Running head: Professional Development of the Nursing Professionals

Professional Development of the Nursing Professionals
Jill Blackman
Grand Canyon University: NRS 430V
January 6, 2012
Impact of IOM on Nursing Nursing has over three million members and is the largest sector in healthcare workers in the nation (Institute of Medicine, 2010). Since the Affordable Health Care Act passed in 2010, our nation now faces new challenges of providing affordable, quality health care to all Americans. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is an organization that advises the federal government about how to improve our nation’s health care. The IOM has devised a plan to help change the future of nursing and break down the barriers that hinder the nursing profession in the new health care system. The report “Calls on nurses, individually and as a profession, to embrace changes needed to promote health, prevent illness, and care for people in all settings across the lifespan,” (Institute of Medicine, 2010 p. 10). How can nurses ensure that they are providing safe, quality care with the changing health care system and more complex patient care? Since nurses make up a major part of the health care workforce they can help shape and influence how the new health care reform will help the public obtain affordable, safe care that starts in the community and continues throughout all points of service, by further nursing education, establishing and participating in primary care and being leaders in the health care system. Impact on Nursing Education There have been many studies researching nursing education. Some studies show a relationship between the level of nursing education related to patient outcomes and mortality. The IOM report is concerned that many nurses lack the education and preparation necessary to adapt to new roles quickly in response to rapidly