Education is the Key to Effective Nursing

Future of Nursing Report: Leading Change, Advancing Health

Today, the nursing profession is faced with growing demand for health care services from an increasingly diverse and aging population as well as razor-thin operating budgets and staffing shortages. Against this backdrop, identifying opportunities for advancing health equity represents a timely and valuable enterprise. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion concerning the influence of key publications and resources that describe the multiple challenges facing the nursing profession and strategies for addressing them. Following this discussion, the paper summarizes the research and reports key findings with specific implications for the future of the nursing profession in the conclusion.

Describe the work of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that led to the report, "The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity"

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) report, “The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity” (“the Report”) was developed in response to the increasingly critical role nurses play at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses not only account for the largest group within the health care professions, they are on the frontlines of delivering the high-quality services that people need. The overarching goal of the Report was to address the growing need for health equity in the United States. In this context, health equity means that everyone, irrespective of their identity, location, or socioeconomic status, should have the opportunity to achieve their optimal level of health and nurses were identified as having a pivotal role in achieving this outcome.

In order to effectively reduce health disparities and promoting equity, though, nurses require robust education, supportive work environments, and the autonomy to make meaningful changes in health care. Pursuant to a request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and on behalf of the NASEM, an ad hoc committee was created with the mandate to perform a comprehensive study to envision and outline a future path for the nursing profession. The ultimate objective was to enhance nursing capacity and expertise to reduce health inequities and achieve health equity in the United States. The Report examines various strategies that nurses can use to address health disparities, advance equity, control costs, mobilize innovative technologies, and maintain a patient and family-centered approach to care through the year 2030 (Flaubert et al., 2021).

Explain the trend occurring in the nursing workforce and how nursing education is adapting to meet the evolving needs of the profession. What is the role of the nurse in leading change?

The nursing profession is currently experiencing a growing demand for its services due to various factors, including an aging population, increased mental health conditions, limited access to primary care, and healthcare workforce imbalances. Nurses, who work at the intersection of health, education, and communities, are recognized as pivotal in achieving health equity. Nursing education is evolving to prepare students for this critical role by providing coursework and experiential learning opportunities that expose them to diverse care environments, including community and telework settings. In addition, nursing schools are actively recruiting and supporting diverse students and faculty to better reflect the populations they serve. Community and public health nursing are gaining importance, particularly in the context of addressing health equity, with school nurses serving as front-line healthcare providers (Wakefield, 2021).

In response to these trends, the nursing profession is adapting to meet the changing demands of the workforce by equipping students with the skills and knowledge required to promote health equity and address the diverse health and social needs of communities. Nurses are increasingly seen as leaders and advocates for health equity, poised to make significant contributions to the nation's healthcare landscape. Indeed, the importance of the role of nurses in leading change is made clear by Wakefield who emphasizes, “A new generation of nurse leaders is now needed—one that recognizes the importance of diversity and equity and is able to use and build on the increasing evidence base supporting the link between social determinants of health and health status” (2021, p. 3).

Discuss the role of state-based action coalitions. Explain how these coalitions help advance the goals specified in the National Academy of Sciences report, “The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.”

To date, various state-based action coalitions have played a vital role in advancing the goals set out in the Report. A growing body of scholarship confirms that state-based action coalitions have been instrumental in responding to the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 80/20 goal which seeks to ensure that 80% of nurses have attained a bachelor of science in nursing degree or higher degree by 2020. Although this goal was ambitious, it succeeded in achieving significant progress, with increasing numbers of nurses pursuing higher education. In addition, state-based coalitions facilitated collaboration between academic institutions, including universities, community colleges, and practice sites, to promote academic progression among nurses (Fauteux, 2018).

To their credit, these coalitions have gone beyond the 80/20 goal, engaging in initiatives such as the National Education Progression in Nursing Collaborative which focuses on multiple aspects of academic progression, including creating BSN pathways for advanced degree graduates, thereby enabling nurses with associate degrees or diplomas to obtain higher degrees, aligning academic progression opportunities, innovating clinical education delivery, and supporting professional growth. Moreover, these efforts are aligned with the overarching goal of achieving health equity by building a well-educated, diverse, and highly skilled nursing workforce. State-based action coalitions continue to be essential in monitoring progress and facilitating collaboration to achieve these ambitious objectives, strengthening the nursing education pipeline in the United States (Fauteux, 2018).

Research the initiatives on which your state's action coalition is working. Summarize two initiatives spearheaded by your state's action coalition. Discuss the ways these initiatives advance the nursing profession.

In 2016, a collaborative effort was established with the Association of Oklahoma Nurse Practitioners to advocate for the introduction of legislation supporting full practice authority for nurses. This partnership aimed to enhance the scope of practice for nurses in the state. In addition, the coalition launched an initiative to standardize nursing prerequisites across various colleges and institutions in the state. This initiative sought to streamline the educational pathways for aspiring nurses and ensure consistency in their foundational coursework. Likewise, the coalition also developed a set of nurse preceptor education modules for widespread use across hospitals and various health care settings to enhance the training and support provided to nurse preceptors, ultimately fostering a more effective learning environment for nursing students (Nelson, 2023).

Describe barriers to advancement that currently exist in your state and explain how nursing advocates in your state overcome these barriers.

Nursing advocates have been actively addressing barriers to nursing advancement, including scope of practice limitations, educational challenges, and legislative hurdles. They have partnered with organizations such as the Association of Oklahoma Nurse Practitioners to introduce legislation aimed at expanding the scope of practice for advanced practice nurses. Collaborations with the higher education system seek to standardize nursing prerequisites, improving educational accessibility across the state. In addition, other initiatives have been launched to develop educational modules for nurse preceptors, addressing the shortage of qualified faculty and mentors. These concerted efforts seek to directly address the multiple barriers to advancement by creating a supportive environment for nurses that facilitates their professional growth (Nelson, 2023).