The Iom Report and Its Impact to Health Care

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report and Its Impact to Nursing Education, Nursing Practice and Nursing Leadership

As the patient population grows, the demands in the health care system also increase. Thus, the stipulation among caregivers and hospital health care workers continues to change in order to meet these demands. This, however, impacts the quality of patient care provided by nurses in most clinical set-ups.

In order to confront this issue, the medical boards and various stakeholders in the health care industry formulated a report that will emphasize the challenge in nurses that will empower the quality of patient care and improve the efficacy of the nursing practice. This paper aims to discuss the future of nursing as envisioned by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and its impact to the domains of the health care industry.

BACKGROUND

In 2008, the Committee of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine (Sullivan, 2011, p. 1) developed a blueprint for nurses that will enhance the quality of patient care through continuing education, collaborations with doctors and autonomy in health care decisions that will provide a lower but effective medical costs. This concept encourages more nurses to develop their skills by enhancing their educational perspectives and goals that will benefit the nursing approach. Moreover, it also discusses the need to expand nursing faculties, retain more qualified staff and deliver competent and accurate care by widening the nurses’ current scope of practice.

In the IOM’s report entitled “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health”, the committee developed these key points (IOM, RWJF Initiative on the Future of Nursing, 2010):

• Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training

• Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.

• Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States.

• Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and information infrastructure.

As cited, the report promotes the nurses’ full potential for advanced education, career growth and competent decision-making that will serve the increasing number of diverse, patient population with an aim to deliver safe and quality health care system.

IMPACT ON EDUCATION

In a recent report issued by the IOM, it connotes that by the year 2020, the number of Baccalaureate Degree level nurses will double up as well as the number of Nurse Practitioners