Running head: IOM & NURSING 1

IOM & Nursing Practice

Student’s Name:

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IOM & NURSING 2

IOM & Nursing

The Work of the Robert Wood Foundation Committee Initiative

In the course of its work, the Robert Wood Foundation Committee at the IOM came up

with a vision which would be utilized to transform the healthcare system in the US. The

committee proposed a healthcare system which ensured quality was accessible to all the diverse

populations in the US in the future. The committee also proposed a healthcare system which

intentionally put an effort to promote diseases prevention and wellnesses, provided

compassionate care to people of all ages and reliably sought to improve the health outcomes of

all across the lifespan (IOM, 2015). The committee also envisioned that in the future prevention

and primary care would be the main drivers of the healthcare systems. Such a future would also

include inter-professional collaboration becoming the norm and that payments for healthcare

services would reward value instead of volume of the services which had been offered. The

committee also envisioned affordability of high-quality care to both communities and individuals

and allowing in the rate of growth of healthcare expenditure. The committee hoped that through

its work the healthcare system would be transformed in a way which consistently demonstrated

that it was responsive to the need of the individuals and their desires especially through the

provision of patient-centred care (IOM, 2015).

Key Messages That Structure the IOM Report and Their Influence on the Nursing

Profession

The IOM report is structured by four key messages. The reports first message is that

nurses should practice nursing to the full extent of their training and education. This message is

therefore important to the nursing profession because there have been so many barriers to

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nursing practice in the US healthcare system which include policy, legislation and historical

factors which have continued to restrict the practice for nurses. Most states across the US have

strict regulation which limits the scope of practice of NPs (Palatnik, 2016). The second key

message of the IOM report is for nurses to always work to attain the highest levels of education

and also pursue their education in educational systems which ensure academic progress. This

message is vital that there have been significant changes in the healthcare system and the

professional climate for nurses. Nurses will thus need sufficient education and training, which

can allow them to navigate the dynamic healthcare systems efficiently and effectively (Jellinek,

Reinhardt, Ladden, & Salmon, 2015). The third message of the IOM report is that NPs should be

seen as full collaborators with other health practitioners such as physicians so as to organize and

reconstitute the provision of healthcare services across the US. The viewing of nurses as equal

collaborators with other professionals such as Physicians would encourage NPS to take on

leadership positions in healthcare settings and also more active advocates in modifying and

improving the US healthcare system. The fourth main message of the IOM report is that the

effective development of healthcare policy and workplace planning would require a better

collection of data and knowledge management (Goudreau & Smolenski, 2017).

The four messages of the IOM report have transformed different areas of the nursing

profession, including nursing leadership and nursing education. By promoting nursing leadership

training and nursing education progression, the IOM report has ensured that nurses are more

prepared to take care of the diverse populations. The proportion of RNs who are pursuing BSN

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has also increased by 80% in the past decade with such education providing nurses with the

ideal training and leadership skills needed to manage the contemporary healthcare environments

(Jellinek et al., 2015). The keys messages of the IOM report have encouraged more nurses to

pursue higher education and assume more responsibilities and leadership roles in their work

environment and even earn higher wages. The IOM report messages have also played a huge role

in the evolution of nursing education and practice to meet the needs of the ageing population in

the present day. NPs are therefore trained on how to effectively manage the diverse health needs

of the contemporary population. Finally, the IOM report messages have also enhanced nursing

practice and nursing workforce development by advocating for lifelong learning as a significant

responsibility of all nurse practitioners. Lifelong learning enables nurses to meet the evolving

healthcare needs of the population they serve (Goudreau & Smolenski, 2017).

Role of State-Based Action Coalitions

State-based action coalitions help to drive change in localities through their initiatives to

transform healthcare through nursing and to build healthy communities. The coalitions help to

promote the goals highlighted in the IOM report such as allowing nurses to practice to full scope

depending on their education and training by leading campaigns at the local, regional and state

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levels to assess that such goals are achieved. Coalitions act as the main advocates for the

reaching of the IOM goals in the local, regional and state levels through collaboration with

different stakeholders such as health organizations, education organizations, business, and local

governments (IHAC, 2020).

Initiatives of the Illinois Healthcare Action Coalition’s (IHAC)

In the state of Illinois, IHAC serves as the main driving force to transform healthcare

through nursing across the state. IHAC, therefore, works to build on the already existing

coalitions so as to improve quality and propel nurse-based approaches and to transform how care

will be delivered across Illinois (IHAC, 2020).

Overtime the IHAC has spearheaded many initiatives which have sought to advance the

nursing profession, including supporting advanced practice nurses (APN) to practice to the full

extent of their education and training a. IHAC also took up the initiative of educating consumers

and legislators on data which showed the barriers which existed in Illinois around nurses

practising to the full extent of their scope (IHAC, 2020). Both of these initiatives by IHAC

advance the nursing profession in that they seek to provide more responsibility and leadership

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initiatives to nurses and to give them more room to have an impact in healthcare systems across

the state.

Barriers to advancement in Illinois

The barrier to nursing advancement, which currently exists in Illinois is that NPs are not

seen as full collaborators with physicians and doctors. This limits the influence of nurses in

reconstituting and reorganizing the provision of the healthcare services in the state. However, the

nursing advocates in the states, including IHAC collaborating closely with nursing organizations

which are focused on implementing the recommendations from IOM. By implementing the IOM

report full, such nursing organization would view NPs as full collaborators to physicians and

doctors and therefore encourage the responsibility and leadership in nurses.

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References

Goudreau, K. A., & Smolenski, M.C. (2017). Health Policy and Advanced Practice Nursing,

Impact and Implications. 2nd Edition. DOI: 10.1891/9780826169457.

Institute of Medicine. (IOM). (2015). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing

Health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. DOI: 10.17226/12956.

Jellinek, P. S., Reinhardt, R. J., Ladden, M. D., & Salmon, M. E. (2015). Round Six Of Partners

Investing In Nursing’s Future: Implications For The Health Sector, Policy Makers, And

Foundations. Health Affairs, 34(7), 1245–1249. DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0144.

Palatnik, A. M. (2016). The future of nursing. Nursing Critical Care, 11(3), 4.

DOI:10.1097/01.ccn.0000482518.50906.58.

Peterson M. E. (2017). Barriers to Practice and the Impact on Health Care: A Nurse Practitioner

Focus. Journal of the advanced practitioner in oncology, 8(1), 74–81.

The Illinois Healthcare Action Coalition’s (IHAC). (2020). Illinois Action Coalition. Retrieved

from: https://campaignforaction.org/state/illinois/ on 14/3/2020.

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