Outline the four “Key Messages” that structure the IOM Report recommendations. Explain how these have transformed or influenced nursing practice, nursing education and training, nursing leadership, and nursing workforce development. Provide examples.

As a result of deliberations, the Robert Wood Foundation Committee has formulated four key messages:

1. Nurses should practice the full scope of their education.
2. The level of education must be raised.
3. Nurses need to have an equal voice on the board with physicians.
4. Better data collection and infrastructure.

Nurses should practice the full scope of their education

Several barriers prevent nurses from working to the full. Many demographic barriers, such as an aging workforce. The high rate of turnover among nurses, difficulty in transitioning from school to starting a practice, and many others. The scope of practice regulation varies significantly from state to state, from highly detailed to open and vague provisions. Despite being medical professionals, in some states, nurses are denied the right to admit patients to the hospital, assess their condition, and prescribe drugs. Falling behind on allowing nurses to practice medicine ultimately leads to the inability for them to advance the career ladder.
Another barrier is the high turnover of nurses that transition from school to practice. Most residency programs at significant healthcare institutions are concerned with acute healthcare. Despite being the top priority, other programs outside acute healthcare must be developed too. The study has shown that developing other programs reduce the turnover rate. The creation of residencies at hospitals will diversify nurses by roles and skillset.

The level of education must be raised

The requirements for the nurse to get a license and start practicing have not changed over the last 40 years. The technology leaped during that time, and the staff is required to deal with sophisticated technology. Nurses are expected to prevent acute care episodes from happening, and this requires skills in analysis and assessment of chronic diseases, using modern technology. To respond to this trend, nurses are needed to raise their level of education. The system needs to transition nursing to higher education, developing masters, and Ph.D. programs in nursing.

Nurses need to have an equal voice on the board with physicians

To transform the healthcare system, nurses need to be considered for the management positions and produce leaders among them. Nurses must assume more responsibility in assessing and preventing caring for patients. Nurses should play a role in committees and boards, implementing the strategy to cure patients. To provide people with quality, patient-centered healthcare, nurses should have strong leadership and interpersonal communication skills. As the systems shift towards a team-based institution, active cooperation among staff is vital.

To be receptive to the reconceptualization of roles, nurses should have a vote in healthcare policy. Having a leadership mindset is essential in the career advancement of nurses. They must engage in a collaborative environment and provide the institution staff with suggestions about the optimization of work. By doing so, nurses will develop partnerships, acquire alliances, and advance careers into the management position, ultimately contributing to the healthcare system beyond preventive care.

Better data collection and infrastructure

It is of utmost importance to create a database that would include the number of health professionals in institutions. It is also needed to develop health professionals that would analyze and understand the impact of technology, medical homes, health information technology. To plan nurses and physicians alike should have a complete understanding of human resources available to them at a time. Nowadays, preventive healthcare shifts more to team-based care. Once the system is established, a comprehensive database containing nurses ranged by skill, region, and roles will be needed to inform institutions of the shift in need of competent professionals.