4. Conclusion
Delivery of health care services in the
United States is becoming ever more challenging
as the health care system grows more complex
and the demand for services escalates.
The nursing workforce plays a critical
role in addressing these challenges.
However, over the next decade and a half,
projections indicate that the shortage
of RNs will deepen and worsen to potentially
insurmountable levels. In addition, nurses
will require expanded and new critical
thinking skills to meet the challenges
of the increasingly complex health care
environment.
Policymakers must focus on ways to rapidly
educate large numbers of RNs in relatively
short periods of time (for instance, through
associate degree nursing programs). In
addition, policymakers must also find
ways to promote more in-depth education
of RNs so that they achieve broad knowledge
and critical thinking skills through longer
education tracks (such as via baccalaureate
RN programs). However, it is not enough
to have just more nurses and better educated
nurses. There must also be improvements
in the work environment and associated
practices to utilize resources effectively
and efficiently.
Therefore, the National Advisory Council
on Nurse Education and Practice has developed
a set of recommendations that are put
forward in this report. The recommendations
described herein address the objectives
by supporting policy initiatives that
will:
- Prioritize funding for initiatives
to increase the proportion of BSNs in
the nursing workforce;
- Prepare RNs for future challenges
through increased support for improving
nursing education;
- Increase the diversity of nursing
students and the cultural competence
of RNs; and
- Support initiatives to optimize the
nursing work environment.
These recommendations are presented in
the next section of this report.
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