Evolving Practice of Nursing and Patient Care Delivery Models
As the United States healthcare system focus on restructuring the care delivery systems, the roles of nurses will be expected to change as they are the major players in the restructuring. The increasing responsibility in the nursing department has led to a fast evolution of nursing duties due to the complexity of care for the sick. Although the duties of nurses are changing drastically, a report shows that nurses are still understaffed in most health care facilities. Thus, the healthcare sector requires total restructuring which will help in the coping with the increased demand for care and increased complicated diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Various actions are taken with an aim to improve the nursing practice and training them have been proposed as one what that will make them more adaptable to changes in the United States health care systems.
Changes in the practice of nursing are important as it will enable the healthcare system to cope with the increasing demand for healthcare. Changes are expected not only in the line of practice of nursing, but also the level of education and leadership so that they can meet care demands in the United States. Diseases such as obesity and diabetes have been on the increase in the United States which has caused the death of many individuals due to lack of knowledge and lack of access to care. The increased concern about such diseases has necessitated changes in the practice of nursing so that they can be controlled and treated to reduce the mortality rate due to such diseases.
Among the important concepts in the system of health care, continuity of care is among them, and it can be experienced by all healthcare consumers. The reason why continuity of care has not been achieved in most United States healthcare facility is due to increase and complexity of health care needs by different consumers, understaffed nurses, increased demand for health care and minimal skills by the available nurses. Continuity of care focuses on the current situation of an individual together with the health requirements as well as the care given over time. A good relationship between patients and nurses is the only way that will promote continuity of care in the United States. Continuity of care will allow a sustainable approach to care between nurses where they will personalize care depending on the changing requirements of care by patients. Thus, nurses should be more educated so that they can achieve the required continuity of care.
The focus on the performance of registered nurses requires that nurses meet the increased demand for care. The application of nursing processes such as diagnosis and planning, assessment and implementation as well as their professionalism is expected to offer comprehensive care to all patients in the community. With the realization of Accountable care organizations expected to take nursing practice to another level, nurses should be willing to change so that they can fit in the changes of reconstruction. This calls for the creation of a partnership with other health practitioners so that they can acquire relevant skills and competencies that will enable them works in Accountable Care Organizations.
With the evolution of nursing practice, the scope of practice is also expected to change. Training of nurses will be essential to make them more adaptive to new workplaces which will come with new tasks besides the normal nursing practice. They are expected to attain a high level of education from the new education system and to utilize their full education requirements; the nurses will be expected to work in various healthcare facilities including Nurse-Managed Health Centers. Such facilities require a high level of education as they are run by Nurses with the aid physicians and other medical professionals. With improved skills, nurses will also be in a position to work in medical homes. In medical homes, nurses can work on their own without physician intervention. With education and better training, nurses will manage to work in different health facilities which will meet the increasing demand for quality care.
Nurses Feedback
Nurses have varying views on matters relating to healthcare reforms, their new roles as well as the workplace changes expected to occur. Nurses have expressed their views regarding the changes expected with the evolution of nursing practice. Some of the nurses are optimistic about the new changes while some fear that the new changes might increase responsibility and workplace demands. Due to such fears, nurses request healthcare leaders to ensure safe workplace regardless of the healthcare facility where one will be posted.
From the three interviewed nurses, one of them suggested that the changed workplace can have a great impact on the efficiency of nurses. That is, nurses who were previously based in hospitals are likely to experience challenges when based on other health care facilities which can impact negatively on their productivity. Nurses previously working in Managed Care Organizations are exposed to different treatment experiences as compared to others in hospitals. Relocating them to work in hospitals can be a new experience to them which can affect their productivity in the new workplaces. Nurses who were in the medical homes had increased control over their patients. Thus, they are likely to face challenges when relocated to hospitals where physicians have more control over patients. The new responsibilities expected in the new workplaces have been assumed to cause the reduced efficiency of nurses in their new workplaces.
Among the interviewed nurses, one of them suggested a likelihood of economic recession that could emanate from ageing nurses taking full control of the field and limiting chances of freshly graduated nurses joining the nursing practice. Such instances can discourage nurses who are still progressing with their studies where they can lose interest to search for nursing job opportunities due to limited offers. With such a trend, the future of nursing can be affected leading to economic recession in the United States. More to this, one of the nurses proposed the use of incentives and effective teamwork could lead to a progressive reform as those can be motivational factors for nurses to work in the new environments. This can be a positive approach to the new change which will promote productivity of nurses in the changing workforce.
The three nurses interviewed explained that their involvement in the future of nursing practice, effective clinical leadership as well as proper support in taking innovative risks could lead to a successful evolution of nursing practice. They expressed a desire to take part in the changing healthcare where they should be involved in all innovations so that they can be conversant with the new changes. This will promote a successful nursing practice in the future of health care. Also, the new opportunity could lead to better skills and competency among the nurses which were recorded as one of the reasons that make nurses optimistic about the changing roles. Working in new environments is expected to expose nurses to new skills and experiences which can make them more competent and reliable. Inadequate skills had led to working in common healthcare facilities such as hospitals, but with advanced education and training, nurses are at a position to work in varied environments.
Changes in roles of nurses in the new working environment are likely to lead to unplanned consequences such as an increased working load that can account largely to unpredictable pressures. Nurses felt that the new policies that will be implemented to support staffing and maybe payment policies can come with added demands which can be unbearable by the nurses at practice. The policies are expected to come with unavoidable pressures that cannot be identified at the moment. Such pressures can have a negative impact on the quality of care given to patients, and this is likely to affect newly trained nurses. What is more, the changing workplace will demand more experienced nurses which can change the entry to the nursing profession by up to 20%. This can also affect the distribution of nurses within those facilities where some facilities could have more nurses compared to others. This is a fear that was reported by the three nurses and which is likely to affect healthcare systems in future.
The opinions given by the three nurses are in line with my feeling towards the changing roles of nursing practice as well as a change of working scope. The restructuring of the healthcare system is expected to come with new expectations and demands that can be positive or negative to the nursing practice. Increased access to medical insurance increase demand for care, therefore, more trained nurses are required to meet the increasing demands. Thus, more education and training of nurses will be required to meet the set qualifications of future nurses. The changing workplace will promote better skills and experiences that can add to the quality of care offered by future nurses.
I agree that future leaders should promote a safe workplace for all nurses, unlike the common workplace which has increased risks of infections by pathogens. Nurses should be assured of a safe working condition where proper training should be conducted which encouraging them to observe safety measures while in the workplace. Policies and guidelines regarding how nurses should behave while in the new working environments should be enforced. Due to the unpredictable demands and pressures extracted in the field of nursing, policies should be set which will promote common practice for all nurses to minimize effects of unpredictable pressures.