Press Release
For Immediate Release | October 4, 2011
Contact: Tiffany Himmelreich
(office) 614.221.7614
(cell) 614.205.6635
e-mail: tiffanyh@ohanet.org
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio’s Action Coalition, a group co-led by the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) and the Ohio League for Nursing (OLN), has been selected as an Action Coalition by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, coordinated through the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), to ensure all Americans have access to high-quality care, with nurses contributing to the full extent of their capabilities.
Ohio’s Action Coalition will work with the campaign to implement the recommendations of the 2010 landmark Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Those recommendations include:
1. Remove scope of practice barriers so APNs can practice to the full extent of their training.
2. Expand opportunities for nurses to lead and diffuse collaborative improvement efforts.
3. Implement nurse residency programs.
4. Increase the proportion of nurses with BSN degrees to 80 percent by 2020.
5. Double the number of nurses with a doctorate degree by 2020.
6. Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning.
7. Prepare and enable nurses to lead change to advance health.
8. Build an infrastructure for the collection and analysis of interprofessional health care workforce data.
IOM’s full report is available online at http://thefutureofnursing.org/recommendations.
“We are thrilled to add the Ohio Action Coalition to the Action Coalition network,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior adviser for nursing at RWJF and director of Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. “The Campaign for Action must work at every level to build and sustain the changes necessary to improve health care for all Americans, and we know the contributions of the Ohio Action Coalition will be invaluable as we move forward.”
“Ohio’s hospital community has a strong history of working with our nursing partners to advance the practice of nursing in the interest of improving patient care, and we look forward to continuing that work with the Action Coalition,” said Sean McGlone, OHA associate general counsel and director, health policy.
“The Ohio League for Nursing is pleased to be the co-leader with OHA as we work to combine the efforts of the Ohio Network for Nursing Workforce and the Nursing 2015 project to advance nursing’s ability to provide high quality care to Ohioans,” said Jane Mahowald, OLN executive director.
Action Coalitions were announced Sept. 26 in 20 other states across the country in addition to the 15 current Action Coalitions.
A Campaign for Action news release with a list of all 36 states with Action Coalitions is available online.
About Campaign for Action
The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action envisions a health care system where all Americans have access to high-quality care, with nurses contributing to the full extent of their capabilities. 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, and includes 36 state Action Coalitions and a wide range of health care providers, consumer advocates, policy-makers and the business, academic and philanthropic communities. For more information about the Campaign for Action go to www.thefutureofnursing.org.
About OHA
The Ohio Hospital Association was established in 1915 and currently represents 166 hospitals and 16 health systems throughout Ohio. OHA is a membership-driven organization that provides proactive leadership to create an environment in which Ohio hospitals are successful in serving their communities. Visit OHA’s website at www.ohanet.org. Follow OHA on Twitter @OhioHospitals.
About OLN
The Ohio League for Nursing advances excellence in nursing education that prepares a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the nation’s health. Visit OLN’s website at www.ohioleaguefornursing.org.
###