Change As the US population continues to grow and become more diverse, health care needs must change and grow with it. The US Government passed the Affordable Health Care Act in March 2010. This gives an additional 32 million Americans an opportunity to have insurance coverage. This leads to an additional 32 million people that will be seen in health care facilities across the United States. In October 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) developed a report depicting the need for nursing to be transformed in the areas of practice, education and leadership to meet the changing health care needs. This will enhance quality, promote health, prevent illness, and care for people of all ages and ethnicities. Nurses are at the core of this change. They reside at the bedside and have an opportunity to make great changes and take on new opportunities to provide a seamless transition throughout this growth spurt.
Education
Nursing educations at all levels needs to provide a better understanding of and experiences in care management, quality improvement methods, system change management and re-conceptualized roles of nurses in a reformed health care system (IOM, 2010). With the diploma, ADN, and BSN avenues to becoming a registered nurse there are many different options for those desiring to enter the nursing field. The BSN will become a necessity and even more needed are nurse practitioners and those with doctorates. The future of nursing is to continuously pursue further education. Health care facilities should encourage their employees and be supportive in furthering education. Nurses should consider how the health care system is likely to evolve, take a look at their career goals, and then identify what they need to do to get there. That can involve advancing their practice through continuing
