Nurses Spotlighted by RWJF for Crucial Role in Health Care Reform
April 28, 2009
"Time for Change," David Reece / via Flickr.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) takes nursing very seriously. Their latest publication, “Nursing’s Prescription for a Reformed Health Care System,” makes it clear that workable health care reform in the United States is not going to happen without a major reenvisioning of the role nurses can play at every level of health care. Put another way, it’s not just about the technology and the physicians. The new RWJF brief
“combines case studies with analysis and policy recommendations, and arrives on the desks of lawmakers and health care reformers just as Congress and the President begin to piece together what promises to be the most significant overhaul of the nation’s health care system since the creation of Medicare. . . .‘Nurses have created model programs in acute care, primary care and public health settings that are improving the health status of individuals and communities,’ the brief declares. ‘These initiatives are expanding access, improving quality and driving down costs.’”
These initiatives include
• “comprehensive, community-based care for the elderly”
• “nurse-managed health centers and retail clinics”
• initiatives such as TCAB (Transforming Care at the Bedside) aimed at supporting quality and patient safety in the workplace
-Jacob Molyneux, AJN senior editor
