The key messages proposed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) are focused on improving nurses’ practices and work performance, which would improve the healthcare system in the United States. Among the four recommendations provided by the IOM Report, there is one that can have the most significant positive impact on the healthcare system. According to IOM, “Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training” (Institute of Medicine, 2011, p. 17). This key massage seems to have greater importance to the healthcare system since the experience that nurses gain during their practice is remarkable and requires acknowledgment. Unlike doctors, nurses deal with the actual cases and have a limited time to make critical decisions. Their expertise is directly based on an immediate assessment of the situation. Moreover, they receive the same training as practitioners, so the quality of their knowledge and education is equal. Therefore, nurses must have their work acknowledged according to the education they have received.
IOM also emphasizes the barriers that slow down the transformation of the Practice. They are the professional resistance to the roles of nurses in the health care system, outdated insurance policies, hard transition from the school to Practice, and demographic challenges (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The biggest and the most challenging barrier to handle is the resistance to nurses’ role in healthcare. A lot of medical professionals and even ordinary people do not take the position of nurses in medical Practice seriously. Many also see them as assistants instead of professionals who obtained knowledge and expertise in their field. Moreover, some people tend to show mistrust to nurses’ professionalism and prefer to deal with practitioners. It creates a big problem and stops nurses from doing their job properly. Moreover, the nurse’s mistake, the same as doctor’s, can cost a patient his life. Therefore, nurses should be given an opportunity to practice to the full extent of their training. It will help them to achieve more significant professional growth, which can improve the delivery of healthcare to the public.
The best strategy to decrease the resistance to nurses’ role in the healthcare system would be supporting them and establishing trust between nurses and their leaders. Unlike workers in other fields, nurses are exposed to more work-related risks and stress. Since they deal with sick people who need high-quality care, nurses suffer from mental breakdowns more often compared to other people. Therefore, it is essential to support them and guarantee a healthy working environment. Implementing these strategies is highly prevalent in some other countries. For example, hospitals in the United Kingdom provide nurses with training on dealing with work-related stress and achieving emotional balance (Odriscoll et al., 2018). The results are the improvement of working dynamic and care delivery. This has a significant impact not only on the healthcare system but also on the overall performance of nurses. Moreover, most patients are involved in this process by respecting the professionalism and experience of nurses and their intention to provide patients with high-quality healthcare. In the interview by Cohen (2013), Hassmiller points out that the report had a significant impact on the communication between nurses versus doctors and between nurses and clinics. It definitely helped to establish better relationships between nurses and their leadership.
The recommendations in the reports helped to ensure the proper education and training for nurses established appropriate conditions for their professional growth, and guarantee necessary work-related and emotional support for them during the job. The Future of Nursing IOM Report also improved professional relationships and communication between nurses and leadership. However, there is still a room for improvement; therefore, the government should consider issuing new recommendations with amends according to current needs.
References
Cohen, S. S. (2013). The future of nursing report three years later: An interview with Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, Senior Advisor for Nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 14(2), 79–85. Web.
Institute of Medicine. (2011) The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. The National Academies Press. Web.
Odriscoll, M., Allan, H., Liu, L., Corbett, K., & Serrant, L. (2018).Compassion in practice-Evaluating the awareness, involvement and perceived impact of a national nursing and midwifery strategy amongst healthcare professionals in NHS Trusts in England. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5-6). Web.