The nursing profession is the leading division of the United State’s health care workforce. Functioning on the front lines as far as patient care is concerned; nurses are capable of playing a critical role in enabling the 2010 Affordable Care Act, recognize and thus realize its objectives established in the legislation (Finkelman, Kenner & American Nurses Association, 2012). Typically, the legislation represents the widest health care revamp that was put forth since programs such as Medicaid and Medicare were established in 1965. A few number of obstacles or barrier tend to disallow nurses from responding promptly or effectively to prevailing rapid changing health care settings as well as the fast growing or evolving system in health care (Finkelman et al., 2012). These obstacles or barriers have to be prevailed over for the purposes of ensuring that nurses not only well-positioned to show the way towards change but also to advance health.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in collaboration with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) were able to launch an initiative of two years in 2008, which was established for the primary purpose of evaluating and transforming the to the nursing profession (Finkelman et al., 2012). The Institute of Medicine appointed the Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative concerning the Future of Nursing, at the IOM, mainly for realizing the objective of developing a report highlighting viable recommendations of guidelines regarding the future of nursing (Finkelman et al., 2012).
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The function of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative develops various nursing care models, which seek to provide significant insights in the process of improving patient care, the foundation’s roles are founded on the assumption that health care settings that have high number of employees are characterized by low levels of errors (Finkelman et al., 2012) . In addition, such healthcare facilities have shorter hospital stays, low levels of hospital acquired infections as well as low patient mortality.
More importantly, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative offers functional training programs designed especially to nurses who offer unique care management to patients suffering from various chronic diseases (Finkelman et al., 2012) . This way, such unique training programs eventually enables nurses to eliminate the chances of incurring high-cost acute care. Finally, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative supports various nurses-led efforts focusing on health care promotion programs as well as health advocacies such as screening for early diseases detection in the case of heart diseases as well as promoting general wellness capable of reducing or eliminating burdens caused by illnesses. Finally, the initiative has established several collaborative efforts with physicians including other relevant health experts and providers, with the main objective of advancing nursing practices provided by nurses during primary care services normally provided to the patients (Finkelman et al., 2012) .
The Importance of the IOM “Future of Nursing” Report
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative engages the United States at various level of government or non-governmental levels. Therefore, the initiative plays a leading role in calling for action from federal policy makers as well as hospitals in the process of improving general quality in health care (Bastable, 2014) . This means that Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative is fully committed in the process of successfully transforming nursing practices as well as the manner through which health care is structured and consequently delivered to the United States population. Typically, various studies in nursing have established that it is essential to seek active engagement exercises from nurses in order to gain from their expertise, leadership and proven solutions (Bastable, 2014) . Essentially, including their concerns nurses need to be part of the country’s discussion regarding critical health reform besides being viewed and appreciated as a key stakeholders to the process of offering health care solutions.
Institute of Medicine is a critical stakeholder in the future of nursing profession because it seeks to improve various nursing education systems (Bastable, 2014). An improved nursing system will ensure a patient-centered care, which is a safe transversely different setting. This is mainly due to the studies that have indicated that patient needs are increasingly turning out to be more complicated (Bastable, 2014). In this case, the IOM report is a significant tool because it enables nurses to attain requisite or critical competencies needed in the process of delivering high-quality care. A few number of these competencies may consist of system improvement, leadership, evidence-based practice health policy as well as research, collaboration (Bastable, 2014). The initiative is also committed in the process of promoting and enhancing unique competencies designed for specific healthcare areas such as public and community health geriatrics. Institute of Medicine calls on nurses so that they may be able to fill increasing roles as well as to ably master technological tools coupled with management systems at the same time as coordinating and collaborating care across teams of health experts and professionals (Bastable, 2014).
The Role of State-based Action Coalitions
State-based Action Coalitions play a leading role in making efforts aimed to nurture and promote leaders and good leadership practices in the nursing profession (Grady & Hinshaw, 2017). This is in the front lines of health care management in various health facilities to the boardroom where decision making processes regarding health care system are established. Such efforts will ultimately prepare nurses with adequate skills and expertise, which are required ot needed in the process of enhancing and improving health care besides advancing the nursing profession (Grady & Hinshaw, 2017).
Therefore, State-based Action Coalitions cultivates leaders within the nursing profession since nurses need to behave and act as full partners with other collaborators especially the government in the process of redesigning appropriate efforts. Essentially, nurses are expected to be accountable as far as their own contribution towards the process of delivering care which is of high-quality is concerned (Grady & Hinshaw, 2017). However, in order to successfully achieve desired outcomes, nurses are required to function collaboratively with experts and leaders as well as health professions from diverse areas. Nursing principles are established within the nursing profession to guide all nurses in different responsibilities since a full partner is expected to take responsibility in improving the quality of healthcare (Grady & Hinshaw, 2017).
Conclusion
In this case, nurses are important stakeholders in healthcare because they play leading roles in identifying problems as well as areas of system waste, tracking improvement over time, devising and implementing improvement plans including creating appropriate adjustments aimed at achieving established objectives and goals. Importantly, nurses need to participate in critical processes such as the health policy arena, so as to contribute in decision making and participate in the development of health care reform-associated with implementation efforts. Also, nurses need to actively serve on various advisory boards, where majority of policy decisions are established for the purposes of improving patient care and advance health systems.
References
Bastable, S. B. (2014). Nurse as educator: Principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice . Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Finkelman, A. W., Kenner, C., & American Nurses Association. (2012). Learning IOM: Implications of the Institute of Medicine Reports for nursing education . Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.
In Grady, P. A., & In Hinshaw, A. S. (2017). Using nursing research to shape health policy .
