Policies are powerful strategies to achieve sustainable improvement in healthcare, enhance organizations’ performance and the services’ quality. When an initiative is established on the policymaking level, it receives broad support and allows the providers’ to adjust their operations and work strategies. The IOM Future of Nursing Practice Report Brief contains the crucial recommendations that address the needs of populations and activities of the nursing workforce (Academic Progression In Nursing, n. d.). One of their guidances is dedicated to the demand for continuing education for the practitioners because of the continuously developing technologies and the need for skilled workers. This paper aims to summarize the policy proposal for nurses’ extended studying recommendation and identify how professional organizations can support its implementation.
The policy proposal must identify the foundation of the problem, the outcomes, stakeholders, and actions necessary for passing the updated regulations. The US government established rules within the Affordable Care Act passage to stimulate practitioners to increase their qualifications (Shinners & Graebe, 2020). Today, the significant gap in the nursing staff skillfulness exists along with the rapid technological development, which forces the professionals to keep studying and increasing their knowledge level (Melnyk et al., 2018). Furthermore, the workforce shortage that emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the educational benchmarks for practitioners and made quantity before quality. These circumstances are severe for the quality of care, and urgent, policy-level action must be taken urgently.
The IOM report got the right position by recommending that nurses continue their education and enable policymakers to develop regulations that advocate for the workforce’s skillfulness improvement. The policy proposal includes the requirements of the practicum hours completion, minimum degree level to be employed, and the options to combine studying with working. The stakeholders, such as practitioners, healthcare organizations, and institutions can receive additional funding for continuing education (Shinners & Graebe, 2020). As a part of the policy proposal, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recommended the education system primarily rely on the state’s boards and requirements to provide them with an adequate workforce (Thomas et al., 2020). Indeed, the novel regulations contain the strategies to address the different needs for licensing and update them to motivate the nurses to continue their studies.
The AACN and Association for Healthcare Administrative Professionals (AHCAP) are the policymaking institutions to deal with the recommendation to continuously increase the educational level of nursing practitioners through academic development and training. Their intervention is necessary to create the practices and successfully implement them in organizations. The AACN can support the policy proposal by providing a valuable scope of statistics about educational levels and challenges nationwide, necessary for the successful regulation passage and effective execution (Thomas et al., 2020). The AHCAP is a professional organization intervention that would simultaneously implement the policy through updates in leadership strategies in healthcare facilities. Furthermore, stakeholders can reach these institutions to share feedback and practical recommendations for further improvement. Professional organizations connect the facilities, workforce, and policymakers; thus, they must participate in all decision-making events.
In summary, the policy proposal is a fundamental part of making improvements in the healthcare industry, and the regulations must comply with the current challenges and forecasts. The IOM report enables the government to support the initiatives and allow the institutions’ recommendations to become fundamental executable strategies. Professional organizations work as the connection between the facilities, workforce, and policymakers; thus, they must participate in all decision-making events.
References
Academic Progression In Nursing (n. d.). Future of nursing IOM report. Web.
Melnyk, B. M., Gallagher‐Ford, L., Zellefrow, C., Tucker, S., Thomas, B., Sinnott, L. T., & Tan, A. (2018). The first US study on nurses’ evidence‐based practice competencies indicates major deficits that threaten healthcare quality, safety, and patient outcomes. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 15(1), 16-25. Web.
Shinners, J., & Graebe, J. (2020). Continuing education as a core component of nursing professional development. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 51(1), 6-8. Web.
Thomas, T., Martsolf, G., & Puskar, K. (2020). How to engage nursing students in health policy: Results of a survey assessing students’ competencies, experiences, interests, and values. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 21(1), 12-20. Web.