The Institute of Medicine recently released a progress report on the implementation of The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2010). The original report discussed that nurses were in a unique position to be leaders in improving the health of the nation. Five years later, there is still much work to be done. This new report reflects on the progress made to date and identifies areas of emphasis for the next five years.

The original report made eight recommendations:

1. remove scope of practice barriers
2. expand to lead in collaborative efforts
3. implement nurse residency programs
4. increase the proportion of nurses with BSN to 80% by 2020
5. double the number of doctorally prepared nurses by 2020
6. ensure nurses engage in life-long learning
7. prepare nurses as leaders and change agents in improving health
8. build an infrastructure for collecting and analyzing healthcare workforce data

As a nurse educator, I was particularly interested to read about the progress toward the education goals. There is progress toward goal number 4 as enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs has increased and the number of nursing programs has grown. Yet funding for nursing education has been flat and this contributes to challenges for students who want to obtain a BSN degree. There is also positive movement for goal number 3 as the number of nurse residency programs has increased. Although the report states it is difficult to gage overall growth due to the variety of settings and types of programs. Nevertheless, preliminary data suggest that such programs result in improved nurse leadership abilities, aid nurses in organizing, managing, and communicating the workplace and, decrease nurse turn-over.

There is also positive growth toward goal number 5. In the past five years, enrollment in doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs has increased 161% and PhD enrollment has increased by 15%. This is a good start in meeting the goal of increasing the supply of doctorally prepared nurses for faculty, advanced clinical care, research, and leadership positions. The progress report details advances and challenges in nursing education toward meeting the goals. This is a must read for nurses educators. It is available at the National Academies Press website at http://iom.nationalacademies.org/reports/2015/assessing-progress-on-the-iom-report-the-future-of-nursing.