Institute of Medicine Recommends More Training, Independence for Nurses

[HuckleB]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/729996

"Healthcare reform and greater patient needs require transformation of the nursing profession to include more training and independence, according to an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report released October 5. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing convened a committee to review scientific literature on the nursing profession, to hold a series of public forums to collect additional evidence and opinions from a variety of experts, and to generate this report.

"The report's recommendations provide a strong foundation for the development of a nursing work force whose members are well educated and prepared to practice to the fullest extent of their training, meet the current and future needs of patients, and act as full partners in leading advances in the nation's healthcare system," IOM Report Committee Chair Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami in Florida, said in a news release.

Implementing healthcare reform and advances in care delivery within the increasingly complex US healthcare system requires that nurses collaborate with other healthcare professionals and take on leadership positions in redesigning US healthcare, according to the IOM Report Committee.

Specific recommendations in the report include residency training for nurses, increasing the percentage of nurses who have a bachelor's degree to 80% by 2020, and doubling the number of nurses who seek doctoral degrees. To help achieve this goal, public and private organizations should offer resources to help nurses who have associate degrees and diplomas to pursue a bachelor of science in nursing within 5 years of graduation. These organizations should also help nursing schools ensure that 10% of their baccalaureate graduates enter a master's or doctoral program within 5 years.

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This is all good and well, but how do we get enough people who want to take on these roles, who want to take on the education load, and how does the education system get developed in order to handle more students? Blah. Blah. Blah. I know. Someone is working on it, but aren't they always working on it?

[randr]

1. Today's nurses have more medical knowledge than

most doctors had 20-30 years ago.
Specialized fields should open up and give a person with a nursing degree more responsibilities and eliminate higher paid positions.

[Dappleganger]

4. My aunt was a nursing instructor at UA-Birmingham.

They used to tease her that she ran circles around their OB-GYN docs and didn't dare tick her off.

My mother became a nurse as a 2nd career and used to talk about how nurses get bullied and bully each other, with many of them quitting. Resources are strained so tightly that the frustration goes down the pecking order with at times, disastrous results.

[HuckleB]

5. Alas, bullying issues continue today.

In my experience, the doctor to nurse bullying has dramatically decreased over time, but the nurse to nurse bullying has remained at the same level.

[Dappleganger]

6. After my mom passed away...

we found a bunch of documentation she had kept and letters written to TPTB regarding several ongoing nursing issues regarding bullying. It seems like some of these people are just "catty" and looking to throw their weight around while disrupting team efforts. It was pretty interesting to read all of it, that's for sure!

[NC_Nurse]

2. Yeah, I want to spend the time and money to get through all that school so that I can

make the same salary. Hospitals don't pay the BSN nurses any more than the diploma/assoc. degree nurses. I suppose a master's or a Phd might make more, but I bet it would take FOREVER to pay off those loans.

It will be a fine day when somebody finally asks nurses for more input on how to imporve our healthcare system. At this point, nurse input is often ignored.

Nurses are stuck in the same female-dominated profession ghetto that teachers are in. The salaries max out after the first few years of employment and the expectations are ridiculous as far as workload goes. Then people freak out when mistakes are made or care is less than stellar.

Please excuse my jadedness, but I can't tell you how long I've heard this bullshit about better training, better work conditions and more respect for our profession. I'm not holding my breath.

[HuckleB]

3. It might make sense to do the masters in order to become and APN.

As for the PhD, they're probably still trying to increase nursing in academia, and the financial reward just isn't there when one considers the time and resources it takes to get through the program.