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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee

Name

Institution
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Introduction

Healthcare takes around seventeen percent of the United States’ budget and this makes it

a sector of major concern. The major aim of this industry is to strive for increased quality better

service delivery. In 2008, Robert Wood Foundation and the IOM were launched to instigate

necessary change that was critical for improving the nursing profession for better service

delivery. This paper seeks to delineate Robert Wood Foundation Committee Initiative, highlight

key messages of the IOM report, discuss the role of state-based coalitions and explain why

barriers to advancement exist.

The coalition of Robert Wood foundation and the IOM was launched in 2008 to come up

with a two-year initiative to bring change in the nursing profession. The committee came up with

a vision that sought to transform the healthcare system to effectively address the numerous care

issues that were prevalent in the American healthcare industry. In Congress, the Affordable Care

Act debate has been in the limelight with a focus on the quality of care and the committee

wanted to make healthcare accessible to the American diverse population. The committee, being

an important stakeholder in the industry believed that it was imperative to improve the role of

care providers especially nurses from both primary and pharmaceutical fields (Hendren, 2010).

The report’s objective of improving healthcare aligns with its title “Future of Nursing: Leading

Change, Advancing Health.”

IOM envisions a future where healthcare in the United States is centered on the elements

of primary care and prevention (Whitney, 2018). Besides, coordination and interpersonal

collaboration are core values that are emphasized as a means of improving care in the United

States. Consequently, the IOM report acknowledges that there is a need to transform health
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aspects and nursing is one of the aspects that need transformation as a profession represents the

largest portion of workers in this industry.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Committee wanted to initiate and establish an

effective two-year nursing initiative, therefore the main objective of approaching IOM. The

mission was to come up with a blueprint that could be used to better the nursing profession in the

future at the local, state, and national levels (Campbell et al., 2017). In the report, there were

several recommendations from the committee with specific goals that would bring enhancement

in nursing. The first goal was that 80% of the student body would have a bachelor’s degree by

2020 (Whitney, 2018). The other goal was that nurses would be encouraged to form an important

part of residency programs. The third goal was that nurses with qualifications of Ph.D. and above

would be two folds from the present. The last goal was ensuring that institutes provided an

environment where nurses received continuous education to better their services.

The IOM came up with the above goals after appreciating the important role that nurses

play in healthcare. Without the nurses, it is impossible to implement positive change in

healthcare since they are the primary caregivers and therefore they have regular and close

proximity with patients (Hendren, 2010). Furthermore, nurses have the capability of

understanding healthcare processes from a scientific perspective and at the same time have the

ability to partner effectively with other important stakeholders in this industry. In fact, the

recommendations from the committee targeted effective coordination of complex health

problems and at the same time shorten the gap between access and coverage of care. In this way,

patients will receive value for their money.

IOM's “Future of Nursing” report outlines the aspect of the best experience with

experience and education. Whereas majority of nurses in the US healthcare system work as
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registered nurses, more than a million of these nurses are advanced practitioners in specific

nursing areas with the majority in possession of at least a master's and doctoral degrees. The

committee also highlights the importance of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs)

certification for nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and nurse

anesthetists (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Additionally, the committee explained the importance

of strict practice and licensing rules that vary in different states in the US. There are also

recommendations for lawmakers in concern to the implementation of full training and education

for nurses integrated to the Centre for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The report also has a

recommendation to the Federal Trade Commission; primarily focusing on the anti-competitive

behaviors of players in healthcare. These include practices such as mergers to create monopolies

in this industry. The committee recommends ways of thwarting these practices and policies that

would encourage vibrant competition in healthcare.

The report of the committee, based on the goals of having more than 80% of student body

having a bachelor’s degree and doubling the number of doctorate holders justifies the need of

having an adequately educated workforce. This would work towards catering adequately to the

current and future demands of healthcare by the population. Furthermore, the campaign creates

student-centric policies such that nurses can further their training and at the same time rewind

concepts that work to better their service delivery. The report even inspired the American Nurses

Credentialing Center to trigger a move of getting magnet applicants to increase the number of

nurses with bachelor and doctorate degrees (Campbell et al., 2017). Additionally, communities

now acknowledge the importance of bettering service delivery among nurses by offering further

training to nursing graduates.

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The IOM “Future of Nursing” report has undoubted importance to workforce

development in terms of provision for planning and development of the workforce. An effective

nursing workforce is critical for healthcare delivery and this calls for effective planning for

critical and wide variation in education. It is an important prospect that demands complete and

detailed data on the number of healthcare professionals to make projections on future demand.

The committee strongly suggests that systematic assessment and projection of workforce needs

are conducted through the addition of analyzing workforce as well as improved infrastructure

(Campbell et al., 2017). The report also provides the 2010 Affordable Care Act with a

framework for supporting the workforce to meet the demand of workers in the industry (Institute

of Medicine, 2011). It is an important step considering that the Affordable Care Act is

responsible for creating the National Health Workforce which is mandated with the

responsibility of approximating workforce demand arrived at through proper data collection and

calculation.

State-based action coalitions on their part advance goals of the Future of Nursing:

Campaign for Action by promoting initiatives that support high-quality care. First, nurses

commit to providing high-quality care services to the population, and second, the coalition work

in a campaign to implement the recommendations of IOM and this works to improving nursing

services. The problem is that some of the stakeholders at the state level fail to collaborate with

others to make the initiatives successful (Hendren, 2010). It is a big concern because health care

service advances require equal participation and collaboration from all stakeholders as this is the

only way to achieve the desired outcomes.

Conclusion
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The coalition of Robert Wood foundation and the IOM was launched in 2008 to come up

with a two-year initiative to bring change in the nursing profession, improving both primary and

pharmaceutical fields. The report’s goals were to ensure that 80% of the student body would

have a bachelor’s degree by 2020, create residency programs, ensure that nurses with

qualifications of Ph.D. and above would be two folds from the present and create an environment

for continuous education. These goals are only achievable through cooperation by all the

important stakeholders in the healthcare industry sand this is the reason why it is imperative to

boost collaboration initiatives.

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References

Campbell, J., Ladden, M., McBride, A., Cimino, A., Kostas-Polston, E., & Deming, K. (2017).

Overview of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars

program. Nursing Outlook, 65(3), 254-264. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2016.12.008

Hendren, R. (2010). IOM report offers glimpse of nursing’s future. Retrieved from

http://www.strategiesfornursemanagers.com/ce_detail/257764.cfm

Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. (2011).

Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/12956/chapter/1

Whitney, S. (2018). Trends in Health Care: A Nursing Perspective. Retrieved 9 July 2020, from

https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs440vn/trends-in-health-care-a-nursing-perspective/v1.1/#/

chapter/1