Taking the Lead to Transform Health Care

Posted by Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal on February 19, 2018

SOCIAL INNOVATIONS IN NURSING: TAKING THE LEAD TO TRANSFORM HEALTH CARE

Social Innovations Journal Winter Edition
READ HERE: http://www.socialinnovationsjournal.org/editions/issue-43

Despite health care expenditures surpassing $3.2 trillion dollars yearly in the United States and accounting for 18% of the gross domestic product, millions of U.S. residents do not receive accessible, affordable, high quality care. The nation’s health care crisis is fraught with challenges, including massive, unsustainable costs and perpetuation of fragmented, ineffective models of health care delivery.

As the future structure of the United States health care system remains uncertain, the need for wide-ranging transformation is clear. Primed to lead this charge are the 3.5 million nurses registered in the United States, representing the largest segment of the nation’s health care system. Through their work in varied settings and at all professional levels, nurses possess an enormous reach and capacity to address crucial gaps in care across the U.S.

In 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a landmark report, the Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, calling for nurses to take the lead in health system transformation. The report offered recommendations to transform health care through nursing, so all Americans have access to high-quality care, with nurses contributing to the full extent of their education, training, and competencies. The resulting Campaign for Action—a joint initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, and AARP Foundation—has challenged “lead and diffuse collaborative improve efforts” as part of an interprofessional effort to redesign care. The IOM’s 2015 progress report further noted the need for interprofessional health care education to highlight “leadership, management, entrepreneurship, innovation, and other skills that will enable nurses to help ensure that the public receives accessible and quality health care.” (p.158)

Innovations in nursing expand beyond technological advancements to new process methods and creative cross-sector partnerships. This edition of the Social Innovations Journal, titled “Social Innovations in Nursing: Taking the Lead to Transform Health Care,” examines the transformational work of nurses in the U.S. through a focus on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

This edition was made possible by the Southeast Regional Team of the PA Action Coalition and the Edition Editorial Advisory Board.

Anne Jadwin, RN, MSN, AOCN, NE-BC
Frank Sites, MHA, BSN, RN
Jacqueline Nikpour, RN, BSN
Jennifer Horn, BA
Lisa Bond-Holland, Esq.
Marion Burns-Tuck, PhD, RN, NEA-BC
Michael Becker, PhD, RN
Nate Bronstein. MSEd, MSSP, MPA
Randi Freeman, RN, BSN
Sarah Hexem, Esq.

Please read the articles and extend the valuable information found in this edition to your colleagues and encourage them to SUBSCRIBE to the Social Innovations Journal.