First few Article Sentences
After two years of research, the Institute of Medicine/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing released its recommendations in October, followed by a national conference on implementation of those recommendations. Its charge was to examine the capacity of nursing to meet the demands of a reformed healthcare and public health system, make national recommendations, and define a blueprint for action. “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” argues that nursing, as the segment of the healthcare workforce that is the largest and pervasively involved with patients and families, should actively partner and lead work to ensure that we achieve “accessible, high-quality healthcare.” It states that we cannot reach this national goal “…without exceptional nursing care and leadership.” Nurses must “…engage with physicians and others” to deliver care and “…assume leadership roles in the redesign” of our system.