The Future of Nursing
For total patient-centered care to be successful, all multidisciplinary teams must be in collaboration with each other and the patient on a day-to-day basis. Nurses are the patient advocate to organize and oversee that all care is appropriate. The registered nurse collaborates with the physician, other nurses, other nursing staff, internal disciplines, patient, families, and support systems outside the hospital care to assure a return to health is maintained. To keep up with the fast changing medical practice, nurses have to originate new policies, review and revise policies to meet the challenges of health care today. Nurses will have numerous opportunities to assume leadership roles in health care organizations and impact health care for Americans. “What nursing brings to the future is a steadfast commitment to patient care, improved safety and quality, and better outcomes” (Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies , 2010). There are three main focuses of the IOM report including transforming education, transforming practice and transforming the leadership role of nurses.
Transforming Education
For nurses to continue to reach for higher education and knowledge to improve patient outcomes, certification in specialty areas is a necessary way to demonstrate improved knowledge. Fights (2012) states, “While not all nurses are prepared to embark on a journey for a further degree, continuing nursing education in other forms is plentiful”. In order to successfully transform education in nursing, nurses must understand and respect the importance of continuing education. Fights (2012) goes on to explain, “Continuing education is available in the form of journals, online journals, webinars, conferences and other sources. “Nursing education should serve as a platform for continued lifelong learning and include opportunities for seamless transition to higher degree programs” (IOM,...