In Fall 2010, when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released their report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Care, the high volume of traffic on the IOM website caused the system to crash.
In Winter 2011, 350 health leaders from across Georgia packed a meeting room to discuss the report and how to implement its recommendations. Emory nursing Dean Linda McCauley was among the organizers of the Georgia Nursing Summit, which was held in downtown Atlanta.
As McCauley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “The IOM report isn’t just a nursing report. It’s a report that shows how nursing can play an integral part in solving the challenges that face health care in our country.”
The obstacles are huge. By 2030, the number of Americans 65 and older is projected to grow by 79%. Most people in this group have at least one chronic illness. The Affordable Health Care Act calls for millions of people to gain insurance coverage. At the same time, the nation is experiencing shortages of nurses and primary care physicians.