The Upcoming Nursing Shortage is Real
Prepare for the Impending Nursing Shortage Before It's Too Late
Approximately 3 million Nurses make up the single largest segment of the healthcare workforce in the US and spend the greatest amount of time delivering patient care as a profession. However, there are significant barriers preventing nurses from being able to respond effectively to rapidly changing health care settings and an ever-evolving health care system. These barriers need to be overcome to ensure that nurses are well positioned to lead change, and advance patient health. Valuable insight from this group plays a critical role in the transformation of the nursing profession, and could lead to a marked improvement in the quality and safety of care in the US.
An Effort to Assess and Transform the Nursing Profession
In 2008, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) launched a two-year project to report and respond to the need to assess and transform the nursing profession. The IOM appointed the Committee on the RWJF Initiative on the Future of Nursing, and the resulting report was designed to serve as:
- A framework for changes in the nursing profession and the health care delivery system
- Direction to individual policy makers, national and state local government leaders, payers, health care researchers, executives, healthcare professionals, licensing bodies, education institutions, and advocacy organizations
Recommendations for the Future of Nursing
The objective of this report was to develop action-oriented recommendations for the future of nursing to lead change and advance health, which included the following four key messages:
- Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.
- Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.
- Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States.
- Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and information infrastructure.
Attend Our Webinar About the Future of Nursing and Handling the Nursing Shortage
We are excited to announce a new HealthStream LIVE! webinar that will address the IOM's report on the Future of Nursing in detail.
Dean of the Oregon Health & Science University, published author and member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee on the Future of Nursing Report, Michael Bleich PhD, RN, FAAN will share the key findings from this report on July 31, 2012. He has published more than 50 articles, book chapters, and monographs on the topics of leadership, academic–service partnerships, and workforce supply and demand; two chapters were in books that were named the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year.