Future of Nursing: Institute of Medicine Initiative
Three Public Forums plus Summary Reports
Learn more ... October 2009: Acute Care
Learn more ... December 2009: Care in the Community Forum
Learn more ... February 2010: Nursing Education
Learn more ... Colorado and the Future of Nursing Recommendations
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has established a major initiative on the Future of Nursing. The initial cornerstone of the initiative is to conduct of a major study whose goal would be to produce a transformational report on the future of nursing. This initiative has convened three national forums (click above for more detail on each forum).
An ad hoc committee has examined the capacity of the nursing workforce to meet the demands of a reformed health care and public health system. In October 2010, the IOM will release a set of national recommendations, including ones that address the delivery of nursing services in a shortage environment and the capacity of the nursing education system. In its report, the committee will define a clear agenda and blueprint for action including changes in public and institutional policies at the national, state and local levels. Its recommendations would address a range of system changes, including innovative ways to solve the nursing shortage in the U.S.
The committee may examine and produce recommendations related to the following issues, with the goal of identifying vital roles for nurses in designing and implementing a more effective and efficient health care system:
- Reconceptualizing the role of nurses within the context of the entire workforce, the shortage, societal issues, and current and future technology;
- Expanding nursing faculty, increasing the capacity of nursing schools, and redesigning nursing education to assure that it can produce an adequate number of well prepared nurses able to meet current and future health care demands;
- Examining innovative solutions related to care delivery and health professional education by focusing on nursing and the delivery of nursing services; and
- Attracting and retaining well prepared nurses in multiple care settings, including acute, ambulatory, primary care, long term care, community and public health.