Summary of the Article
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the Future of Nursing resulted in a campaign that would see the implementation of the recommendations in the report. Shalala (2014), in the article titled “Nursing Leaders Can Deliver a New Model of Care”, sought to find out whether those recommendations were being implemented in various states in the US. The recommendations included scrapping off various restrictions on nurses, promoting leadership among nurses, supporting nurses to advance their education up to doctoral levels, and bringing improvements in reporting of data.
According to Shalala (2014), the Affordable Care Act has contributed to the healthcare of Americans in many ways, such as the mandatory inclusion of young people into the health plans of their parents up to the time they attain the age of 26. This has, in turn, reduced the number of individuals who are not insured. In a move to implement the recommendation that nurses be allowed to practice extensively utilizing their education and experience, Shalala (2014) indicates that various states have passed laws that now allow nurses to practice fully in line with their educational background. Shalala (2014) continues to add that some states have even waived part of the money that some nurses and other health practitioners owed their medical schools. This is assisting nurses in securing various jobs in the health care sector, thus increasing the number of health personnel attending to patients.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently made a ruling that is encouraging different states to adopt and implement the recommendation that calls for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to be allowed to give prescriptions. To this effect, 19 states have given nurses the power to fully utilize their education, experience, and training in their profession. As a result, many nurses have been able to attend to communities even in areas that are not easily accessible. They have also managed to attend to patients with chronic diseases at reduced costs than a physician would.
The IOM report had recommended that nurses should advance their education with the support of all the stakeholders involved. According to Shalala (2014), low mortality rates have been reported in health care institutions that have 60 percent of the nurses as bachelor degree holders than hospitals with only 30 percent of their nurses with bachelor’s degrees. Shalala (2014) reports that the number of students enrolling for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) course has increased tremendously since the rolling out of the Future of Nursing report. Contrary to fears that the quality of teaching would deteriorate with the increased admission of nursing students, Shalala (2014) continues to report that many of the nursing schools have improved their teaching through diversification and constant encouragement of nurses to embrace leadership while in class and in their communities. Most states recognize the need to encourage nurses taking associate degrees in nursing (ADN) to pursue a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN) by creating partnerships between various community colleges and universities for the smooth uptake of ADN graduates into BSN courses offered by the universities.
According to Shalala (2014), many states have included nurses in various boards and committees that cover health care. This was implemented after the Institute of Medicine’s report that vividly explained the importance of having nurses in health care-based boards. Shalala (2014) concludes by highlighting the importance of the public investing in their health as an important pillar in enhancing a sustainable health care system.
Critical Evaluation
The author of this article is justified in reporting that the recommendations that were made by the Institute of Medicine on the Future of Nursing have been adopted and implemented widely by various states in a bid to promote health care. Different states have formed committees to implement the Campaign for Action initiative. As a result, the cost of health care has gone down significantly. There is increased satisfaction regarding the services offered by nurses. Moreover, the public largely supports the current health care system, a fact supported by the increase in patient satisfaction.
The article is comprehensive and it meets its scope of exploring the IOM report on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Future of Nursing report. The author has ably shown that the Institute of Medicine report has been a landmark in the health care system mainly because various challenges that were initially faced by nurses are currently being addressed in almost all 50 states. Many of the experienced nurses are being allowed to give prescriptions in some states. Communities in far places that were previously unreachable are now being attended to by nurses. Moreover, many nurses are being offered grants and chances to join universities to advance their education. Nurses are also currently being incorporated into various health care boards and there is increased cooperation between community colleges and universities in a move to ease the absorption of ADN graduates into the BSN course. All these successes point to a promising future of the nursing profession.
Reference
Shalala, D. E. (2014). Nursing leaders can deliver a new model of care. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 31(2), 1-16.