IOM Report Review

This paper provides a review of the main messages of the IOM report on the future of nursing, including the importance of nursing practice, education, partnership for progress, and technology. It discusses the direct influence of the report on nursing education and nursing leadership, the importance of nurse's roles and education, the significance of professional development, and managing patient care within an evolving healthcare system.

Running head; IOM REPORT 1
IOM Report Review
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IOM REPORT 2
IOM Report
The institute of medicine (IOM) is an organization the invites experts to deliberate on the
key problems affecting healthcare in the United States and suggest possible solutions to these
challenges. IOM produced a report on the future of nursing: leading change, advancing health.
This paper provides a review on the main messages of the report.
The four messages
The first message of the report was on nursing practice. According to IOM, (2011) APRN
nurses are supposed to practice fully with regard to their education and training. This was backed
up by various legislations that was focused on improving the quality of care provided by the
APRN’s. This message led to the adjustment of roles and responsibilities of APRN’s. The second
message of the report was on nursing education. The report suggested that nurses should
continue to achieve higher levels of education and skills through the improvement of the
education system that allows lifelong learning (IOM, 2011). This message was accompanied by
goals of moving the BSN percentage of nurses from 50% to 80% as well as increasing the
number of nurses with doctorate degrees by 2020.
The third message was on partnership for progress. This discussed the importance of
building partnerships, among nurses and other healthcare professionals and institutions in order
to collectively bring about the desired transformation in healthcare. Finally, the fourth key
message was on technology. Technology was addressed as a prerequisite for transformation. The
report advocate for better data collection and information sharing to develop efficiency in
healthcare both in policy and workforce planning (IOM, 2011).
Direct influence on nursing education and nursing leadership

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The report had various influences on nursing education and nursing leadership. Some of
the direct influences on nursing education include; the restructuring of the educational sector to
allow nurses to have lifelong education at all ages of their life. Increased diversity at the
workplace in regard to age and culture. Prioritization of learning among nurses and encouraging
of ADN nurses to pursue BSN degrees (Polansky, Gorski, Green, Perez, & Wise, 2017). Lastly,
the report also led to increased funding for nurses to pursue higher degrees. In leadership, the
impacts include the inculcation of leadership skills in nursing training to prepare nurses for
leadership positions. There was also creation of more leadership positions and roles for nurses. In
addition, the perception of leadership was changed to encourage more partnerships among
professionals while at the same time leadership was adopted at all levels. BSN nurses are
advantaged as they acquire more leadership roles and they have many options of advancing their
degrees in various fields as opposed to other degrees (Fitzpatrick, 2010)
Importance of nurse’s roles and education
As discussed by the IOM report, the nurse’s roles and education needs to evolve in order
to meet the changing demands of care in health (IOM, 2011). As discussed in the report, the
changing demands of care are focused on the ever increasing population, epidemiological
burden, shortages in nursing and health related fields, various new diseases and infections have
also come up increasing the number of diseases that health officers have to deal with. In addition,
the increase in life expectancy have also resulted to increase in the number of senior citizens who
require serious attention due to their susceptibility to various diseases such as falls and fractures,
mental health diseases and chronic illnesses. In this respect, the evolution of the roles of nurses
and education will be important as nurses will be able to keep up with new technology bridging
the gap of skills mismatch.

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Significance of professional development
Professional development is important in various ways to the life and work of a nurse.
For instance, it increases the competence and ability which helps nurses to increase the scope of
their work which subsequently increases their productivity at the work place. Adoption of
lifelong learning will also enable nurses to continue learning about emerging diseases and
disease causing organisms, new models of care and leadership in order to improve efficiency and
the quality of care they offer. In addition, Pittman, Bass, Hargraves, Herrera, & Thompson,
(2015) argues that lifelong learning stimulates the minds of nurses and encourages them to
conduct research which may provide pathways to finding cure of research neglected diseases or
killer diseases in the population.
Managing patient care within an evolving healthcare system
In an evolving health care system, the nurse’s role of transforming the healthcare system
cannot be undermined. An evolving healthcare system works in line with the recommendations
of the IOM report that empowers nurses to lead the desired transformation in the health sector
IOM, (2011). Some of the ways in which nurses can achieve this objective is through;
encouraging nursing innovations by nurses and consistent use and also engaging in research to
better health delivery. According to Cherry, & Jacob, (2016) encouraging diversity in the work
force also helps to reduce disparities and improve quality through addressing diverse patient
needs. Lastly, nurses also need to embrace technology and encourage inter professional
cooperation and collaboration that fosters a patient centered approach to care.

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In conclusion, it is important to point out that the role of nurses in ensuring patient safety
and the quality of care cannot be undermined. The IOM report should therefore be inculcated in
nursing care practice.

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References
Institute of Medicine (US). Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the
Future of Nursing. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health.
Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2010). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Nursing
Education Perspectives, 31(6), 347-348.
Pittman, P., Bass, E., Hargraves, J., Herrera, C., & Thompson, P. (2015). The future of nursing:
monitoring the progress of recommended change in hospitals, nurse-led clinics, and home
health and hospice agencies. Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(2), 93-99.
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Polansky, P., Gorski, M. S., Green, A., Perez, G. A., & Wise, R. P. (2017). Nurses leading
change to advance health. Nursing outlook, 65(6), 746-752.