Nursing Professional Development and Lifelong Learning

This essay summarizes the four key messages outlined in the IOM report, emphasizing their significance to nursing practice, including expanding the scope of practice, enhancing education, promoting partnerships, and improving data collection. It discusses the direct influence of the IOM report on nursing education and leadership, highlighting the benefits and opportunities for BSN-prepared nurses, such as improved job prospects and higher pay. The essay underscores the importance of nurses' roles and education evolving to meet the needs of an aging and increasingly diverse population, stressing the need for cultural competency and chronic illness management skills. It also emphasizes the significance of professional development and lifelong learning in caring for diverse populations across the life span and within the health-illness continuum, advocating for continuous training and adaptation to evolving healthcare systems. Finally, the essay highlights how nurses can effectively manage patient care by staying updated with advancements in technology, research, and healthcare policies.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Summarize the four messages outlined in the IOM report and explain why these are
significant to nursing practice.
The four key messages that were covered in the IOM report included the following
(Meghani & Hinds, 2015):
 Nursing professionals should practice to the complete scope of nursing education and
training. It can be said in this regard that increasing the scope of practice would lead
to positive patient outcome and maximise job satisfaction with the workforce.
 The nursing professionals must acquire higher education and training that is delivered
through an improved and refined education system. The vision of the education
system should emphasise more upon seamless academic progression in order to
enhance the quality of skills required for addressing patient needs.
 The nursing professionals should share equal partnership with the physician and other
allied healthcare professionals in order to redesign the existing healthcare
infrastructure to substantially address patient needs across the United States of
America. This would significantly ensure an effective coordination and smooth flow
of information within various healthcare departments.
 Effective workforce planning and policy making would require refined data collection
and inclusion of premium quality of infrastructure. Inclusion of reformed
infrastructure would yield improvement in the service quality.
Discuss the direct influence the IOM report has on nursing education and nursing
leadership. Describe the benefits and opportunities for BSN-prepared nurses.
According to the IOM the nursing professionals must acquire higher educational
degrees in order to address the critical and challenging needs of the patient. In addition to
this, the report also emphasises on restructuring the nursing leadership stature to enable

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professionals to undertake critical decisions and adapt to complex management systems to
improve the quality of services provided to the patients (Thomas, 2015).
The IOM has focused on the need to assist professionals to take up higher education
in the field of nursing profession. In order to encourage RNs to take up higher education and
bridge the shortage of primary care providers within the U.S healthcare system, the IOM has
assured a set of benefits and opportunities exclusively for the professionals who pursue
higher educations (Sabo:AWA, 2018). The benefits assured can be enlisted as:
BSN-prepared nurses address community needs in a better way and hence there is an
increased demand for them (Kunic & Jackson, 2013)
 Improved job opportunities. Local hospitals prefer BSN over RNs
 Improved pay scale offered to the BSN professionals
 BSN entrance serves as a primary eligibility criteria to enter community or state
college for higher education
Explain why it is important that a nurse's role and education evolve to meet the needs of
an aging and increasingly diverse population.
The IOM report critically focused upon the fact that the nursing professionals must be
adequately equipped with knowledge and expertise to meet the demand of the ageing
population base of the United States of America. In close association to this particular
recommendation published within the IOM report, it can be said that with the rapidly ageing
population base of the US, it is important for the professionals to understand the trend in
ageing and the concurrent chronic illness that affect people with ageing (National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). It is important for the nurses to be
sufficiently trained to manage chronic illness health issues in order to prevent disease
progression and acute care episodes. In addition to this, it should also be noted that the

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nursing profession is committed to provide a holistic and a culturally safe care to the patients
irrespective of their cultural or ethnic background (Altman et al., 2016). In order to realize the
same, it is important to ensure that the professionals are sufficiently equipped with cultural
competency and render positive patient outcomes.
Discuss the significance of professional development, or lifelong learning, and its
relevance in caring for diverse populations across the life span and within the health
illness continuum.
The IOM report specifically recommends that nursing professionals must engage in
life-long learning and create an environment that reinforces the same spirit. In this regard, it
should be mentioned that the healthcare sector is the most dynamic sector that is
characterized by advancements in research and technology. Nursing professionals must
harbour a spirit of continuous learning in order to support patients with critical healthcare
needs belonging to diverse cultural communities (Stevens, 2013). Further, continuous
training assists better ability of the professionals to care for patients placed in terminal or
palliative care (Weston & Roberts, 2013). It can be mentioned in this regard, that the process
of continuous learning is directly proportional to professional development and acquiring
clinical expertise to deal with critical cases within the clinical scenario and deliver quality
service to the patients.
Discuss how nurses can assist in effectively managing patient care within an evolving
health care system.
Nurses must effectively assist and manage patient care by remaining updated with the
evolving health care system (Sabo:AWA, 2018). Nurses must be educated in handling
complex information management systems and be aware about the system improvement,
evidence-based practices, recent research, healthcare policies and life-saving technology in

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order to improve the effectiveness of the quality of care delivered to the patient. Further, it
should be noted in this regard that the nature of the disease and illness is rapidly assuming a
more complicated form with the passing years. This significantly highlights the fact that there
is a need to continuously improve and closely track the changes within the healthcare sector
and accordingly undertake training and certification to address the changing trend of the
treatment assistance delivered to the patients.

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References:
Altman, S. H., Butler, A. S., & Shern, L. (Eds.). (2016). Assessing progress on the Institute
of Medicine report The Future of Nursing. National Academies Press.
Kunic, R. J., & Jackson, D. (2013). Transforming nursing practice: Barriers and
solutions. AORN journal, 98(3), 235-248.
Meghani, S. H., & Hinds, P. S. (2015). Policy brief: The Institute of Medicine report Dying in
America: Improving quality and honoring individual preferences near the end of
life. Nursing outlook, 63(1), 51-59.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016. Assessing progress on
the Institute of Medicine report The Future of Nursing. National Academies Press.
Sabo:AWS, A. (2018). Grand Canyon University - Digital Resources. Retrieved from
https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/grand-canyonuniversity/2018/dynamics-
in-nursing_art-and-science-of-professional-practice_1e.php
Stevens, K. R. (2013). nursing and the next big ideas. Pp.111-113
The Sentinel Watch (2018). IOM Advocates for Higher Levels of Nursing Education. [online]
The Sentinel Watch. Available at:
https://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/2011/01/10/iom-advocates-higher-nursing-
education/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Thomas, T. (2015). Management and leadership for nurse administrators. Jones & Bartlett
Publishers.

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Weston, M., & Roberts, D. (2013). The influence of quality improvement efforts on patient
outcomes and nursing work: A perspective from chief nursing officers at three large
health systems. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(3), 1-10.