Posted: March 7th, 2025

Week 1: Discussion 2 – The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health

Week 1: Discussion 2 – The Future of Nursing

Discussion Prompt

The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) landmark publication series, beginning with – The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) presented a set of bold recommendations to expand the role of the nursing workforce in improving healthcare. The third report in the series – The Future of Nursing: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity (2021), continues its efforts to increase awareness of nurses’ ability to play a full role in health professions practice, education, collaboration, and leadership; promote diversity in the nursing workforce; and emphasize the need for better data with which to assess and drive progress.
 
Review any section of the IOM 2021 Report – The Future of Nursing: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity that addresses advanced practice nursing. The PDF is available at http://nap.nationalacademies.org/25982. 
 
Identify and discuss one (1) example of the Future of Nursing report’s impact on the Advanced Practice Nurse role – Clinician, Educator, Researcher, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Consultant, or Leader.

Impact of the IOM 2021 Report on APN Leadership

One of the most profound and actionable impacts of the 2021 IOM Report on the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) role is the enhanced focus on leadership development and policy influence. The IOM Report notes that NPs, CNSs, CRNAs, and midwives are central to efforts to advance healthcare systems and reduce health inequities for defined populations, particularly the disadvantaged ones (IOM, 2021, p. 56).

Strengthening APN Leadership in Healthcare Systems

The IOM Report calls for a systematic approach to enhancing leadership within the nursing profession. This claims that APNs are better placed to fill leadership positions due to clinical skills, patient-care approaches, and knowledge of healthcare systems in various settings (IOM, 2021, p. 53). This expertise puts APNs in a unique position to champion health policy at the local, state, and national levels.

More so, the report has suggested that APNs move to leadership roles in and out of clinical practice areas, including healthcare facilities, governments, and advocacy agencies, where they can assume policy-making roles that serve to enhance SDOH knowledge, healthcare fairness and accessibility (IOM, 2021, p. 59).

Policy Advocacy and Health Equity

A key point in the report is that APNs must expand their roles as policy advocates. The IOM Report points out that by assuming leadership in policy advocacy, APNs will ensure that legislation prohibiting scope of practice is fully eliminated to make them practice to the fullest of their capacity.

Undoubtedly, the IOM Report paints a picture of a future in which APNs will spearhead calls for health equity, advancement of policies that can lessen health disparities first-hand, and enhancement of the availability of quality, cost, and culturally appropriate health care to those who reside in rural, underserved, and low-income areas (IOM, 2021 p 56).

For instance, the report emphasizes the need for legal reforms, such as revoking supervisory agreements between APNs and physicians that would enable the former to practice/work independently and thus serve patients in the areas of greatest need (IOM, 2021, p. 58).

In places where physician scarcity is apparent, especially in rural settings, APNs play a critical role in addressing the upward mobility in the accessibility of services that clients need. Therefore, the IOM Report demands more policy changes to accommodate this broader APN function in these spheres (IOM, 2021, p. 56).

Leadership Development: Training and Mentorship

The IOM Report also emphasizes the need for leadership training and mentorship for APNs. Before taking leadership positions, APNs require academic preparation beyond clinical practice, including skills in health systems management, policies, and leadership (IOM, 2021, p. 62).

It is through such preparation of APNs to be able to perform various tasks and responsibilities in multifaceted healthcare systems that professional organizations and academic institutions can assist in preparing APNs to be able to manage or perform various influential roles such as executive officers, board of directors’ members, and policymakers.

Similarly, the report shows that nursing organizations, AANP and ANA, need to offer support through leadership developmental, advocacy, and networking platforms to develop nurse leaders capable of informing policy and decision-making at various organizational levels (IOM, 2021, p. 62).

Systemic Change and APN Leadership

The IOM Report stresses that APNs have a critical role in driving systemic change within healthcare organizations. They can represent their organizations in the decision-making process with regard to care delivery models, patient safety, and quality of care improvements. This entails the translation of evidence-based practice in policies, the embrace of health equity, and health systems accommodating the needs of disadvantaged groups (IOM, 2021, p. 59).

Another recommendation of the IOM Report is to promote the advancement of APNs to be in interdisciplinary teams where their leadership and clinical knowledge averagely positively impact patient care while continually fostering collaboration and creativity in care delivery (IOM, 2021, p. 59).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the IOM 2021 Report has significantly impacted the leadership role of Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs), calling for a transformation in how they are integrated into healthcare leadership. This report supports APNs in playing an essential role in policy advocacy, policy development, identification, and change in healthcare organizations and systems to embrace health equity and clients/populations’ social determinants.

To fill this gap, the report discusses leadership development, education and mentoring, and policy changes that would enhance APN practice. When these APNs assume these broader leadership roles, growing in their responsibilities and scope, they shall be in a position to influence the design of future healthcare systems and services for their effectiveness in bringing out responsive and improved healthcare systems for various communities.

Reference

Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2021). The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. National Academies Press. http://nap.nationalacademies.org/25982