Born out of the physician shortage of the 1960s, the nurse practitioner role seems to have come full circle with the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2010 report on the future of nursing. The report states, “the health care system needs to tap into the capabilities of advanced practice nurses to meet the increased demand for primary care.”

A New Year brings with it opportunities for newly stated resolutions and commitments. I would like to offer my own New Year's resolution for nurse leaders to support and implement the call for radical transformation of nursing education and practice, and nursing's role in health care, by supporting the groundbreaking report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2010) The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.

Nursing summit addresses future of profession

When the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine launched a two-year effort to assess and, ultimately, transform nursing in 2008, health care reform was only a campaign promise. By the time the initiative’s report – “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” – was released, the 2010 Affordable Care Act was law.

 Even before the Institute of Medicine released the much-anticipated report “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” in October, plans were under way for the critical next step: turning the report’s recommendations into reality.