Health Professionals in Nadir Public Health Organization - Free Essay

Introduction

Public health is a practice involving the prevention of diseases and promoting good health within groups of communities and people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), public health refers to organized techniques aimed at disease prevention, health promotion, and increasing the lifespan of the population ('Ministry of Health,' 2015). The activities of public health are the provision of conditions where people remain healthy. The desire to promote the population's overall health yielded the development of Public Health Organizations (PHOs) in communities. Le Floch et al. (2019) defined PHOs as a means employed by governments to ensure that the public can access a general practitioner. Nadir is one of the PHOs concerned with improving the health of the residents. Nadir's PHO cares for a community with more health needs when compared to the surrounding organizations. However, the rates of type 2 diabetes diagnosis are lower in Nadir than in the surrounding PHOs. The facility suspects that the region has several diabetes cases, and most of the issues remain undiagnosed. Therefore, this paper discusses how health professionals are likely to view their roles and the influence of their roles in Nadir PHO.

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Roles in Nadir's PHO Diabetes Service

General Practitioners (GPs)

General practitioners' role is to treat common medical ailments and refer patients to health facilities for urgent and special treatment. In Nadir Diabetes Service, the GPs have a role in managing and treating diabetes in a patient. The responsibility of general practitioners is to take care of patients in their homes and communities. The GPs are a substantial part of a wider team whose role is to promote, prevent, and initiate treatment.

According to Miller (2015), GPs take care of patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes with health promotion. Typically, a GP is the first point of contact for a patient with most health conditions. The appointment with the practitioners lasts for about 10 to 15 minutes. During this duration, they made fast medical decisions based on the patient's symptoms and current and past medical history. Their role is to assess the patterns of symptoms and eliminate the possibility of illness. After examination and diagnosis of a patient, a GP has several management options that they discuss with the patient and act based on a patient's preferred intervention measure. Some of the management techniques available include reassuring a patient, providing patient information, advising on a course of action, and prescribing medication. Additionally, general practitioners can refer a patient for further tests to confirm and rule out a diagnosis. Therefore, a general practitioner's role is to attend to and diagnose a patient's diabetes state and provide the best management and treatment options.

Nurses

A nurse is a patient's caregiver who assists patients in managing their physical needs (Alazri et al., 2007). In Nadir Diabetes Service, the nurses' role is to manage their diabetic conditions effectively. Their part is to prevent illnesses by creating awareness of a situation and providing treatment options for their diabetes needs. In the PHOs, a nurse's role is to observe the blood sugar levels of a patient and record essential information to facilitate decision-making processes and activities. Primarily, nurses follow and monitor the progress of a patient and act having their interests in mind. Nursing care extends beyond the administration of treatment and medicine. Nurses focus on providing holistic care that constitutes development. Psychological, cultural, and spiritual needs of the population (Alazri et al., 2007).

Just like in other PHOs, a patient is a priority for every nurse. According to Le Floch et al. (2019), nurses advocate for a patient's best interests and maintain their dignity throughout the process of care delivery and administration of treatment. In diabetes care, nurses suggest treatment plans to patients and work hand-in-hand with other professionals to ensure effective treatment. Lastly, a nurse is involved in the decision-making process to assess the best treatment option for a patient (Poorchangizi et al., 2019). Nurses must have a critical thinking mindset when assessing and identifying patient issues, hence prompting the generation of the most appropriate recommendation and action course. Therefore, nurses often work closely with the general practitioners is ensure that a patient receives the best treatment and care for the effective management of diabetes.

Managers

Managers of a health facility have various responsibilities. In particular, managers juggle planning, directing, and coordinating hospital departments, groups, and staff members (Degeling, 2003). Managers in Nadir PHO are charged with the mandate of ensuring that care is provided to diabetes patients adequately. They collaborate across varying disciplines and manage an organization's finances and budgets, hence fostering career and talent development. In addition to that, managers handle different business operations and the needs of all the team members. The scope of the responsibilities changes based on the level of a manager. A supervisor oversees the staff's day-to-day activities, department managers are in charge of departments, directors oversee activities and functions within a health facility, and executives manage an entire PHO.

Hospital managers work closely with doctors and make policy decisions relevant to ensure that a PHO meets its desired goals and objectives. The managers direct patient care, accounting, and budgeting. The managers supervise marketing efforts hence ensuring that functions sail smoothly (Degeling, 2003). The directors improve the process of healthcare delivery by operating health facilities that deliver reliable services. Their role includes preventing diabetes-related deaths and complications. It also entails organizing campaigns to create community awareness on diabetes hence urging residents to test for the condition promptly. However, the management of Nadir PHO has failed in its managerial obligations. The facility managers have been unable to generate programs that would educate the community on the importance of treatment and testing for type 2 diabetes. The fact that there are a few reported cases of type 2 diabetes due to the lack of community members' lack of testing is a sign of management failure.

Difference between Values of General Practitioners, Nurses, and Managers

Some of the GP values are generalist, the ability to provide continuous care, and patient-oriented. Generalist value means that a GP is open to listening to clients' complaints, problems, and questions regarding their health and diseases. Additionally, a GP has the skills and knowledge to assess the issues presented by a patient and act based on the assessment. Another value is patient-oriented care, meaning that a GP accounts for the individual traits of a patient and their contexts. Context, in this case, implies the course of a patient's life, living, and work environment. A general practitioner integrates physical, social, and mental aspects that can affect the health and condition. The other value of continuous care signifies that a GP is a constant factor in providing healthcare for a patient. They ensure continuity of care during a patient's course of life. A GP works closely with other providers for cohesion in healthcare provision.

Accordingly, Glouberman and Mintzberg (2001) indicated that values are standard for action preferred by professional groups and experts. They help in establishing standards that help in behavior evaluation. Nursing is a profession founded on ethics and values. The essential nursing values are autonomy, altruism, human dignity, integrity, social justice, and honesty (Glouberman & Mintzberg, 2001). The central ethical values mentioned are shared within the global nursing community. Notably, they reflect the humanistic and spiritualistic approach toward the nursing profession. The principles employed in the care of patients are determined by social, economic, and religious factors dominating a community hence making it critical to identify nursing values in each country.

The three critical values that hospital managers must possess are leadership, critical thinking, and ethical judgments. According to Hall (2005), hospital administrators are hospital executives and should inspire a health facility to deliver the best care. As mentioned, the day-to-day responsibilities of overseeing staff and the formation of policies, require a leadership technique for them to excel. Critical thinking skills are employees when determining the best course of action that a health facility should undertake (Fattore & Tediosi, 2013). The value helps managers to make informed decisions by analyzing data and forming predetermined goals carefully. Lastly, ethical judgment allows the managers to ensure that all the staff members have steadfast morals, limiting the number of lawsuits due to ethical issues.

Influence of Roles and Values on the Design and Delivery of Health Services

Marzorati and Pravettoni (2017) asserted that the value concept is a significant issue in healthcare. People's needs, preferences, wishes, and ethics have a substantial influence on the meaning of value, which is influenced by culture and historical timelines. Pragmatically, values are essential in determining health systems' governance and management (Marzorati & Pravettoni, 2017). Governance and management techniques are indifferent to the values that underpin the goals of health systems. Therefore, no approach is appropriate for any circumstance or situation. In addition to that, Halligan (2008) asserted that most of the health administrative sector's managerial practices are dependent on individualistic values. The tools are targeted towards boosting an individual's performance, health facility, and the attainment of overall goals.

General practitioners and nurses acknowledge the importance of trust in generating a positive doctor-patient relationship (Halligan, 2008). The absence of trust means reduced functionality of medical care. Similarly, hospital managers have a role in ensuring that patients visiting trust the services they provide. The lack of values in a health facility would compromise the care accorded to patients and interfere with generating clinical decisions. For organizations that appreciate the importance of principles, safety for patients is a higher priority than the finances accrued. However, values cannot be actualized fully in an environment where general practitioners, nurses, and hospital managers do not conceptualize their roles. Without understanding the individualized roles, general practitioners, nurses, and managers cannot diligently handle their tasks. Therefore, responsibilities are significant in the designing and delivery of health services.

Actions to Alleviate Disagreements

One of the actions to alleviate disagreements in the health center is communication. Better treatment in communication aids professionals in their interactions with families regarding challenging treatment decisions (Weller et al., 2014). Improved listening skills to patients and families help identify responses to some of their concerns to help prevent resentment and misunderstandings in the workplace. Besides, communication enhances a practitioner's ability to relay information about a patient effectively, allowing them to understand their present situation. Education on ethics and communication could help prevent disagreements but are not helpful in a conflict. Mediation is a proposed technique for responding to disputes in the Nadir PHO (Weller et al., 2014).