Institute of Medicine Healthcare Initiative Essay
Introduction
Nurses form the largest portion of the nation’s health care workforce and can play a vital role in implementing the health care policy to ensure that all Americans have access to high-quality care. In 2008, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) partnered and established a 2-year initiative. The program was headed by a committee tasked with producing a report in which endorsements for an action-oriented proposal for the future of nursing, including changes in public and institutional guidelines were contained. Institute of Medicine Healthcare Initiative Essay
The Work of the Committee
The team heading the RWJF and IOM joint initiative developed the roadmap for improving the existing care system. The central aims of the initiative were to promote healthcare quality, disease management, and nursing care for patients with chronic conditions. In addition, the initiative sought to support inter specialty collaboration to improve the outcomes of health care interventions. The committee also proposed to create a billing system that rewards the quality of care as opposed to the number of services delivered. The team sought to develop a system that provides quality care to all at an affordable cost.
The committee’s deliberations focused on nursing roles, work environment, and skill requirements to strengthen the profession. It made recommendations relating to nursing practice, education, and workforce development. Institute of Medicine Healthcare Initiative Essay
Implications for Nursing Progression
The IOM committee, in their report, put forward four recommendations for improving the quality of nursing care in the country. First, it recommended that federal and state authorities should develop a policy framework to support nursing training and practice. In this context, the committee suggested a multi-stakeholder approach bringing together policymakers, Congressmen, and public health care financing agencies (CMMS) to formulate legislation guiding the nursing practice. The advisory helps states with different “licensing and practice rules and the principles regarding scope-of-practice” to prescribe the roles associated with different nursing specialties in the country (Gorman & Brierre, 2010, p. 1 ). As a result, the responsibilities nurse specialists are allowed to perform are dictated not by their education and training, but by the unique state laws under which they work.Institute of Medicine Healthcare Initiative Essay
Second, the committee recommended that nurses should be accorded training opportunities to develop their skills and acquire advanced nursing degrees. The higher training will endow nurses with the requisite competencies that will enable them to deliver high-quality care in keeping with the evolving patient needs. Nurses are prevailed upon to take up leadership roles and to “master technological tools and information management systems” to allow them to supervise health care teams in hospital settings (McNamara & Sachs, 2010, p. 3)
Lastly, improved data collection and information framework for collecting and analyzing workforce-related data was recommended to aid in “systematic assessment and projection of workforce requirements by role, skill blend, region, and demographics” (Gorman & Brierre, 2010, p. 2). It was conceived that the data could indicate trends in the supply of nursing workforce to address turnover and shortage of professionals. The endorsement of the recommendations of the IOM report by the American Nurses Association (ANA) underscores the importance of the elements and recommendations of the report in advancing the nursing profession (McNamara & Sachs, 2010, p. 3).
The Campaign for Action
The RWJF and AARP joint initiative brings together health care organizations, academic leaders, state agencies, industry players, and philanthropic groups. It was formed as a result of the IOM report and aims to improve the health of Americans by changing the nursing profession, using the IOM report as the charter. The stakeholders drawn from different fields collaborate in implementing the proposals of the campaign. Institute of Medicine Healthcare Initiative Essay
The role of the action coalition includes setting up of goals that are in keeping with the IOM report’s recommendation. The coalition also has a mandate of forming and rallying main stakeholders representing different sectors to build a plan of action, educating policymakers and other decision-makers, and securing financial support for Action Coalition efforts. The alliance publishes its work regularly and works to advance key IOM report recommendations.Institute of Medicine Healthcare Initiative Essay
