The Future Of Nursing

Future of Nursing
The Future of Nursing
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) shows that the nursing profession constitutes the largest portion of the health care workforce in the country. Its membership exceeds three million individuals. Consequently, nurses are primarily involved in transforming the nation’s health care environment that lately proves to be rapidly changing. The IOM sought to achieve this by considering various crucial recommendation as a guide to the direction that the future of nursing will follow (IOM, 2010). This paper examines the three areas that the IOM views as barriers to the nursing profession in tackling the challenges posed by the changing health care system and the manner it will influence the future of nursing. The

The opposition was partly because of the nursing shortage. Over the years, the Associate Degree nurses have managed to cope up with the rising health care needs as well as the shortage of nurses. Nevertheless, the rising population together with the changes witnessed in the socio-economic environment mean that the nation has a more-complex patient population. The shift in patient needs as well as the care environment prompt the need for the health care team to develop additional competencies that will guarantee high quality care. At the moment, nurses undertake the roles involved beyond bedside. The continued rise in chronic conditions such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes has shifted attention from acute care. One Nursing Forum article observes that nurses continue to adapt to the changing health care even though their education levels remain at minimum as the low number of nurses who pursue higher education levels indicates (Lane & Kohlenberg, 2010). According to the IOM committee, it is necessary to have a higher education level rather than the minimum entry level that one current needs to practice nursing for better management of the needs of the new patient population. One way to meet this need would be to raise the number of nurses having a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (IOM,

Normally, this takes place in non-acute settings. The prevailing shift in attention from acute conditions to the rising chronic conditions among patient populations, the role that nurses play in the primary and community care is becoming more significant. In primary care roles, nurses normally assume the role of nurse educators, advanced nurse practitioners, public and community health nurses. With the expansion of the health care environment coupled with the nurses’ pursuit of higher education levels, the scope of practice in case of advanced practice nurses has significantly broadened to meet the needs of the patient population and the general community. Nevertheless, legal barriers and legislations pose the majority of challenges that hinder nurses from practicing their entire education and training scopes, particularly among advanced practice nurses. With each State Board of Nursing tasked with regulating the scope of nursing practice, wide variances in the role that nurses take are notable across states. According to the IOM, the scope of practice hindrances ought to be removed to enable nurses to exploit their full potential as per their education and training (IOM, 2010). Such would be crucial for advanced practice nurses working with physicians in offering primary care in the community. Advancing legislation to straighten out the scope of practice will significantly influence the nursing