Nursing as a profession has currently taken up a large part in the healthcare sector which is composed of at least 3 million nurses who are currently registered. The Robert Wood Foundation Committee in partnership with IOM initiated the recommendations to enhance advancement in the nation’s healthcare services. They came up with recommended programs for nurses that could drive positive aspects in the nursing career. The action coalitions implements the recommendations made by IOM and improves and shapes advances that are based on the nursing profession to improve the general healthcare conditions in the United States as discussed hereinafter.
The main factor that led to the production of Robert Wood foundation committee initiative was the need to define the role of nursing by addressing the need for safe, quality and effective healthcare services in medical facilities. The proposed healthcare laws aim at improving the management of chronic diseases which include their prevention and treatment. The RWJF foundation engaged the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and suggested that they should work together as partners in order for the two organizations to access and respond to the issue of transforming nursing as a profession. The partnership resulted into organization and content experts who drove the IOM’s mission to serve as the nation’s advisor in order to improve the healthcare conditions.
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RWJF committee was committed to ensure that the nursing workforce had the required capacity in terms of competence, skills and numbers in order to meet the public’s present and future healthcare needs. The Committee had noticed that the nursing profession was faced with a variety of shortcomings and this led to the establishment of an initiative which took two years that addressed the future of nurses. Together with the Institute of Medicine, the committee was to ensure that they produced a report which had recommendations about the action to be taken on the future of nursing.
The group examined and provided ideas that were meant to identify the position of nurses in enhancing quality services. It conceptualized the responsibility which they had concerning healthcare services, the challenges that they faced and issues concerning technological advancement in the future. It advocated for the expansion in the nursing faculty, an increase in the number of nursing schools and the possible changes to be made in the nursing education to enable the trained practitioners to deliver efficient medical services.
The release of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report in October 2010 resulted from a thorough examination of the nursing profession (Finkelman & Kenner, 2009) . Recommendations that were indicated within the agenda focused on the intersection between healthcare needs and steps that should be taken by nurses to accommodate such changes. The recommendations were meant to improve healthcare services in the United States through the contribution of nurses in delivering quality healthcare services.
The report recommendations covered four issues that were concerned with nursing education and training, the levels of education expected for nurses to achieve which was meant to improve the current system of education to enhance progress in academics for nurses, the need for nurses to work hand in hand with doctors and medical professionals and planning a workforce that is effective and coming up with policies which are critical in accurate data analysis and infrastructure that concerns information. The report was meant to enhance positive change in the profession of nursing and the delivery system in healthcare generally.
The IOM report transformed the education system for nursing, training and leadership (Leaps et al., 2009) . This was done by enhancing high academic qualifications and training for nurses by improving the education system that provided for further studies in the career. The healthcare system changed significantly by moving away from hospital-centered models of treating patients to family-centered models. Nursing treatment focuses more on prevention and care of chronic diseases. Nursing leadership has taken a defined role in the current healthcare system to ensure quality healthcare services to diverse populations by promoting wellness and disease prevention. Nurses have taken a greater role in leadership when it comes to delivery and development of healthcare services.
Action coalition has a role in advancing the goals in IOM report which is that the coalition has ensured that nurses are able to practice their career in all capabilities and provide the highest quality healthcare services. The state based action coalition has worked towards maintaining the advancements made in the healthcare profession. The Indiana national coalition implements IOM recommendations by focusing on nursing education, practice, patient safety and nursing inter professional education (Zaccagnini & Pechacek, 2019).
The two main initiatives of the state-based coalition are the access to care initiative and scholarship programs. In access to care initiative, the coalition engages healthcare organizations in order to come up with ideas about improving the manner in which healthcare resources are utilized to enhance easy access to healthcare services for all individuals. The action coalition that is based in the states also plays the role of supporting the future of nursing by providing them with scholarships so that they get the required training and education to prepare well for the currently diverse healthcare setting. In addition to that, the coalition offers clinical education in universities.
Several barriers have prevented the smooth running of nurses’ advancement in the states. The state-based coalitions do not run effectively in spite of the positive outcomes the coalitions have enhanced in the healthcare sector. The main barrier to the agenda of the coalition is funding. This has enhanced shortcomings in advancing nurses endeavors. Most of the coalition’s activities require adequate funds in order to improve the activities. Moreover, interested parties who had the intention of working together with the coalition got rejected because of lack of money. The main barrier to the implementation of the coalition’s activities is shortage of funds hence there is the need to mitigate the hindrance (Goudreau & Smolenski, 2016).
The barrier can be brought to an end if the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ensures adequate funding for most agendas. Moreover, the action coalition should be willing to engage other stakeholders to help in funding such as the federal and state governments. Another barrier is the shortage of nursing professionals in the country. This can be solved by permitting advanced practice nurses who are registered to put their education into practice in order to help in meeting the required number of workforce in providing healthcare services.
In conclusion, The Robert Wood Foundation Committee recommended programs which aimed to bring change in the healthcare profession. The IOM report advocated for continuous nursing education and improvements in the delivery of healthcare services to enhance access of the essential services by all. The coalition had two main initiatives which meant to enhance access to care by all and provision of scholarship programs for nurses to advance their education. Several barriers that prevented the implementation of the initiatives. Lack of adequate funds enhanced shortcomings in implementing the proposed initiatives. Most activities require a good amount of funding which is a challenge. However, the problem of funding can be solved if the coalition engages other stake holders to help in raising of funds. There is another issue of shortage in the required number of nurses which can be solved if registered nurses who are still in school are allowed to fully put in test the extent of their academic levels in hospitals.
References
Finkelman, A. W., & Kenner, C. (2009). Teaching IOM: Implications of the Institute of Medicine reports for nursing education . Nursesbooks. org.
Goudreau, K., & Smolenski, M. (2016). Health Policy and Advanced Practice Nursing: Impact and Implications (p. 470). New York: Springer Publishing Company
Leaps, L., Berwick, D., Clancy, C., Conway, J., Gluck, P., Guest, J., ... & Pinakiewicz, D. (2009). Transforming healthcare: a safety imperative. BMJ Quality & Safety , 18 (6), 424-428.
Zaccagnini, M., & Pechacek, J. M. (2019). The doctor of nursing practice essentials: A new model for advanced practice nursing . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
