By Robert Nieves, JD, MBA, MPA, BSN, RN - January 7, 2021 https://www.elsevier.com/connect/what-does-2021-hold-for-nurses-and-the-nursing-profession
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As the Year of the Nurse, 2020 coincided with a pandemic that touched the lives of virtually everyone on the planet. It also highlighted the critical role nurses play in the entire care ecosystem. The pandemic continues to burden our global healthcare systems and test the resolve of doctors, nurses and allied healthcare workers, who continue to provide the best care possible while risking their own wellbeing. But as we move into 2021, what does the future hold for nurses and the nursing profession? Having started my career as a nurse, I can only imagine the challenges nurses today have to overcome. As frontline workers, they are putting themselves at significant risk to care for patients. The ever-growing numbers are staggering, with over 85 million infections and nearly 2 million deaths. Leveraging our valuable but limited nursing resources Today, nurses represent the largest healthcare workforce in the system. We will need nearly 6 million additional nurses to ensure healthcare standards rise again after the pandemic, according to a 2020 report by the World Health Organization. The biggest shortage is in Southeast Asia. Developed nations face an additional challenge of an aging nursing workforce, with several countries in the American, European and Eastern Mediterranean regions excessively dependent on international nursing mobility. With the rise in healthcare needs and the global aging population, action is needed now to improve the capabilities of our nursing workforce and avoid a healthcare upheaval. When I started as a nurse a few decades ago, I realized that the nursing profession continually advances, with accountability resting on each nurse to contribute to professional excellence and career advancement. But what does it mean to truly be a transformative nursing leader? As an informaticist, my genuine passion lies in collaborating with healthcare organizations and colleagues across the globe to develop and advance clinical best practices with health information technology. When looking at nursing and the wider clinical team, technology is also an enabler. We have made significant progress in the last 200 years, buoyed by technology, yet there are still challenges ahead. Here are some of my reflections on how to push the nursing profession forward. What does the future hold for nurses and the nursing profession? 5 ways we can bolster the nursing profession for a future beyond Covid
1. Democratizing knowledge using technology: Adoption and Use
“The world, more especially this hospital world, is in such a hurry, moving so fast that it is too easy to slide into bad habits before we are aware.”
— Florence Nightingale
8 SUMNER COLLEGE NEWSLETTER
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