IOM releases progress report on its 2020 Future of Nursing goals

The national nurse leader talks in regards to the campaign’s progress and plans for the longer term

Author: Janice Petrella Lynch, MSN, RN The Institute of Medicine recently published a report on progress up to now in implementing the recommendations made by the Council on 2010 IOM report “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”. The Campaign for Action, a nursing initiative developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AARP, has been working with nurses across the country since 2010 to advance IOM recommendations. In a progress report published on December 4, the IOM committee made specific recommendations within the areas of removing barriers to practice and care; transforming education; cooperation and leadership; promoting diversity; and data improvement. In conclusion, the commission concluded that “no profession, acting alone, can meet the complex needs of patients and communities. Nurses should continue to develop skills and competencies in leadership and innovation and collaborate with other professionals to deliver health care and redesign the health care system. To continue to make progress on implementing the Future of Nursing recommendations and influence change in the evolving health care landscape, the nursing community, including the campaign, must build and strengthen coalitions with stakeholders both within and beyond nursing. Susan Hassmiller, RN Following the report’s release, Nurse.com spoke with Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior nursing advisor and director of Campaign for Action at RWJF, about the report, the campaign’s progress since 2010 and its plans for the next five years.

Q: How much progress has been made in the last five years in transforming nursing education?

A: Data from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing show that many nurses are returning to school for higher education, and many institutions and communities and some states have or will meet the 80/20 goal. Thanks to the efforts of so many people through the Campaign for Action and our Academic Advancement in Nursing program, we have created a strong and sustainable infrastructure for the future and are seeing local colleges and universities collaborate to develop policies for a smooth transition. In the process of transforming education, the most important thing is that we have changed the culture. Nurses tell me that “after all they are going back to highschool” and they’re happy at the prospect. For nurses with PhD degrees, the RWJF Future of Nursing Scholars program is making an investment by providing scholarships and leadership development to nurses interested in returning to school to pursue a PhD. We continue to need innovative nurse leaders in health care to engage in the research, develop products and deliver the solutions needed to improve our health and care system. Of course, we also need nurses who have obtained PhD degrees and will work in faculty positions.

Q: What challenges have emerged in addressing barriers to practice and care?

A: Our scope of practice was challenging. The IOM acknowledges, both orally and in writing, that physicians continue to pose barriers to modernizing the scope of medical practice legislation. The campaign aims to improve our partnership with physicians, consumers and others who understand that nursing practice and care will only be improved when all providers are able to practice to the highest level of their education and training. And in fact, we have physician supporters who are extremely supportive of our work to modernize the scope of medical practice regulations, but they do not speak publicly. It makes me very sad to see millions of dollars being spent in states as stakeholder groups fight each other over the scope of the law, but I have to believe that what is best for the consumer will ultimately prevail. Our transition to a value-based health care system with an emphasis on teams will solve many of these problems. We are grateful to our partner, AARP, an organization that will continue to advocate for consumers and help expand the scope of legal practice.

Q: How have nurses developed interprofessional collaboration and how can they continue this work?

A: This new IOM impact report puts “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” front and center on everyone’s mind, so that’s good. Now nurses speak in terms of “we” and “us” rather than “them” and “them,” and we will find new ways to re-engage and create new opportunities to build a culture of health in our communities by working with others. The progress report called on state action coalitions to engage more broadly with stakeholders and include as many cross-industry partners as possible. Although it was a challenging job, we continued and will continue to do so. The campaign and action coalitions will be committed to working with nurses and supporting them to build a culture of health in their communities. We want nurses to accompany all other stakeholders as we build this culture, and these may include transportation workers, parks workers, food providers, or organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and public health agencies, to name a few. Be sure to watch for news this spring about a new RWJF grant program that will focus on cross-industry collaboration.

Q: How much progress has the campaign made in supporting nurse leadership and what are its future goals?

Answer: We have 21 organizations working together to have 10,000 nurses on various organizational boards by 2020. Unfortunately, there is currently only one outside organization, the American Hospital Association, that tracks the number of nurses on boards in this country, so I think most of us think that the only thing we care about is putting nurses on hospital boards, but that’s not true. In fact, we urge nurses to serve on boards of all kinds, whether they are public health authorities, philanthropic bodies, corporations or governments. If you visit NursesonBoardsCoalition.org, you can see the progress we’ve made toward our goal of 10,000 nurses on boards for 2020. We want nurses to visit this site to be counted or to ask how to get on boards. We will continue to do our work in all the areas covered by the original IOM recommendations, and we will continue to make great progress in all of them. As we build a culture of health in our communities, we also want to support nurses in their leadership roles, regardless of where they work, and change the culture so they see themselves as the true leaders they are. Nurses know how to keep people healthy, and we want them to deeply appreciate their value and importance in all healthcare settings. Janice Petrella Lynch, MSN, RN, is Editor-in-Chief/Nurse. Download a PDF file with a short report, Assessing Progress within the IOM Report: The Future of Nursing. To comment, please write an email [email protected].

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