In 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) launched an initiative that looked at where the nursing profession was and where it needed to go. Their purpose was to make  recommendations for an ""action-oriented"" blueprint for the future of nursing. The group looked at the educational levels of nurses, the roles of nurses, and where nurses practice. This week, RWJF and the IOM released recommendations on how the nursing profession needs to transform to better meet the healthcare needs of people across the country.

The four key messages are:

1. Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.

2. Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.

3. Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professinals, in redesigning health care in the United States.

4. Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure.

As I read the report brief, it occurred to me that their recommendations seem like common sense. The evidence clearly shows all these things are true. It will be interesting to see if we are able to steer through the "politics of bureaucracy" and make these recommendations a reality. What do you think?

By Anne Dabrow Woods, MSN, RN, CRNP, ANP-B