Nurses: Leading Change and Transforming Care — Expert Opinion

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act represents the broadest changes to the United States' health care system since the 1965 creation of Medicare and Medicaid. This is one of the most pivotal moments in the history of nursing and we must act with deliberate and swift intention. Nurses can no longer be viewed as “just caregivers”. Nurses must be seen as leaders, influencers, advocates and change agents. To solidify this viewpoint, nurses must pursue these roles from the bedside to the boardroom, from the breakroom to the classroom. Transformation of nursing needs to occur and is intimately aligned in three broad areas: practice, leadership and education. Nurses as leaders must move beyond managing discrete parts of an organization to integrating the interrelationship of the parts through the utilization of systems thinking to achieve operational excellence. This “new view” provides the focus on healthcare transformation where it belongs—the design or redesign of systems and teams, reduction of waste and cost, and the improvement of outcomes.