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Strengthening the Healthcare Workforce
Pages 35-48

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From page 35...
... Government policy makers, healthcare and education leaders, individual care providers, and a range of other stakeholders can draw on this knowledge to ensure that the nation takes full advantage of a skilled, adaptive, and well-protected healthcare workforce. The future of nursing With more than 3 million members, the nursing profession is the largest segment of the nation's healthcare workforce.
From page 36...
... Called the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine, the project followed a methodical course to ensure comprehensive analysis. Over 2 years, the study committee held three national forums focused on critical aspects of health, including acute care; community health, primary care, and long-term care; and nursing education.
From page 37...
... Second, nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression into higher-degree programs. Patient needs have become more complicated, and nurses need to achieve requisite competencies to deliver high-quality care in a variety of settings and in partnership with teams of health professionals.
From page 38...
... Being a full partner will involve taking responsibility for identifying problems and areas of system waste, devising and implementing improve ment plans, tracking improvement over Nurses should be full partners time, and making necessary adjustments with physicians and other to realize established goals. In the health healthcare professionals in policy arena, nurses should participate in, redesigning health care.
From page 39...
... They included maintaining There are major flaws in the the status quo, developing a government way continuing education program within an existing agency, forming is conducted, financed, a coalition of continuing education stake- regulated, and evaluated, holders and other organizations focused on and the science underpinning healthcare quality and patient safety, and continuing education for health creating a new entity drawn from profes- professionals is fragmented sional societies. The committee judged each and underdeveloped.
From page 40...
... Continuing education efforts should bring health professionals from various disciplines together in carefully tailored learn ing environments. And in an overarching shift, the nation should develop a comprehensive new vision of professional development to replace the cul ture that now envelops continuing education in health care.
From page 41...
... The committee also calls for the CDC and other federal agencies, as well as private health groups, to fund or conduct additional research to resolve unanswered questions about the relative contribution of various routes of influenza transmission; explore the effectiveness through randomized clinical trials of personal respiratory protection technologies in a variety of clinical settings; and design and develop the next generation of personal respiratory protection technologies for healthcare workers to enhance safety, comfort, and ability to perform work-related tasks. While this study answered some particularly pressing health questions raised by the emergence of a new influenza virus, the healthcare community clearly faces broader challenges in dealing with influenza pandemics and other viral diseases.
From page 42...
... . SOURCE: Preventing Transmission of Pandemic Influenza and Other Viral Respiratory Diseases: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Personnel -- Update 2010, p.
From page 43...
... There should be deliberate planning and preparation at the leadership and organizational levels; comprehensive training of personnel, including supervisors and managers; widespread and convenient availability of appropriate PPE devices; and accountability at all levels of the organization. Policies for PPE use by healthcare personnel need to be carefully planned at the organizational and institutional level to ensure a culture of safety, compliance, and buy-in at all levels.
From page 44...
... The report makes several recommendations to occupational health nursing education and training programs and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, such as expansion of respiratory protec tion information provided across all levels of nursing education and train ing; consistent integration of essential content into graduate curricula and continuing education programs for OHNs; continued and expanded use of innovative teaching methods, such as online courses, use of simulation and case studies, and field observation and practice; and exploration of the devel opment of core competencies in respiratory protection. Millions of workers rely on a variety of personal protective technolo gies (PPT)
From page 45...
... The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory at NIOSH can play a lead role, and it should work with other federal agencies, certifying and accrediting organizations, manufacturers, and workers who use PPT. Other efforts also will be needed to improve communications between government and employers and workers about the availability and effectiveness of PPT, and to expand federal surveillance programs to monitor the effectiveness of PPT products in the workplace.
From page 46...
... The nations also should focus on strength ening their healthcare systems by making the most of existing capacities, such as healthcare workers on the ground and local institutions. Needed actions include making use of management and support staff from outside the clinical health sector to free up time for healthcare providers to perform clinical work; delegating tasks of health professionals, when appropriate, to health workers with less-specialized training; tapping the potential of mod ern information and communications technology, such as smart phones and distance learning; and forming partnerships between developing countries and creating regional collaborations to exchange technical assistance.
From page 47...
... 12 Health workers per 1,000 population 10.9 10.4 10 8.5 8 6 Global average 4.0 4 2.8 2.7 2.3 2 1.0 0 North Europe Western South & Middle Asia Sub America Pacific Central East & Saharan America North Africa Africa Health worker density by region. SOURCE: JLI, 2004, compiled from WHO, 2004.


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