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SALT LAKE CITY — It started with a litter of puppies, well, three litters of puppies.
Jaclyn Coleman's father is a doctor and he wanted his children to learn to care for their pets, even if it meant administering medication when they were ill and giving the dogs their shots.
"It made me realize that I wanted to be helping people," she said. Coleman is now a third-year nursing student at Brigham Young University and will soon join the tens of thousands of nursing students in the United States who will go on to become nurse practitioners, or advanced practice registered nurses, which are becoming more vital to the nation's efforts for health care reform.
Nursing gives me the power to touch people's lives.Everyone has issues with health and that gives me a connection with people everywhere.
–Jaclyn Coleman
"Nursing gives me the power to touch people's lives," she said Wednesday. "Everyone has issues with health and that gives me a connection with people everywhere."
Coleman said the potential for student nurses is growing with the expectation of new responsibilities in the future.
Recent recommendations by the National Institute of Medicine (IOM) have made it clear that the role of nurses will change dramatically in the coming years to meet the increased demand for care that will be created by health care reform and to advance improvements in America's increasingly complex health care system.
Utah is one of 15 states selected to pilot the implementation of the recommendations, bringing together the various aspects of health care.
"It really speaks to the collaborative spirit in our state," said University of Utah College of Nursing Dean Maureen Keefe. "Nurses are part of the answer to delivering low-cost, high quality care."
She said nurses are poised to increase patient access to care but need different avenues by which to deliver that care.
At more than 3 million in number, nurses make up the single largest segment of the health care work force. They also spend the greatest amount of time administering patient care as a profession, according to the IOM.
Traditional, hospital-based care, Keefe said, is driving up costs and decreasing access for many. According to the IOM, the new recommendations will provide the basis on which to enhance health care.
The IOM believes nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that includes creation of a residency program to help nurses transition from education to practice and additional opportunities for lifelong learning.
"Education is key to improving the nursing work force as well as benefiting patients," said Susan Hassmiller, senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which selected Utah as one of 15 states to implement the national recommendations.
Following extensive research and data collection, the IOM recommends the profession institute residency training for nurses, increase the percentage of nurses who attain a bachelor's degree to 80 percent by 2020 and double the number who pursue doctorates.
Another recommendation — that nurses be able to perform all that they are trained to do — will allow nurses to reach their full potential within the scopes of practice, which is important, as they are often the first person a patient sees.
"We have such an unique perspective, a wonderful perspective on how to partner with and help our patients reach their health care goals," said Penny K. Jensen, a 17-year nurse practitioner at Salt Lake City's Veterans Administration Medical Center. She said that of the 750 million nurse practitioner visits nationwide last year, the majority of them were for primary care.
The spirit of nursing is not taught in the textbooks, but it is caught during clinicals and in the halls of the hospital.
–Jaclyn Coleman
"With Utah's large pediatric population, nurse practitioners are very critical in pediatric practices in order to ensure that pediatric patients are seen in a timely manner," Jensen said, adding that while Utah is considered a "very healthy state," in order to keep it that way, Utahns must have access to health care.
"Nurse practitioners are committed to providing affordable, accessible and high quality primary care through the partnerships with patients, families, communities and other health care professionals," she said.
Since raising those 13 Brittany Spaniels at home, Coleman has gone around the world for opportunities to deliver care to impoverished nations. This year, she is part of a group of BYU students heading to Tonga with boxes full of inexpensive below-the-knee prosthetic legs, which turns out to be somewhat of a rare necessity there.
And while Coleman is only beginning her nursing career, she still remembers the day she received her "first patient hug." The thought of it brings her back to what she views her role is — to make a difference in someone's life. She is excited at the potential she can have when she will be allowed to do what she's been taught.
"The spirit of nursing is not taught in the textbooks," she said, "but it is caught during clinicals and in the halls of the hospital."
Email:wleonard@ksl.com
