Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Convenes Nurse-Physician Panel to Discuss IOM’s Recommendations on the Future of Nursing

School’s Dean Potempa and Dr. Pohl are two of six nurse leaders selected to represent nursing on this important panel.

In October of 2010, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Initiative on the Future of Nursing and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report entitled, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Among other proposals, the report suggested that nurses be enabled to practice to the fullest scope of their profession, a recommendation that evoked strong responses from the physician community. In an effort to continue the productive conversation begun by the report, the RWJF has assembled a panel of six nurses and six physicians and seeks to engage the two groups in a renewed dialogue. Two of the six professionals selected to represent the nursing community are University of Michigan School of Nursing Dean and Professor Dr. Kathleen Potempa (representing the American Association of Colleges of Nursing) and Professor Dr. Joanne Pohl (representing the Nurse Practitioner Roundtable).  These two distinguished nurse leaders will lend their expertise, their experience, and their commitment to nursing to the panel in discussions on the scope of practice, the role nursing plays in the delivery of patient care, the identification of successful collaborative models, and the most effective training and education systems.

The 2010 Institute of Medicine report was the culmination of a two-year initiative to assess the nursing profession and make recommendations for “an action-oriented blueprint” to shape the future of nursing. Its four primary recommendations were:

• Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.
• Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.
• Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other healthcare professionals, in redesigning healthcare in the United States.
• Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and information infrastructure.