Washington, D.C.—Recognizing the critical need to reform America’s health care system, the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) announced its commitment to transforming health care by acting to achieve the national priorities and goals unveiled by the National Priorities Partnership.

The Partnership is a diverse coalition of 28 organizations from across the health care field convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF) to set national priorities and goals for health care reform. The NQF – representing its more than 375 members – is also a partner in the National Priorities Partnership (NPP).

As a member of the Partnership, National Quality Forum worked with the coalition to identify the six National Priorities and Goals that target reform in ways that will eliminate waste, harm and disparities to provide world-class, patient-centered, affordable health care.

The National Priorities are:

• Patient and Family Engagement to provide patient-centered, effective care
• A Healthy Population to bring greater focus on wellness and prevention
• Safety breakthroughs to eliminate errors wherever and whenever possible
• Care Coordination to provide patient-centered, high-value care
• Palliative Care to guarantee appropriate and compassionate care for patients with advanced illnesses
• Overuse - reducing waste to achieve effective, affordable care

“The American Academy of Nursing is committed to aligning our actions with other national health care leaders to achieve our singular vision for world class health care,” said Pat Ford-Roegner, CEO of the AAN, “and the contributions of nurses to the system must not be overlooked.”

The Academy’s Raise the Voice campaign has documented some of the most powerful examples of nurse-led solutions that tackle serious health care challenges and address the priorities put forth by the NPP. Among these are the:

• Specialty Care Unit for the Critically Ill led by Barbara Daly, PhD, RN, FAAN is a unit that is physically separate from the regular intensive care unit and alters the physical environment and the usual care processes to provide a more balanced and tailored approach to the patient. This unit has improved patient outcomes, while reducing costs.
• Heart Failure Resource Center led by Julie Webster RN, MSN, APRN and Jennie Mattia RN, CCRN, CPHQ is a nurse-led system for developing outpatient care protocols that improve patient care and outcomes. Nurse Practitioners assess and evaluate the patient's needs and response to care, and they adjust and optimize medications to improve patients’ status and relieve heart failure symptoms.
• The Eleventh Street Family Health Services directed by Patty Gerrity, PhD, RN, FAAN is a nurse-managed, trans-disciplinary health center that provides full range of primary care, dental services, behavioral health services and health promotion and disease prevention.

The nation’s economic crisis makes addressing health care even more urgent. With health care spending on track to reach 50 percent of America’s GDP by 2050 and states in severe budgetary straits, cutting waste to achieve savings and better care is an imperative.

“Our nation is facing both an economic crisis and a health care crisis,” said Janet Corrigan, NQF president and CEO. “Incremental change isn’t enough. We must work together and take bold action to transform our system. Members of the National Quality Forum like the American Academy of Nursing weighed in on the Priorities throughout the process and provided exemplary feedback and input. Their work will be critical to achieving these National Goals.”

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The American Academy of Nursing (www.aannet.org) anticipates and tracks national and international trends in health care, while addressing resulting issues of health care knowledge and policy. The Academy’s mission is to serve the public and nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge.

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