title: Getting over the rainbow: one community hospital's vision.
abstract: Nursing faces a challenging future due to both a projected nursing shortage and changing needs of patients. This will require greater flexibility, an increased knowledge base, and a strengthening of our caring foundations through more evidence-based practices. A nursing taxonomy needs to be determined so that we can support the research of nursing effectiveness through the use of technology. Institutions will need to increase their investments in continuing education, nursing research, and technology to enable more efficient and effective nursing practice. New relationships will need to be forged and new roles designed to maximize the profession's contributions to patient care. Questions that have been asked for decades regarding differentiated nursing practice and entry level into practice will need to be answered. This article describes a large suburban hospital's strategic initiatives that have been designed to meet the nursing challenges of the 21st century.
authors.affiliation: Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington Heights, IL 60005, USA. kreno@nch.org
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reno
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cerone
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ferket
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wojcieszak
authors.forename: Meaghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reshoft
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D005544:Forecasting; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D008611:Mentors; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000458:organization & administration; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017009:Professional Autonomy