A Nurse Practitioner's View

The big news this week in the world of nurse practitioners and health care was the release of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Report, " The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health ." It's a logical read and echos what NPs, patients, and some other professions have been saying for years: let NPs do the work they are already educated and trained to do without arbitrary and archaic state and/or federal barriers. This is not a "scope of practice" issue, it is allowing us to practice to the full extent of our education. For example, when I reflect back on my NP education, there was no course entitled, "How to sort of take care of chronic conditions but when you get in over your head, make sure you have your collaborating physician's number on speed dial." We were taught to function as primary care providers that included acquiring the knowledge base to evaluate, diagnose and treat our patients and their conditions using the skill sets ...

Here is a great initiative that the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched on the Future of Nursing in America . This gives a wonderful depiction on how nurses and nurse practitioners will be part of providing the solution to health care reform. As we have sensational portrayals of nurses in such recent series as Nurse Jackie and HawthoRNe , it is refreshing to have a vivid description of the impact nurses have in health care in America. This goes beyond the petty back and forth between other health care providers that is good for TV and some blogs and puts us on the high road - that is, taking better care of our patients, their families and our communities. And quite frankly, that to me is what it's all about.