Institute of Medicine Promotes Greater Role for Nurse Practitioners
Nurse Practitioners (NPs) need to be more empowered to further their education, practice to their potential, expand as a profession, and fully participate in designing the future of health care in this country.
- (1888PressRelease) December 03, 2010 - In October, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health". The report assesses and offers recommendations for the future of the nursing profession in the United States.
According to the report, which forecasts major physician shortages exacerbated by an expansion of coverage under the health care reform law, nurse practitioners (NPs) need to be even more empowered to further their education, practice to their potential, expand as a profession, and fully participate in designing the future of health care in this country. IOM has issued the following 4 key messages to provide a framework for continued growth of the field, with a stronger system and improved patient outcomes serving as end results:
1. PRACTICE TO THE FULL EXTENT OF TRAINING
IOM recommends the federal government incentivize a standardized role for NPs across the country. The report points out that the current scope of practice for NPs varies greatly across the nation due to a patchwork of state laws that govern the roles of advance practice nurses.
2. ACHIEVE HIGHER LEVELS OF TRAINING SEAMLESSLY
A seamless transition through nursing training programs, from LPN to DNP, should be available and encouraged. Lifelong learning opportunities such as continuing education should be readily available exclusively for nurses and NPs, alongside physicians and physician assistants.
3. FULL PARTNERS IN HEALTH CARE CHANGE
Continuing education and leadership training is vital for nurses, especially advance practice nurses, to effectively engage in the ongoing redesign of the health care system. Leaders in the field must actively participate in system improvement and policy development to strengthen their position in the system.
4. IMPROVED WORKFORCE PLANNING THROUGH IT
The Affordable Care Act mandates a commission to analyze health care workforce data and better plan for health care provider requirements by region, role, specialty, and demographics. To anticipate future shortages in students, faculty, and clinicians, the nursing profession will need to collect more data about workforce trends, including supply and demand.
Source: Institute of Medicine Web site. October 2010.
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