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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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The Future of
Nursing 2020-2030

Charting a Path
to Achieve Health Equity

Mary K. Wakefield, David R. Williams, Suzanne Le Menestrel, and
Jennifer Lalitha Flaubert, Editors

Committee on the Future of Nursing 2020–2030

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

This activity was supported by a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant Number 76081). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-68506-1
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The future of nursing 2020–2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president.

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Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.nationalacademies.org.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task.

Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies.

For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE OF NURSING 2020–2030

MARY K. WAKEFIELD (Co-Chair), Visiting Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

DAVID R. WILLIAMS (Co-Chair), Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health and Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Professor, Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University

MAUREEN BISOGNANO, President Emerita and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement

JEFFREY BRENNER, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, JunaCare

PETER I. BUERHAUS, Professor of Nursing, College of Nursing, and Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies, Montana State University

MARSHALL H. CHIN, Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago

REGINA S. CUNNINGHAM, Chief Executive Officer, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Adjunct Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

JOSÉ J. ESCARCE, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles

GREER GLAZER, Schmidlapp Professor of Nursing and Dean, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati

MARCUS HENDERSON, Charge Nurse, Adolescent Services, Fairmount Behavioral Health System; Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

ANGELICA MILLAN, Former Children’s Medical Services Nursing Director, County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health

JOHN W. ROWE, Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

WILLIAM M. SAGE, James R. Dougherty Chair for Faculty Excellence, School of Law, and Professor of Surgery and Perioperative Care, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin

VICTORIA L. TIASE, Director of Research Science and Informatics Strategy, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

WINSTON WONG, Scholar in Residence, University of California, Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Study Staff

SUZANNE LE MENESTREL, Study Director (from June 2020)

SUSAN B. HASSMILLER, Senior Scholar in Residence and Advisor to the President on Nursing, National Academy of Medicine

JENNIFER LALITHA FLAUBERT, Program Officer

ADRIENNE FORMENTOS, Research Associate

TOCHI OGBU-MBADIUGHA, Senior Program Assistant (from October 2020)

CARY HAVER, Study Director (until June 2020)

LORI BRENIG, Senior Program Assistant (until May 2020)

CAROL SANDOVAL, Senior Program Assistant (until September 2020)

ASHLEY DARCY-MAHONEY, National Academy of Medicine Distinguished Nurse Scholar-in-Residence (August 2020 to August 2021)

ALLISON SQUIRES, National Academy of Medicine Distinguished Nurse Scholar-in-Residence (March 2019 to August 2020)

SHARYL NASS, Senior Board Director, Board on Health Care Services

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Reviewers

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by BOBBIE BERKOWITZ, Columbia University, and MAXINE HAYES, University of Washington. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Foreword

The year 2020, the bicentennial of Florence Nightingale’s birth, was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. According to WHO, “Nurses and midwives play a vital role in providing health services. These are the people who devote their lives to caring for mothers and children; giving lifesaving immunizations and health advice; looking after older people and generally meeting everyday essential health needs. They are often, the first and only point of care in their communities.”

As president of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and as a physician who has worked closely with nurses over the decades, I know the central role of nursing in achieving the high-quality, accessible, and compassionate care that individuals, families, and communities richly deserve. I am proud that we can help commemorate this occasion through the release of our latest report, The Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.

This report is the third in a series on the future of nursing that we at the NAM (formerly known as the Institute of Medicine [IOM]) have been privileged to create with the sponsorship of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The first of these reports, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, published in 2011, presented a set of bold recommendations to strengthen the capacity, education, and critical role of the nursing workforce. It emboldened nurses to play a central role in improving health care for people, families, and communities around the world. That report, which has served as a blueprint for the nursing profession, is the National Academies’ second most downloaded health and medicine report since its release and continues to reach thousands of nurses and other important stakeholders around the world.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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The second nursing report, released in 2016, Assessing Progress on the Institute of Medicine Report The Future of Nursing, highlighted promising progress made since the 2011 report while noting that much more needed to be done. It outlined three themes central to the future success of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/AARP Future of Nursing Campaign for Action (the Campaign):

the need to build a broader coalition to increase awareness of nurses’ ability to play a full role in health professions practice, education, collaboration, and leadership; the need to continue to make promoting diversity in the nursing workforce a priority; and the need for better data with which to assess and drive progress.

Alongside these two reports have been the exemplary and steadfast efforts of the innovative change initiative, the Campaign, in continuing to implement the recommendations from the first report while working to take on the recommendations of the second in a more robust way. Of note, efforts to create a more diverse workforce and to expand ways of working with others in and outside of the health system have served to foreshadow the importance of nurses as key players in achieving health equity in the United States and globally. No one profession or group will achieve the health equity needed in this nation without all health professions, working within and across disciplines, aspiring to advance the culture required. Working across sectors with steadfast vigilance will be a necessary ingredient not only in understanding but also in taking real action to achieve health equity.

With this third report, The Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity, the NAM and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation continue their steadfast collaboration toward promoting a culture of health for all. Both organizations believe that uneven access to conditions needed for good health across the United States has been well documented, as have the poor effects on health that result. The growing visibility of the impacts of systemic racism in almost every aspect of people’s lives—policing, health care, the economy, education—is evident. Now more than ever, the nation sees clearly the need for an equitable, just, and fair society—one that promotes racial equity, as well as equity across circumstances, communities, and abilities. The good news is that so many of us are asking, “How can we do better? How can I do better?” In a time marked by COVID-19’s unprecedented global health challenges, nurses have stepped up—many times at great personal cost to themselves.

Nurses have seen firsthand this disease’s inequitable impact on those they serve. They have also experienced firsthand COVID-19’s inequitable impact on the profession. Nurses are more likely to die than are other health care professionals, and nurses of color are far more likely to die. As this report points out with compelling evidence, nurses can play a central role in addressing these inequities across the entire spectrum. The nation cannot achieve true health equity

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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without nurses, which means it must do better for nurses. They must be supported in charting a path for themselves while they work to serve others. This report is intended to do just that.

I am very grateful to the committee for their consensus on the important recommendations in this report—especially the co-chairs, Mary Wakefield and David Williams—and to the National Academies staff, including Suzanne Le Menestrel, Jennifer Flaubert, Adrienne Formentos, and Tochi Ogbu-Mbadiugha, as well as Susan Hassmiller, who served as senior scholar-in-residence and who provided continuity between the first and third reports.

This report calls on many within and around the nursing community to take more definitive action on eliminating systemic racism, whether in schools, institutions, or the profession and its associations. Nurses are powerful in number and in voice and the world needs their actions now more than ever on how individuals, families, and communities might best be served in a more equitable fashion. And in asking nurses to play a central leadership role, I am reminded of the importance of nurse well-being. Nurses have been called on to do so much in this past year throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and the nation must support them, including giving them all of the necessary tools and equipment to do their job in the best way possible. I am confident that the nursing community and other important stakeholders will use the recommendations in this report and their evidence base to lead the way to a more equitable and healthy society.

Victor J. Dzau, M.D.
President, National Academy of Medicine

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Preface

In 2019, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) sponsored this study to explore the important contributions of nursing to addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and health equity in the United States. This was to serve as a parallel effort to other National Academy of Medicine reports and initiatives sponsored by RWJF around efforts to create a more robust culture of health in the United States. The work of this committee began in 2019 after years of evidence documenting the relationship between SDOH and health outcomes, as well as broader challenges associated with health and health care equity. By the end of 2020, this report was to be released in a year that was being commemorated by the World Health Organization as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.1

Throughout the year, the committee participated in three major town hall meetings; a series of site visits in and around Seattle, Chicago, and Philadelphia; and two other public sessions, recordings and materials from which are available online.2 We heard time and again how the highly complex health and social needs of people were critical in defining their overall health and well-being, and that of their families and populations at large.

The committee’s work continued in 2020 with the goal of launching this report at the end of the year. In March, however, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the

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1 See https://www.who.int/campaigns/annual-theme/year-of-the-nurse-and-the-midwife-2020 (accessed April 13, 2021).

2 Town hall recordings and materials can be accessed at https://nam.edu/publications/the-future-of-nursing-2020-2030 (accessed April 13, 2021).

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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United States, and throughout the year it was evident that the challenges outlined in this report were vastly magnified by the most devastating health care event in more than a century. The pandemic, which has since killed nearly 3 million people globally and sickened more than 135 million more,3 laid bare the depth and breadth of inequity and its impacts on the health and well-being of large swaths of the nation’s population, disproportionately impacting people of color, those with low income, and those living in rural areas.

Simultaneously, 2020 taxed the nation’s nursing workforce in ways that had never been fully anticipated and planned for. Overcrowded hospitals, countless deaths, and lack of personal protective equipment to secure their safety, in addition to falling sick themselves, pushed nurses to their limits. Many called nurses heroes, but nurses time and again shunned that title and responded by saying they were doing the work they were called to do as nurses, albeit without the equipment, including respirators and personal protective gear, they needed to deliver care safely. Caring for highly infectious patients with dire needs had sweeping adverse impacts on the physical and mental health of scores of thousands of the nation’s nurses.

In addition to the crises created by the pandemic and the trauma it caused for society at large and nurses, years of racial injustice culminated in tragic events that also shone a light on inequities for people of color. The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others unleashed decades of pent-up emotion and widespread protests regarding the state of equity in the United States and around the world. These deaths highlighted the reality that serious challenges were being faced, especially by people of color.

This report’s release in 2021 comes as the United States and the world have suffered great loss, but also are buoyed by the promise of lessons learned, including witnessing the nursing profession’s commitment to health, nursing innovations that improved health care in real time for patients and families impacted by COVID-19, and nurse-driven adaptations in education and practice that will likely drive lasting changes in both. There is now deeper evidence and understanding of the differential impact of generations of inequity associated with racism and bias, socioeconomic status, disabilities, financial poverty, and living in areas with decreased health care access that has fueled compromised health status for many of our fellow Americans. It is against this backdrop that the committee strove to produce a report that would anticipate the needs of the population and the nursing profession for the next decade while advancing a set of recommended actions that can make a meaningful impact on deploying the profession more robustly, so that nurses will be both prepared for disasters in the

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3 The figures as of April 13, 2021, were 135.1 million global cases and more than 2.9 million COVID-related deaths. Nearly 600,000 of these deaths were in the United States. See https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---13-april-2021 (accessed April 13, 2021).

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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future and prepared to engage in the complex but essential work of advancing health equity, addressing SDOH, and meeting social needs of individuals and families.

While the 2011 The Future of Nursing report was about building the capacity of the nursing workforce, this report clearly answers the question of to what end. Nursing capacity must be brought to bear on the above complex health and social issues and inequities.

By virtue of its history, its focus, and its presence across sectors and populations, the nursing profession is well positioned to bring its expertise to working in partnership with other disciplines and sectors to leverage contemporary opportunities and address deep-seated health and social challenges. And the committee believes that all nurses, at all levels, and no matter the setting in which they work, have a duty and responsibility to work with other health professionals and sectors to address SDOH and help achieve health equity.

As was noted in the preface of the 2011 report, “What nursing brings to the future is a steadfast commitment to patient care, improved safety and quality, and better outcomes.”4 The present report expands that report’s focus on outcomes by clearly incorporating and leveraging the profession’s own ethics, values, and knowledge assets to address the upstream and midstream work of applying evidence linking health and health care equity to health outcomes for individuals, families, communities, and populations, as well as further building out evidence-based models, health system policies and health-related public policies, and educational approaches. Nurses in particular are well prepared to create, partner in, and lead the complex work of integrating the social and health sectors in support of the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Nurses, working with social services sectors in and across community-based ambulatory care and public health settings to implement health system and point-of-care interventions, can help advance continuous care models that are individual- and population-centered.

In addition to addressing social needs, nurses are called upon to inform and implement policies that will ultimately affect the greatest numbers of people in the most profound ways. For decades, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has explicitly supported nurses around the world in contributing their expertise to informing health-related public policy. The ICN has also called for policy maker receptivity to nurses’ expertise. Nurses recognize that poorly informed public policy, like poor health care and compromised SDOH, can undermine the health of patients, families, and communities. And upstream actions to address SDOH are often rooted in long-standing policies that contribute to inequity in housing, employment, education, and other key precursors to health.

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4 IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2011. The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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We are grateful to a very committed expert group of committee members who spent countless hours discussing, debating, and then reaching consensus around some very difficult topics. In any consensus-building process, not every individual will agree with every statement in a report such as this, as reflected in a supplemental statement written by one committee member, provided in Appendix E; the response of the rest of the committee to this statement appears in Appendix F. The discussion and ultimate set of recommendations in this report were enhanced by the breadth of expertise brought to bear, expertise that went far beyond the nursing profession. We are also grateful to the talented staff of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine who worked tirelessly with us to create this report. Finally, we appreciate the foresight of RWJF in valuing the contributions and leadership of nursing in addressing SDOH and health equity and their sponsorship of this report.

Mary K. Wakefield and David R. Williams, Co-Chairs
Committee on the Future of Nursing 2020–2030

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Dedication

This report is dedicated to the nurses around the world who paid the ultimate price of caring for people during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020–2021. Hundreds lost their lives, and many thousands became sick themselves. And those who escaped the physical symptoms of the illness did not necessarily escape the physical and mental toll of working long hours in grueling circumstances, sometimes without proper personal protective equipment. Their dedication and persistence in the face of adversity saved countless lives. They were also there to ease the suffering of the dying with a hand held, a song sung, or a video call to loved ones.

For them, we look to the future of nursing to help ensure that what happened to the nursing profession this year and those in their care, especially the disadvantaged and people of color, becomes an event of the past.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Acknowledgments

To begin, the committee would like to thank the sponsor of this study. Funds for the committee’s work were provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Numerous individuals and organizations made important contributions to the study process and this report. The committee wishes to express its gratitude for each of these contributions, although space does not permit identifying all of them here. Appendix A lists the individuals who provided valuable information at the committee’s open workshops and its three town halls on the future of nursing. The committee thanks the members of the staff of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for their significant contributions to the report: Suzanne Le Menestrel, Susan B. Hassmiller, Jennifer Lalitha Flaubert, Adrienne Formentos, Tochi Ogbu-Mbadiugha, Cary Haver, Lori Brenig, Carol Sandoval, Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, and Allison Squires.

The committee would also like to thank Rona Briere, Allison Boman, Diana Mason, Dalia Sofer, Paul Selker, and Maya Thomas for their writing, editorial, and fact-checking assistance. The committee would like to especially acknowledge Erin Hammers Forstag for her writing and editing contributions. We would like to thank National Academies staff members who provided invaluable support throughout the project: Micah Winograd, senior finance business partner; the late Daniel Bearss and Anne Marie Houppert, research librarians, for assistance with literature searches; and staff that contributed additional writing and research, including Alix Beatty, Bernice Chu, Carolyn Fulco, and Adrienne Stith-Butler. Thank you to Laura DeStefano, Greta Gorman, Andrew Grafton, Talia Lewis, Devona Overton, Esther Pak, and Olivia Ramirez for their communications expertise; Annalee Espinosa Gonzales and Joe Goodman for logistical support

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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in Philadelphia and Seattle; and Sharyl Nass, Tina Seliber, and Lauren Shern for guidance throughout the study process. The committee appreciates the contributions of Molly Ellison and Janet Firshein, who provided strategic communications support for this report through the communications firm Burness. The committee would also like to thank Dave McClinton from African American Graphic Designers for the report cover design and Elena Ovaitt for designing figures and models for the report.

In conjunction with each of its town halls, the committee also visited several clinical and community sites to observe clinics and programs that are nurse-led or where nurses acted as important members of multidisciplinary teams in contributing to health equity and addressing social determinants of health in various settings. The committee greatly appreciates the time and information provided by all of these individuals, especially those who helped to coordinate those visits, including Sue Birch and Azita Emami in Seattle; Kathleen Noonan and Roberta Waite in Camden, New Jersey, and Philadelphia; and Janice Phillips and Sue Swider in Chicago.

The committee also gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the individuals who provided data and research support. Margo Edmunds and Raj Sabharwal of AcademyHealth with a team of research managers, Karen Johnson, Kent Key, Polly Pittman, and Joanne Spetz, who created research products that synthesized, translated, and disseminated information to inform the committee’s deliberations. The committee also acknowledges and greatly appreciates the time and effort of David Auerbach and Timothy Bates in analyzing workforce data.

The committee would also like to thank the authors whose commissioned papers added to the evidence base for the study: Amy J. Barton, University of Colorado College of Nursing; Barbara Brandt and Carla J. Dieter, University of Minnesota; and Shanita D. Williams, Health Resources and Services Administration; Jack Needleman, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles; and Tener Veenema, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, with research assistance from Emily Clifford, Johns Hopkins University.

Finally, the committee acknowledges the following individuals who provided additional data, reports, and support to the committee: Michelle Adymec, Mavis Asiedu-Frimpong, Sheila Brown, Laura Buckley, Jess Cordero, Dayna Fondell, Ebony Haley, Lauran Hardan, Mark Humowiecki, Stephanie Jean-Louis, Andrew Katz, Renee Murray, Victor Murray, Jeneen Skinner, Aaron Truchil, and Katie Wood, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers; Min An, Kline Galland House; Kate Baber, Downtown Emergency Services Center; Teresita Batayola, Dante Batingan, Rattana Chaokhote, Asqual Getaneh, Sherryl Grey, DoQuyen Huynh, Rachel Koh, Rayburn Lewis, Ian Munar, Jackqui Sinatra, Eric Ric Troyer, and Mayumi Willgerodt, International Community Health Services; Rebecca Bixby, Laniece Coleman, Joan Gray, Mary Katherine Green, Diana Hartley-Kim, Lidyvez Sawyer, and Mary Thornton-Bowmer, Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services, Drexel University; Michelle Cleary, Jesse Dean,

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Robin Fleming, Tamarra Henshaw, and Suzanne Swadener, Washington State Health Care Authority; Rebecca Darmoc, Marquis Forman, Mariela Hernandez, and Angelique Richard, Rush University College of Nursing; Candice Douglass, Panome Ratsavong, and Nolan Ryan, University of Washington School of Nursing; Kathy Eaton, Deb Gumbardo, Elizabeth Masse, Erika Miller, Mady Murray, and Debra Ridling, Seattle Children’s Hospital; Yolanda Fong, Kitsap Public Health; Theresa Gallagher and Angela Moss, Sue Gin Health Center; Joan Gray, Tarun Kapoor, and Jubril Oyeyemi, Virtua Health System; Jennifer Grenier and Nicole Wynn, The Surplus Project; Patty Hayes and Doreen Hersh, Public Health Seattle & King County; Ayesha Jaco, Westside United and Rush University Medical Center; Jennifer Johnson Joefield, Peninsula Community Health Services; Sally Lemke, Simpson School Based Health Center; Janice Mason, Malcolm X Community College; Brenda Montgomery, Harrison Hospital (CHI Franciscan); Julie Morita, Chicago Department of Public Health; Donna Nickitas, Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden; William Reedy, Thresholds Community Mental Health Center; James Rice, City Colleges of Chicago School of Nursing; Cynda Rushton, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing; Kelsey Stedman and Jayme Stuntz, Kitsap Connect; and Janet Tomcavage, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. We would also like to thank the staff of the Seattle Indian Health Board, Era Living, Ida Culver House, and Salvation Army (Seattle) and everyone at the Port Gamble S’Klallam Health Center.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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7-1 National League for Nursing’s (NLN’s) Vision for Integration of the Social Determinants of Health into Nursing Education Curricula

7-2 Domains for Nursing Education

7-3 Competencies for Nursing Education, Depending on Preparation Level

7-4 Discussing Difficult Topics

7-5 Highlights from the Seattle Townhall on Technology and Health Equity and Implications for Nursing Education

7-6 Pine Ridge Family Health Center

7-7 The Community Action Poverty Simulation

7-8 Examples of Supports for Nursing Students

8-1 Pulse Nightclub Shooting

8-2 COVID-19 in Hidalgo County, Texas

8-3 Lessons Learned from Nurses’ Role in Evacuation During Hurricane Sandy

10-1 Technological Factors Impacting Nurses’ Well-Being

10-2 A Snapshot of the Physical Health of American Nurses

10-3 COVID-19 and Nurses’ Health and Well-Being

10-4 Mobile Technology and Mental Health Interventions

10-5 Examples of Nursing Schools’ Well-Being Initiatives

10-6 Psychological Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

11-1 Achieving Health Equity Through Nursing: Desired Outcomes

FIGURES

S-1 A framework for understanding the nurse’s role in addressing the equity of health and health care

1-1 A framework for understanding the nurse’s role in addressing the equity of health and health care

2-1 Conceptual framework of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health

2-2 Social Determinants of Health and Social Needs Model

2-3 Expected age at death among 40-year-old men and women, by household income percentile

3-1 Number of nursing doctoral graduates by race/ethnicity

3-2 Nurse practitioners by race and ethnicity, 2018

3-3 Scope of practice for nurse practitioners by state

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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Acronyms and Abbreviations

AACN American Association of Colleges of Nursing
ACA Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
ACE adverse childhood experience
ACEN Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing
ACS American Community Survey
AD associate’s degree
AHA American Hospital Association
AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AMA American Medical Association
ANA American Nurses Association
APHA American Public Health Association
APM alternative payment model
APRN advanced practice registered nurse
ASMN Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses
BWH Bureau of Workforce
CAPABLE Community Aging in Place: Advancing Better Living for Elders
CCNA Center to Champion Nursing in America
CCNE Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CMMI Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation
CMS Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CNM certified nurse midwife
CNS certified nurse specialist
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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COVID-19 coronavirus disease 2019
CPT Current Procedural Terminology
CRNA certified registered nurse anesthetist
DNP doctor of nursing practice
EHR electronic health record
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
FNS Frontier Nursing Service
FQHC federally qualified health center
HBR Healthy Baton Rouge
HHS U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
HIV human immunodeficiency virus
HPSA health professional shortage area
HRSA Health Resources and Services Administration
ICD International Classification of Diseases
IHI Institute for Healthcare Improvement
IHS Indian Health Service
IOM Institute of Medicine
LVN/LPN licensed vocational nurse/licensed practical nurse
MACPAC Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Plan) Payment and Access Commission
MedPAC Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
NA nursing assistant
NACCHO National Association of County and City Health Officials
NACNEP National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice
NASN National Association of School Nurses
NCLEX-RN National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses
NCSBN National Council of State Boards of Nursing
NFP Nurse-Family Partnership
NIH National Institutes of Health
NINR National Institute of Nursing Research
NLN National League for Nursing
NRC National Research Council
NSSRN National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25982.
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OADN Organization of Associate Degree Nurses
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PACE Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
PCMH patient-centered medical home
PHIN Public Health Information Network
PHN public health nurse
PPE personal protective equipment
RBRVS resource-based relative value scale
RCT randomized controlled trial
RHC rural health clinic
RN registered nurse
RUC RVS (relative value scale) Update Committee
RWJF Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SBHC school-based health center
SDOH social determinants of health
SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
SONSIEL Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Leaders
VA U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
VBP value-based payment
VHA Veterans Health Administration
WHO World Health Organization
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The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions.

A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone.

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.

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