Illinois Action Coalition co-leads, the Illinois Center for Nursing (ICN) and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (ILDCEO), have partnered for five years on nursing workforce development programs. As members of the Center to Champion Nursing’s Team Illinois, they have recruited coalition members and are building upon the Team’s existing infrastructure and success. The Action Coalition also incorporates the members and work of multiple Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future grantees.

The Illinois Action Coalition will expand on previous work to create a transformed health care workforce. The Illinois Society of Advance Practice Nursing and the Illinois Nurses Association are using the IOM report as leverage to remove barriers to care and increase access. Efforts of the coalition’s stakeholders have successfully increased nursing education capacity in Illinois by 24 percent over the past three years. Finally, the state’s Health Resources and Services Administration-funded nurse managed clinics are a best practice model that highlights nurse leadership, and an interdisciplinary education steering committee has formed to develop models of collaboration.