Meeting the Challenges of the Institute of Medicine Report:Nurse Practitioners and the Future of Nursing

 This presentation focuses on how the community of nurse educators can position educational programs to meet the challenges in the coming years of reform. The recommendations put forth in the Institute of Medicine Report, Future of Nursing, provide a unique opportunity to help restructure the current health care system. This report as well as other provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides vision and clear direction for the future of advanced nursing practice. As educators of nurse practitioner students, we have an obligation to ensure that nurses achieve the highest level of education and training through continuing to improve educational programs. * Programs should be designed to promote seamless academic progression developed and built on a solid theoretical base. * Supporting interdisciplinary training can help others understand the abilities and skills of nurse practitioners and facilitate full collaboration and partnership with physicians and other health professionals. * Residency programs could be further refined to ensure that our NPs educated at the doctoral level are prepared to fully participate in the transformation of health care in the United States. * Integrating information technology and evaluation skills with better data collection and an improved information infrastructure will demonstrate a commitment to effective workforce planning and policy making. Nurses must be prepared to take a leadership role in all settings to meet the demands of our changing health care system and be prepared to practice to the full extent of their education, training and licensure. Our responsibility as nurse educators is to participate in the design and implementation of the recommended changes. At the end of the session participants will be able to: 1. Describe the four key messages from the IOM Report and how they could impact NP education. 2. Discuss changes that could address the recommendations.