Nursing Professional Development: IOM Report and Its Effects on Nursing

This paper will review the institute of Medicine report and its effects on nursing, mainly in nursing practice, education, and leadership. The IOM report identified four messages that are used as a guide to the change. The main recommendation raised in the report is the future of nursing education. Professional development is gaining the competencies required to offer care for the diversified populations across the lifespan. In conclusion, the IOM reports support the need for the nurses to have a good working partnership with other medical practitioners, in redesigning and restructuring the healthcare sector.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1
Nursing Professional Development
Students name
Institution affiliation

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2
Nursing Professional Development
Nurses need transformation in various areas to ensure improved care, including
education, practice, and technology others to ensure progress in practice. This paper will review
the institute of Medicine report and its effects on nursing, mainly in nursing practice, education,
and leadership.
The IOM report identified four messages that are used as a guide to the change;
Nurses should practice to the full level of their education and training. Even with
exceptional education and training, nurses are likely to face various barriers that may not allow
them to utilize it to their full potential (Bastable, 2017). The obstacles may be regulatory,
historical and policy, dynamic, fragmented health care system, and challenging transition from
school to practice. Based on the reports finding regulations were identified as a significant
limiting factor the leads to an inflexible working environment.
Improve nursing education. The IOM report identified that nurse fundamental
competencies have significantly increased with time, including public health, geriatrics,
teamwork, leadership, change management, among others. Nurses are taking care of complex
patients with the help of more technology and incorporating and synthesizing information from
differ sources (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The report identified the factors points to the need
for more education that is based on the provision of a direct and straightforward progression to
higher levels.
Nurses should ensure partnership with doctors and other medical practitioners in
redefining healthcare systems. The IOM reported pointed out that as full partners in healthcare,
the nurses should ensure accountability for their contribution to the health of their patients and

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 3
work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The
report identified that leadership skills should be recognized as a core competency at different
levels of nursing and should be enforced throughout the nursing programs.
Implement workforce planning and policymaking requires advanced data collection and
sophisticated technological approach. The report identified that the healthcare sector should
develop an advanced and organized strategy for data collection (Yoder-Wise, 2014). The data to
be collected include the types and numbers of medical practitioners across the country where
they are employed as well as their activities and duties. The detailed information is critical in the
identification of the healthcare needs that are not met. The data can as well be used to assess and
plan a prospective nursing workforce needs effectively. The data is also essential in guiding and
suggesting necessary changes in nursing education and practice.
The main recommendation raised in the report is the future of nursing education. The
findings indicates there is a need to have vastly educated and accomplished nurses and a more
improved education system. The report identifies that in the past, the education system has not
met the demand for current healthcare issues. Due to the complexity in patient care, the nurse
needs to be highly competent to ensure exceptional delivery of quality care (Cherry & Jacob,
2016). Medical practitioners with BSN are well prepared to meet the changes and demands that
are facing the healthcare sector today. BSN nurses have an advantage due to their exceptional
leadership skills, critical thinking, incident management, and health advancement. The nurses are
also capable of practice in a diversified environment.
The IOM report, indicates that nurses should attain higher educational levels and training
in a system that promotes unified academic development. In the contemporary day, health issues
facing the population have significantly changed. The united states older people has increased

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 4
and is predicted to increase up to 20% by 2030 (Grol, Wensing, Eccles & Davis, 2013). The
population is also is diverse with respect to ethnicity and race and other socioeconomic and
cultural factors. Most of the cases in the healthcare system relate to chronic conditions, including
cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, hypertension, and mental health diseases. The nurses training
process used in the 20th century is not applicable and adequate to deal with the contemporary
realities if the healthcare sector in the present century. The modern patient’s needs and care
setting have become more multifaceted, and hence nurses need to attain necessary proficiencies
to ensure they offer high-quality care (Grol et al., 2013). The nurses are also required to fill the
growing roles and to conceptualize scientific tools and information management structures while
coordinating and collaborating care to other medical practitioners.
Professional development is gaining the competencies required to offer care for the
diversified populations across the lifespan. Through lifelong learning, the nurses get the required
knowledge which is critical in the application and discovery of healthcare practices to prevent
diseases, increase the quality of life-years of the public and consequently promote well-being
(Yoder-Wise, 2014). Therefore, continuing education in nursing practice is effective in
improving, patients results, and population health.
The changing patients’ populations contribute significantly to the changes in the
healthcare systems. In order to keep up with the changes and accommodate patient care, the way
in which the sector operates needs to evolve (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). The nurses are the basic
unit of transformations n in the changing healthcare systems. The nurses can manage patient care
by putting into practice their inputs and leaderships in order to address the demands of the
patients (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). To ensure they acquire the relevant competencies, they need to

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5
ensure progressive professional development to keep up with the changes in the healthcare
sector.
In conclusion, the IOM reports support the need for the nurses to have a good working
partnership with other medical practitioners, in redesigning and restructuring the healthcare
sector. It is also essential for nurses to indulge in progressive professional development in order
to gather relevant competencies that will help them in dealing with the changing needs of the
patients.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 6
References
Bastable, S. B. (2017). Nurse as educator: Principles of teaching and learning for nursing
practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Chassin, M. R. (2013). Improving the quality of health care: what’s taking so long?. Health
Affairs, 32(10), 1761-1765.
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M., & Davis, D. (Eds.). (2013). Improving patient care: the
implementation of change in health care. John Wiley & Sons.
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.
Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2014). Leading and managing in nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.