant impact on nursing practice, nursing education and nursing workforce development. In terms of practice, it offers parameters for ensuring increased scope of practice. For example, removing the barriers for nurses in primary care roles, chronic disease management and hospital disc...