Build an improved infrastructure for collecting and analyzing nursing workforce data Healthcare Reform The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010 with the goal of expanding health coverage to all Americans by reforming insurance policies and practices (Tillett, 2011). The ACA increases demand for an increase in primary care providers in order to provide quality care to a much larger population who will have coverage and therefore acquire health care. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) through its report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health has generated a solution to the primary care provider shortage by promoting a transformation of the nursing profession to close the gap. The IOM report had four key messages needed to advance the future of nursing. “Nurses should exercise the full scope of their education and training; achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression; be a full partner of doctors and other healthcare professionals, …and; Effective workforce planning and policy making requires better data collection and information infrastructure” (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The report also included eight recommendations needed to facilitate necessary changes in the nursing profession to meet the demands of healthcare reform. The purpose of this document is to explore recommendation #1. 8: Build a better infrastructure for collecting and analyzing data on the interprofessional workforce. This recommendation falls under key message no. 4 of the IOM indicating the need for better data collection and information infrastructure for effective workplace planning and policies but...... half of the document ......g Change, health progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.Moulton, P.L., Wiebusch, P.L., Cleary, B.L., Brunell, M.L., Napier, D.F., Bienemy, C., LeVasseur, S.A., & Cimiotti, J.P. (2012). Towards standardization (Part 2): national minimum datasets, consensus building and implementation status. Nursing Policy, Policy and Practice 13(3), 162-169. Doi:10.1177/1527154412466920 Noone, J. G., Cleary, B. L., Moulton, P., Wiebusch, P. L., Murray, J. L., Yore, M., & Brunell, M. L. (2010). Toward standardization (Part 1): Evaluating state and national data sources on the nursing workforce. Nursing Policy, Policy and Practice11(3), 173-183. Doi10.1177/1527154410390521Tillett, J. (2011). Practicing to the best of our ability: The role of nurses in healthcare reform. The Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing 25(2), 94-98. Doi: 10.1097/JPN.0b013e318217ed3c