Initiative on the Future of Nursing

Nurses Can Deliver Better Health Care

Nurses hold the key to the future, according to the new report on the future of nursing by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine.

However, nurses alone cannot make the changes so desperately needed to provide quality health care for the 21st century.

The power to improve the current regulatory, business, and organizational conditions does not rest solely with nurses; government, businesses, health care organizations, professional associations, and the insurance industry all must play a role.

Working together, these many diverse parties can help ensure that the health care system provides seamless, affordable, quality care that is accessible to all and leads to improved health outcomes.

But we don’t have the time to wait.

It’s essential to have a sea change in regulations because the United States has the opportunity to transform its health care system, and nurses can and should play a fundamental role in this transformation.

Nurses have the education, the expertise, and the capacity to meet the increasing demands for health care, but first they must be allowed to practice to their full capacity. Nurses’ roles, responsibilities, and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for health care and to provide quality care through innovative models of care.

-Afaf I. Meleis, Dean University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Read more about the Initiative on the Future of Nursing 


Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS(hon), FAAN
Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing
Professor of Nursing and Sociology
University of Pennsylvania
School of Nursing
Claire M. Fagin Hall
http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/