Nurses, are you ready?
I have been talking with my boyfriend, who is a flight nurse with about 13 years of critical care experience, about getting more training and pursuing what he originally was wanting, certification as a nurse anesthetist. Looks like now is a good time to get ahead of the game for any nurses looking to expand their training.
Stolen from the ASHP Daily Briefing:
Report Recommends Expansion Of Nurses’ Tasks To Relieve Physician Shortage.
Reuters (10/6, Fox) reports nurses should be better educated and entrusted with more medical tasks in an effort to tackle the expected strain the healthcare reform will place on physicians in the coming years, according to a report released Tuesday by the US Institute of Medicine. However, the American Medical Association, which represents physicians and resident doctors, criticized the proposal, saying that though nurses play a very important role in the healthcare system, there is no substitute for education and training.
CQ HealthBeat (10/6) reports several healthcare experts Tuesday predicted “that a newly released Institute of Medicine report will tip the balance toward a much-expanded role for nurses in America’s emerging health care system.” Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala said, “It will usher in, I believe, the golden age of nursing in America.” The report “called for increasing to 80 percent the proportion of nurses with bachelor’s degrees – a goal that should be met by 2020 – and to double the number by then who are pursuing doctorates.”
The Hill ‘s (10/5, Lillis) “Healthwatch” blog reported that among the recommendations were: “Nurses should position themselves as ‘full partners,’ along with doctors and other providers, in the effort to improve the healthcare system.” Two “statistics make nurses singularly qualified to advance the discussion about healthcare improvement,” the committee said: “Their numbers (more than 3 million) make them the largest segment of the healthcare workforce. And they spend more time caring directly for patients than any other group.”
Modern Healthcare (10/5, Carlson) said, “Study authors are urging regulators to use financial incentives and federal anti-competition laws to encourage states to adopt federally recommended best practices on nursing scope of practice laws.”
The Wall Street Journal (10/5, Hobson) said that among the recommendations the most contentious could be those related to scope of practice, which gives the nurses authority to request tests or write prescriptions, among other tasks.
Related Articles
- Doctor Shortage Looming? Use Nurses, Report Says (nlm.nih.gov)
- National committee releases findings on transforming and improving the nursing profession (eurekalert.org)
- AACN Applauds the New Institute of Medicine Report Calling for Transformational Change in Nursing Education and Practice (eon.businesswire.com)
- Health Care Reform and the Future of Nursing and Nurse Practitioners (npbusiness.org)