The IOM report on the Future of Nursing presents a blueprint for transforming nursing practice and empowering caregivers to achieve their potential. The recommendations can result in significant changes and ensure that the health needs of more patients are met. This discussion analyzes one of the key messages presented in the report, a major barrier and the best strategy to deal with it, and how the proposed issues will affect practice.
Transforming Practice: Report Brief
The IOM report outlines four key messages that caregivers and nurse practitioners (NPs) should take seriously to achieve their potential and transform the health experiences of their patients. The outstanding one that speaks to me is the third one. This message encourages me to partner with other professionals in the health sector in an attempt to deliver high-quality and sustainable medical care to underserved populations (Hooper, 2016).
This means that I should improve my philosophy of nursing, remain accountable, and acquire new competencies to meet the health needs of my patients. I should also collaborate with skilled physicians, psychologists, and psychotherapists. Such approaches will make it easier for more NPs and health professionals to focus on the medical challenges many people face and implement evidence-based strategies to deal with them. I will also collaborate with different experts to acquire superior competencies that can make me a skilled provider of high-quality medical services.
Transforming Practice: Barriers
Several barriers are making it impossible for nurses to achieve their potential and transform the field. The selected challenge for this discussion is that of professional resistance. This obstacle occurs when some stakeholders or professionals argue that practitioners’ scope of practice should not be expanded (Institute of Medicine, 2011). For example, some physicians and psychotherapists have asserted that NPs lack relevant training, expertise, clinical skills, and background in medicine. This issue continues to affect the experiences, goals, and achievements of many nurses.
My unit has managed to implement a powerful strategy to deal with this obstacle. The existing approach revolves around the concept of multidisciplinary teams. The institution encourages different professionals to collaborate in order to provide superior services and care to the targeted patients. This strategy can empower practitioners by equipping them with superior competencies and skills (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The targeted beneficiaries are currently empowered to deliver high-quality health services. Such an approach can, therefore, be applied in different units and settings to address this barrier.
Cohen’s Article
The changes or proposals outlined in the IOM report have the potential to affect my practice. The first outcome is that I will interact with different health professionals in an attempt to continue providing exemplary medical services. I will also engage in lifelong learning to acquire superior competencies and ideas for supporting my patients. It will be necessary to develop appropriate leadership skills that can result in sustainable care delivery models. Emerging concepts of multidisciplinary teams and evidence-based practice will empower me to meet the changing health needs of the greatest number of patients (Cohen, 2013). The removal of the current limits on practitioners’ scope of practice will encourage me to provide exemplary services in a wide range of settings.
Conclusion
The above discussion has revealed that the IOM report is a proposal that has the potential to transform nursing practice. Caregivers should consider such recommendations to transform their philosophies and focus on the changing health needs of their respective patients. They should also identify existing barriers use suitable strategies to address them.
References
Cohen, S. S. (2013). The Future of Nursing report three years later: An interview with Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior advisor for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 14(2), 79-84. Web.
Hooper, V. D. (2016). The Institute of Medicine report on the future of nursing: Where are we 5 years later? Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 31(5), 367-369. Web.
Institute of Medicine. (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: The National Academic Press.