Dr. Annette Callis, PhD, MSN, RN, CNS attended The American Association of Colleges of Nursing Master’s of Science in Nursing Education Conference:

The Future is Now! in Tampa, Florida Spring, 2019

There is a nursing shortage, according to the American Nurses Association (ANA), which was articulated at this annual meeting. They estimate that by 2022:

• More nursing jobs available than any other profession
• More than 500, 000 nurses will retire
• 1.1 million nurses needed to avoid shortage

A troubling trend is that fewer nurses may be seeking higher education (Faller & Gogek, 2018) to meet the growing need for bedside nurses as direct care providers.

Trends in Healthcare in the next 5-15 years:

• Delivery Systems: Mobile Care, Remote Monitoring, and Telehealth vs. primary focus on inpatient care
• Value-Based Payments – payment for meeting personal goals and keeping people healthy
• New Learning Curve – From medical model to health care model
• Continued Greater Emphasis on Patient and Family-Centered Care

These factors are creating increased Healthcare Organizational Complexity – mergers required, for example Providence Health & Services and St. Joseph Health came together as Providence St. Joseph Health in 2016.

What does this mean for Professional Nursing and Nursing Higher Education?

There will be a greater need for and use of NPs (Nurse Practitioners) and DNP’s (Doctors of Nursing Practice) as Holistic Primary Care Providers. There will also be a greater need for Formal Nurse Educator Roles in Academia and in the Healthcare Workplace Environment addressing educational needs in the promotion of Population Health. There will be a greater need for Nurse Researchers to provide Evidence-Based Data to optimize healthcare outcomes.

Increased opportunities for Nurse Consulting Roles in Healthcare Delivery are emerging. And more than ever, there is evidence of a greater need for Transformational Innovative Nurse Leaders and Administrators.

The need for Advance Practice Roles in Organizational Science and Resource/Outcome Management are becoming increasingly more evident. Masters and Doctorally Prepared Nurses are in the primary position to innovatively lead Healthcare into the Future!