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From the desk of Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, August 5, 2011

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Editor's note: This feature is written by nursing professional development expert Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN. Each week, Adrianne writes about an important issue in the area of professional development or answers reader questions. If you have a question for Adrianne, e-mail her at adrianne1@comcast.net.

What are the implications of the IOM's report for the Future of Nursing?

In October 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. The publication represents two years of hard work conducted by the IOM and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Committee members listened to testimony about current nursing practice and nursing's potential impact on the efforts to enhance healthcare delivery in the United States, reviewed literature pertaining to nursing practice, and visited various healthcare facilities to gain a better understanding of nurses and their practice.

At the conclusion of their work, four critical messages were reported (IOM, 2010; Yoder-Wise & Esquibel, 2011):

• Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.
• Nurses should attain higher levels of education and training. Essential to this achievement is an enhanced education system that facilitates a seamless academic progression. (Author's note: This progression should also include easy access to continuing education and inservice training).
• Nurses should be equal partners with other healthcare professionals (including physicians) in the redesign of healthcare delivery in the U.S.
• Redesigning healthcare delivery, including better workforce planning and policy making, requires that healthcare professionals improve data collection and enhance organizations' information infrastructure.

Based on the reported messages, the committee made eight recommendations (IOM, 2010; Yoder-Wise, 2011):

• Remove barriers to the scope of nursing practice.
• Increase opportunities for nurses to lead and implement collaborative improvement activities.
• "Implement nurse residency programs."
• "Increase the number of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020."
• "Double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020."
• "Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning."
• "Prepare and enable nurses to lead change to advance health."
• Establish an infrastructure that facilitates the collection and analysis of "interprofessional healthcare workforce data."

These messages and recommendations have significant implications for Nursing Professional Development (NPD) specialists. Some of our responsibilities pertaining to implementation of recommendations include:

• Participate in the development and implementation of nurse residency programs
• Implement and revise preceptor programs to enhance new nurse retention
• Advocate for tuition reimbursement for the pursuit of baccalaureate and graduate degrees
• Support colleagues as they pursue baccalaureate and graduate degrees
• Develop and implement leadership education to prepare nurses to assume leadership roles in healthcare organizations
• Provide continuing education pertaining to healthcare reform
• Facilitate data collection as it pertains to research, healthcare delivery, and evidence-based practice
• Support legislation that enables RNs to practice to the full extent of their education and training

The impact of the IOM report is only beginning to be felt by the healthcare community. As you begin to implement strategies to achieve these recommendations, I would be interested in hearing about your efforts and publishing some of your innovations for the benefit of our NPD colleagues. I may be contacted at adrianne1@comcast.net.

References
Institute of Medicine (IOM). 2010. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington, DC: Author.
Yoder-Wise, P., & Esquibel, K. A. (2011). The Future of Nursing and Continuing Education. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 42(3), 99-100.

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