Nursing leads the advance into the future

Nursing is an advancing field in the future of healthcare. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 outlines many new changes planned and needed for this Affordable Care Act to move forward and be successful. There is a need for the healthcare team to increase care to help move the transformation of healthcare in a positive direction. Areas of impact will be put forth by reviewing the IOM report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. One area of impact from the IOM is directed in nursing education. The Affordable Care Act is shifting care in the direction of patient centered care.

The care is slowly moving away from acute care to preventive and community based care. An emphasis on prevention and wellness within the community is an integral focus of the Affordable Care Act. Care of chronic conditions is focused in the direction of prevention with an increase in healthcare education. This education helps to enhance the overall care and safety of the patient. Achievement of this will be visible by improved outcomes; reduced hospital acquired infections and ultimately reduced mortality rates. These changes will undoubtedly also increase patient satisfactions.

The IOM report states, “ If the United States is to achieve the necessary transformation of its health care system, the evidence points to the importance of relying on nurses in enhanced and reconceptualized roles”.. Nursing education has designed with the Affordable Care Act to improve the quality of care and enhance the future of nursing within the healthcare system, The IOM report impacts nursing practice by redesigning nursing and incorporating early traditional nursing strengths with an improved nursing quality and care. The improved care involves higher level of education for all nursing personnel.

This care is based on primary care with a patient center focus. Since the early days of Florence Nightingale nursing has been based around an educated workforce of caregivers. Many changes and adaptations have been needed throughout the years. Adapting to the changes in our population, which is aging dramatically shows a need to improve on the care given by nurses. The IOM report projects the need of care provided by nursing must improve due to the increasing ages of our population. It is projected that there will be a 20 percent increase of the population of ages 65 and older in 2030.

With these changes there is also a much more diverse group of people evolving. The diversity of the population brings many new issues to the table. As seen by looking back at the history of nursing it is evident that nursing not only has the ability to change but also the willingness to make the changes necessary to provide the highest level of care. Nurses seeking higher levels of education have been shown by an increasing numbers of nurses returning to school to obtain BSN, Master is Nursing and Nurse Practitioners. I personally am one of the many nurses returning to school for a higher degree.

Hospitals around the country are providing incentives for nurses to advance their careers in an effort to meet the changing needs. For example my current employer offers a three thousand dollar a year tuition reimbursement for nurses to advance their degrees in Nursing. With every passing decade, nursing has become an increasingly integral part of health care services, so that a future without large numbers of nurses is impossible to envision. . Nurses are recognized as leaders in the team of healthcare workers. The advancing role of nurses as leaders will continue to be an integral part of the future of healthcare.

In the past healthcare challenges revolved around treatment of acute illness and injuries whereas, today the Affordable Care Act is based around chronic conditions and patient centered care. Hospitals that involve nurses as leaders in the treatment of care are showing increases in patient satisfaction. The hospital that I am currently employed adopted a leadership team in prevention of central line infections. The personal interest taken by many of the nurses involved in this team clearly played a role in decreasing the number of infections. This team also increased education to other nurses and patients.

I truly believe if hospitals continue to support continuing education the overall outcome of patient care, health and safety will continue to improve. Our healthcare team will also increase in available resources to treat and manage the increased population of patients. Treatment with the Affordable Care Act is more focused on promoting healthier lifestyles and assuring healthcare services to all. If we can decrease the number of patients with chronic illness by creating changes in patient’s lifestyles then we can improve the level of care patients receive.

Overall changes to healthcare can be achieved with the addition of improved education along with lifestyle changes. For example, a reduction in fast foods and soda’s which are closely linked to obesity would help to absolve the obesity issues in our communities. Already we have seen changes in the smoking population through our increased education in the link of smoking and lung cancer. Research by the American Diabetes Association links diet, physical activity, and weight with a direct association to multiple diseases not diabetes alone .

Focusing on lowering the risk factors of these diseases as well as increasing availability of healthcare will improve care within our healthcare system. Unfortunately eradicating illness entirely is not realistic. It is the goal to decrease and treat conditions associated with chronic diseases by the early management and education. Increasing the level of care provided by nurses is not only a valid option in promoting advances in the future of nursing but now also requirement of current nursing practice.