Third “Critical Conversation” on Transforming Primary Care System via Enhanced Role for RNs to be Held at Children’s Mercy Kanas City on March 17
Kansas City, Mo. (March 9, 2017) – Mounting pressures, including more than 50 percent of Americans with a chronic condition and many with multiple illnesses, are rendering the nation’s primary care system inadequate to meet the population’s needs. On March 17 in Kansas City, healthcare and community leaders will gather for the third in a series of regional critical conversations to share actionable recommendations on the pivotal role the nation’s 3.7 million registered nurses (RNs) can play in alleviating the pressures on primary care.
Co-hosted by the American Academy of Nursing and Children’s Mercy Kanas City, “Critical Conversation: RNs – Partners in Transforming Primary Care” will feature two panels and an audience comprised of health care and community leaders. The discussion will center on recommendations generated by leaders in nursing, primary care, healthcare delivery, philanthropy, social work, government and academia who participated in the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Conference on Preparing Registered Nurses for Enhanced Roles in Primary Care. (Read the recommendations here: http://bit.ly/2m7bUbg) At the Kansas City event, leaders will discuss practical solutions for moving these recommendations forward, and highlight models of nursing education and practice that enhance RNs role as partners in delivering primary care.
“Over the course of several decades, the core of nursing has shifted from primary care in communities to acute care in hospitals,” said American Academy of Nursing President Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN. “But the current need for primary care is greater than ever. These recommendations are critical for leaders of nursing schools, primary care practices and health systems. We must make changes in all of these settings if RNs are to be part of the solution to our primary care crisis.”
“We’re excited to partner with the American Academy of Nursing to lead this important discussion about the enhanced role RNs will play in our nation’s primary care system,” said Karen Cox, PhD, RN, PPCNP-BC, FACHE, FAAN, Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer at Children’s Mercy Kansas City and President-Elect of the Academy. “Together, we must reimagine the role of nurses in primary care nationwide.”
“The forward momentum in primary care means we are moving in the right direction, toward higher value care that is focused on improving the health of the public,” said Macy Foundation President George Thibault, MD. “But we have a long way to go. We simply can’t meet the primary care needs of the nation unless registered nurses are part of the solution, and we must prepare them appropriately and then use them for this role.”
The March 17 event will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Campus, 2401 Gillham Rd., Kansas City, Mo.
