Discuss the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee Initiative on the Future of Nursing and the Institute of Medicine research that led to the IOM report, “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.” Identify the importance of the IOM “Future of Nursing” report related to nursing practice, nursing education and nursing workforce development

The four Key Messages that structure the IOM Report recommendations

Since the report was released, state actions have worked on the recommendations to eliminate barriers to APRN practice. According to Hansen-Turton et al (2015), in 2013, fifteen states introduced legislation to make sure that nurses are able to fully practice to their level of training and education. Numerous editorial boards, including Bloomberg and The New York Times, have called for the elimination of these barriers, and there is a shift in public opinion in favor of the elimination of nurses’ barriers to practice.

Key Message 2

The second key message is that nurses should attain higher training and education that an education system that is improved to promote seamless progression. The committee noted that key transformations in the United States health care system to occur, it will be essential to transform the nurses’ education to get them ready to deal with technology and synthesize multi-faceted information, work in partnership with other health professionals, and engage in critical decision making.  The committee recommended that to meet these needs, more nurses attain higher degrees so that by the year 2020, eighty percent of nurses would possess a baccalaureate degree and with the number of nurses having a doctorate doubling by 2020. Additionally, the committee proposed that nurses participate in continuous education and the diversity of the workforce to be increased (Altman et al., 2016) IOM Future of Nursing Report and Nursing GCU.

This key message has led to a rise in the number of nurses with higher and baccalaureate degrees. The number of baccalaureate nursing programs, the number of enrollees, and the number of nurses graduating from these programs have steadily increased.  According to Altman et al (2016), entry-level baccalaureate programs had increased to 704 in 2014 from 642 in 2010 with accelerated baccalaureate programs increasing to 299 from 133 in the same period.

Residences in a diverse setting and various levels have been expanded or developed in the years since the IOM report was published.   There have been development and financing by institutions employing nurses, to improve on the job training as well as retention of newly hired nurses.  For example, over 130 health systems and hospitals across the United States are taking part in the AACN/UHC programs for postbaccalaureate residencies and yearly participation had increased from  3, 579 nurses in 2010 to over 9,000 nurses in 2014 (Altman et al., 2016).

Key message 3

The third key message is that nurses should fully partner with physicians and other health professionals in redesigning the United States health care. The committees established that for nurses to fully take part in transforming the system, they are supposed to become leaders and collaboratively work with other leaders.  The committee proposed that for nurses to develop leadership capacity, education programs, funders, and health care organizations offer, finance, and expand opportunities for nurses to be able to build up skills on leadership and take on leadership positions. (Altman et al, 2016).

Since the report was released, there has been an establishment and expansion of leadership development opportunities by private organizations, nursing associations, and education programs.  IOM Future of Nursing Report and Nursing GCU According to Altman et al (2016), nursing associations actively sponsors programs intended to develop nurses leaders’ entrepreneurial and leadership skills in a wide range of positions. For example, the American Organization of Nurse Executives provides a wide range of leadership opportunities and education, entailing the nurse manager fellowship and the emerging nurse leader institute.

Key Message 4

The fourth and last key message is that effective policymaking and workforce planning need bet collection of data along with a superior information infrastructure.  The committee established that to get ready for important health care system transformations, it is essential to have concrete and reliable information on the nursing workforce. This data includes the types and number of nurses practicing, their roles, and their places of work, and the tasks they undertake.  The committee made the recommendation that the  National health care workforce commission should work in collaboration with the human resources and services administration to improve the gathering and analysis of data on the healthcare workforce.

The role of state-based Action Coalitions

To implement the four key messages and the eight recommendations of the IOM report, RWJF leveraged preexisting groundwork and formed collaborations kno