The role of nursing education in the transformation of the U.S. health system

The IOM report on Nursing Education for the twenty-first century emphasizes that the needs of patients as well as of care environment have become more complex, if compared to those of the last century. In order to promote high-quality health care education, nurses need to attain requisite competencies to deliver high-quality care. These competencies include leadership, health policy, system improvement, research and evidence-based practice, and teamwork and collaboration, as well as competency in specific content areas such as community and public health and geriatrics. Moreover, nurses have been called to fill expanding roles that require knowledge of technological tools and management information systems, as well as to collaborate and coordinate teams of health care professionals.