Wisconsin Action Coalition to Address Recommendations of Institute of Medicine Report
CONTACT: Judith Hansen, judi@wicenterfornursing.org, 414-801-6877
[Milwaukee, WI] – Members of the Wisconsin Action Coalition joined coalitions from all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the Campaign for Action Summit 2013: Transforming Heath Care Through Nursing, held recently in Washington, DC. More than 200 leaders from nursing, medicine, business, health systems, philanthropy, and academia shared innovative ideas for transforming health care and improving health. The blueprints for action developed by every state at the Summit accelerated on-the-ground momentum of the national Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and AARP.
Co-leads for the Action Coalition are the Wisconsin Center for Nursing, the state nursing workforce center dedicated to the assurance of a sufficient, competent and diverse nursing workforce, and the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, an innovative network of 37 diversified rural hospitals to offer high quality, cost effective healthcare and collaboration with others to make communities healthier.
Over the next several months the Action Coalition will work collaboratively with public and private nursing education programs and organizations, healthcare systems, other health professionals, governmental agencies and philanthropic foundations, to advance recommendations from the ground-breaking 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Focus areas from the Report will include educational advancement, leadership development, and enhancing diversity in the nursing workforce. The Action Coalition will initiate a statewide Advisory Council and learning collaboratives for these focus areas comprised of members of academia, practice and non-nursing entities.
When asked during the Summit what success looks and feels like for the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, who is a physician by training, said: “Success looks like a country that has a culture of health. It feels like us as a nation having the kind of values where we can say health and the policies and practices that go into making sure we are a healthy community are as much a part of us as the values that say we pursue life, liberty and happiness. Having that kind of a future is what I think nursing, and this Campaign, can help us reach.”
The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is working to ensure the conditions necessary to guarantee the health of all Americans and provide access to high-quality, patient-centered health care. Formed to implement the recommendations of the IOM Report, the Campaign is coordinated through the Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For more information, visit www.CampaignforAction.org
