The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions. A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity 3 The Nursing Workforce 4 The Role of Nurses in Improving Health Care Access and Quality 5 The Role of Nurses in Improving Health Equity 6 Paying for Equity in Health and Health Care 7 Educating Nurses for the Future 8 Nurses in Disaster Preparedness and Public Health Emergency Response 9 Nurses Leading Change 10 Supporting the Health and Professional Well-Being of Nurses 11 The Future of Nursing: Recommendations and Research Priorities Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Project Staff Appendix B: Data Collection and Information Sources Appendix C: Data Sources, Definitions, and Methods Appendix D: Glossary Appendix E: The Future of Nursing 20202030: Meeting America Where We Are: Supplemental Statement of William M. Sage, M.D., J.D. Appendix F: Committee Response to Supplemental Statement Appendix G: Profiles of Nursing Programs and Organizations

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that 56.7 million Americans had some type of disability in 2010, which represents 18.7 percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population included in the 2010 Survey of Income and Program Participation. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. As of December 2015, approximately 11 million individuals were SSDI beneficiaries, and about 8 million were SSI beneficiaries. SSA currently considers assistive devices in the nonmedical and medical areas of its program guidelines. During determinations of substantial gainful activity and income eligibility for SSI benefits, the reasonable cost of items, devices, or services applicants need to enable them to work with their impairment is subtracted from eligible earnings, even if those items or services are used for activities of daily living in addition to work. In addition, SSA considers assistive devices in its medical disability determination process and assessment of work capacity. The Promise of Assistive Technology to Enhance Activity and Work Participation provides an analysis of selected assistive products and technologies, including wheeled and seated mobility devices, upper-extremity prostheses, and products and technologies selected by the committee that pertain to hearing and to communication and speech in adults. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Environmental Facilitators Framework 3 Wheeled and Seated Mobility Devices 4 Upper-Extremity Prostheses 5 Selected Hearing Technologies 6 Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Voice Products and Technologies 7 Coverage for Relevant Products and Technologies 8 Review of Social Security and Other Selected Disability Compensation Programs 9 Overall Conclusions Appendix A: Public Session Agendas Appendix B: Glossary Appendix C: Medicare Data Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. To receive SSDI or SSI disability benefits, an individual must meet the statutory definition of disability, which is "the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity [SGA] by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." SSA uses a five-step sequential process to determine whether an adult applicant meets this definition. Functional Assessment for Adults with Disabilities examines ways to collect information about an individual's physical and mental (cognitive and noncognitive) functional abilities relevant to work requirements. This report discusses the types of information that support findings of limitations in functional abilities relevant to work requirements, and provides findings and conclusions regarding the collection of information and assessment of functional abilities relevant to work requirements. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Disability and Function 3 Collection of Information on Function and Disability 4 Integrated Assessment of Work-Related Functional Ability 5 Selected Instruments for Assessment of Physical Functional Abilities Relevant to Work Requirements 6 Selected Instruments for Assessment of Mental Functional Abilities Relevant to Work Requirements 7 Selected Impairments and Limitations in Functional Abilities Relevant to Work 8 Review of Selected Disability Benefit Programs 9 Overall Conclusions Appendix A Public Session Agendas Appendix B Glossary Appendix C Literature Search Strategies Appendix D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members