The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation(RWJF)released its Future of Nursing 2020:2030 Charting a Path to Achieve…

Question Answered step-by-step The National Academy of MedicinethFuture of Nursing 2020-2030  About the Report (NAM) with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation(RWJF) released its Future of Nursing 2020:2030 Charting a Path to Achieve health Equity on May 11, 2021. The document has specific recommendations. The Future of Nursing Brief on Lifting Barriers emanates from this report. Please read this brief below and Write the response The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity REPORT BRIEF The Challenge Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, needs access to high-quality, affordable health care and opportunities for health so they can be healthy and well. But as of March 2020, more than 80 million people—roughly one-quarter of the country—lived in an area with a shortage of health professionals. Factors like race, level of income, and access to safe and affordable housing and transportation also directly impact health and well-being. Nurses at all levels and in all settings have the education, skills, experience, and training to fill this critical care gap and address health disparities—if they are given the autonomy and institutional support to do so. Expanding scope of practice for advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse practitioners—which allows them to prescribe medication, diagnose patients, and provide treatment independent of a physician—would significantly increase access to care, particularly in rural and underserved communities, which tend to experience high poverty rates and a heavy burden of chronic disease. Twenty-seven states still restrict full practice authority for nurse practitioners. According to a 2018 UnitedHealth Group report, if all states allowed nurse practitioners to practice to the full extent of their education and training, about 31 million more people living in primary care shortage areas would have access to the primary care they need to stay healthy. For too long, the United States has overinvested in treating illness and underinvested in promoting health and well-being and preventing disease. Even before COVID-19 illuminated disparities and exacerbated inequities in the United States, nurses were advocating for better care and access for individuals, families, and communities. At the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a National Academy of Medicine committee conducted a study aimed at charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help ensure that all people have what they need to live their healthiest lives. The report was published in May 2021 and builds on progress nurses have made over the past decade. 1 Why Nurses? Promoting health and well-being has long been an essential role of nurses—they are bridge builders and collaborators who engage and connect with people, communities, and organizations to ensure people from all backgrounds have what they need to be healthy and well. But they need ongoing support from the systems that educate, train, employ, and enable them to fully deploy their expertise and training so they can help advance health equity for all. 1 https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12956/the-future-of-nursingleading-change-advancing-health 2 Expanding scope of practice advances health equity: • During the pandemic, eight states took emergency action so nurse practitioners could practice to the full extent of their education and training and address care gaps. This expanded access to everything from COVID-19 treatment to maternal care. • To address the opioid crisis, a 2017 federal waiver allowed nurse practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine. This signi icantly increased access to care in some rural communities and kept many people experiencing addiction safe. Nurses at all levels and in all settings face multiple practice barriers to advancing health equity beyond those limiting scope of practice. These range from restrictions on providing telehealth services to workplace policies that prevent them from providing the best care possible. For the country to achieve health equity for all, nurses need environments that allow them to fully leverage their skills and expertise across settings. The Solution (The committee recommends that all relevant state, federal and private organizations enable nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training by removing practice barriers that prevent them from more fully addressing social needs and social determinants of health and improve health care access, quality, and value) When nurses can practice to the full extent of their education and training, their abilities to tackle the root causes of poor health, expand access to care, and create more equitable communities will be limitless. To accomplish this: • By 2022, all changes in policies and state and federal laws adopted in response to COVID-19 should be made permanent, including those that expanded scope of practice, telehealth eligibility, insurance coverage, and payment parity for services nurses provide. • Federal authority should be used to supersede restrictive state laws, including those addressing scope of practice, telehealth, and insurance coverage and payment.        Health Science Science Nursing NUR 726 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)