KCON hosts meeting for health care professionals

Nursing educators from throughout West Michigan gathered at Grand Valley November 30 for a regional meeting to discuss national initiatives aimed at transforming the nursing profession and the health care system.

More than 60 people attended the daylong meeting hosted by the Kirkhof College of Nursing and held at the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. The regional meeting coincided with a major summit in Washington, D.C., and the start of the "Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action."

Cynthia McCurren, dean of KCON, said participants watched a webcast of health care leaders discussing the Institute of Medicine's report "The Future of Nursing." The report assessed the critical role nurses play in the nation’s health care system and outlined transformative recommendations. The recommendations include nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training, and they should be full partners, with physicians, in redesigning health care.

McCurren said changes at the local level must first start with grassroots efforts by nurse educators and practice nurses to inform other health care professionals about the IOM report. She added that through its educational endeavors, KCON is already considered an area leader in health care reform for nurses in West Michigan. KCON is in the midst of a $1 million campaign to launch the Bonnie Wesorick Center for Healthcare Transformation, which will help promote the Future of Nursing goals when it opens.