Health care reform: what’s going to it bring to nursing?

How a lot of you actually understand how nursing will impact healthcare reform? I used to be recently talking to a friend about this and was dismayed by her lack of information of the problem. As I asked increasingly nurses what they knew about “what this means for nursing,” it became clear that many nurses were unaware of the necessary role they’d play in implementing health care reform. We are key drivers of this transformation that can bring health care to the 34 million individuals who currently don’t receive care. Keeping patients healthy and out of the acute care system through preventive care, transitional care, and chronic disease management will begin to shift health care on this country from a concentrate on disease to optimizing health and well-being.

I encourage you to read Diana Mason’s article within the July issue of the American Journal of Nursing titled: Health Care Reform: What It Means for Nursing. This article discusses intimately the importance of nursing in health care reform. Every nurse must have the opportunity to talk clearly about our role in health care reform not only to other nurses, but in addition to unusual people. After all, we’re their hope for higher health.

Author: Anne Dabrow Woods, MSN, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC