NUR 513 Topic 1 Discussion Question Two
Access The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Identify the two recommendations for nursing education you believe will be most effective or radical in creating change within the industry. Provide rationale based on your experience in practice. Do you agree or disagree with how the Institute of Medicine (IOM) describes the advanced practice registered nurse role evolving. Why or why not?
Re: Topic 1 DQ 2
When reading the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations to transform the nursing practice, I found their four key messages to be necessary to sustain the growing needs of our health care system. In terms of transforming nursing education, I found the most radical recommendation is that all health care professionals should have education with other interdisciplinary students and or professionals (Institute of Medicine [IOM] & Committee, 2011). The outcome would mean that physicians, nurses, pharmacists, etc., would have classes together. From my own professional experience, a hierarchy still exists between nurses and other interdisciplinary teams. I am sure most of us have had a physician speak down to us, overlook a suggestion or concern, or be dismissive. Having some classes together would help us collaborate as a team and help dismantle the healthcare hierarchy. The reason I feel this would be a radical change is that to make this happen, there would have to be a reconstruction of not just nursing education programs but also medical and pharmaceutical education programs as well.
Another recommendation that I find would be effective in transforming nursing education is that nurses should have higher education and graduate degrees. If more nurses had a graduate level of education, nurses could take on other roles, whether it be faculty education, quality improvements, advancing nursing science, or taking leadership roles (IOM & Committee, 2011). I believe we are all in this class right now because we all agree and see the need for higher education within our field. I currently am a bedside nurse, but I’d like to implement systems to improve data collection with an MSN. I find our profession to be very knowledge-driven, and this makes ongoing education of utmost importance. NUR 513 Topic 1 Discussion Question Two
I agree with how the IOM summarizes the evolution and need for transformation within nursing and the APRN field’s progression. The healthcare system requirements have grown and evolved, and the nursing field must grow in kind to meet these ongoing demands. With a growing population, the aging “baby-boomers,” increased access to healthcare, a more significant shift towards preventative education and medicine, and a shortage of physicians and nurses alike, the nursing field needs to be granted growth and change to better severe our communities.
References
Institute of Medicine & Committee, O. T. R. W. J. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209880/doi: 10.17226/12956
In the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report title “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” (2011), the IOM recommended changes to the nursing profession in order to improve patient outcomes. One of those recommendations is to “ensure that nurses can practice to the full extent of their education and training” (Institute of Medicine, 2011). These is probably the most important aspect of the IOM report because although we are facing a shortage of primary care providers in the country, many regulatory bodies still put boundaries in place for nurses trying live up to this recommendation. There are currently only 20 states in America that allow Nurse Practitioners to practice without a supervising physician (Full Beaker, Inc., 2021). NUR 513 Topic 1 Discussion Question Two
Another recommendation from the IOM report is that nurses should achieve higher levels of education (IOM, 2011). While I agree wholeheartedly with this recommendation on the surface, I believe that it may help and hurt the profession. Nurses should be expected to achieve higher levels of education and continue their education throughout their career because its just the right thing to do. Health care is changing constantly and nurses should keep up with those changes in order to keep patients safe. However, if the minimum educational level for entry into the nursing profession were to be changed to a baccalaureate degree it would prevent many people from entering the profession in the first place. The time and cost involved may be a deal breaker for many. In addition, with the nursing shortage getting worse every year we should not increase the time it takes nurses to obtain licensure. I know that for me, if I had to go straight through for a bachelor’s of science in nursing, rather than obtaining my associates degree, I would probably have chosen a different profession.
Full Beaker, Inc. (2021). Nurse.org Career Guide Series: Nurse Practitioner. Retrieved from https://nurse.org/resources/nurse-practitioner/#:~:text=Nurse%20practitioners%20have%20full%20practice,on%20certain%20patient%20care%20decisions.
Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209881/