Free Essay on Healthcare Delivery Models and Nursing Practice

Nurses are critical professionals in healthcare and play an important part in making the delivery of care effective since they are the primary caregivers. In the upcoming years, the profession will become even more important than ever. Baby boomers constitute more than twenty percent of the US population, and this means that a generation of nurses will focus more on providing care to an aging population. This paper delineates the current emerging healthcare law, how quality measures and pay-for-performance affect patient outcomes, rising management, and leadership roles before explaining a recently emerging trend and its impact on the nursing profession.

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Merging Healthcare Law

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted a few years ago as a measure of improving the quality of care in the United States. Consequently, ACA revolutionized many aspects of care in the US healthcare system with the major focus on improving coordination in this sector, reduce instances of multiple prescriptions as well as unnecessary hospitalization (Whitney, 2018). However, things have changed since Trump took office in 2017. From the first day, the Trump administration has largely focused on repealing the Affordable Care Act on the pretext that has numerous adverse effects as compared to its merits. Consequently, large reforms have resurfaced, instigated by the current government. Many Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, resented the move by the Trump government as calling the more erratic and dangerous to the health and welfare of US citizens. Nevertheless, Trump’s American Healthcare Act has seen legislators implement several rules to improve the healthcare system. David Joyce’s bill is one of the notable laws that have surfaced in recent times.

Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 was implemented as a measure for improving healthcare, particularly through nursing improvement. The act aims to improve education, practice, and retention in nursing by offering programs that align with the above nursing perspectives (Sapio & Federal Government Affairs, 2019). Additionally, it focuses on improving the well-being of nurses in healthcare with the acknowledgment that well-motivated nurses are more productive. In specificity, the act proposes that better funding is added to nurse-managed health clinics. Additionally, this act proposes ways of introducing methods of advanced training inappropriate training facilities. Through these measures, the bill creates a conducive work environment in which nurses have more growth opportunities and work satisfaction. In the long-run, the Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 will create a stable and more organized sector (Sapio & Federal Government Affairs, 2019). Nurses are the primary caregivers, and this implies that they are very critical health professionals who have a huge impact on influencing the quality of care. Therefore it is the responsibility of nurses to comply with the rules and regulations that are stipulated in the bill, and in this way, they will live to fulfill the obligation of maintaining high standards of this profession.

How Quality Measures and Pay for Performance Affect Patient Outcomes

Pay for performance is a new payment system that rewards healthcare professionals for improving the quality of care. Therefore, healthcare providers are rewarded with financial incentives to carry out quality improvements, seeking to achieve optimal outcomes in patients. Quality measures in pay for performance initiatives fall into several categories. The first category is the process measure to assess the performance of healthcare activities. The second category is the outcome measure that evaluates the effects that care has had on patients. (James, 2017)Patient experience is the third category, and it entails assessing patients’ perceptions and satisfaction with the services received. The last category is the structure measure, which entails evaluating the facilities, personnel, and equipment used in care facilities (James, 2017). All four measures uniquely contribute to better patient outcomes. For instance, process measures in public health might be assessing the importance of counseling to patients who want to quit. On the other hand, the outcome measure would involve taking laboratory tests and using them to assess the progress of treatment in patients with diabetes. The patient experience could be evaluating how patients perceived communication with doctors in their visits to health facilities. Outcomes would consequently be used to improve communication and, therefore, better care delivery. Structure measures on their part could be things like adopting new treatment technologies to improve the quality of care. All these measures will work collaboratively to ensuring that healthcare facilities improve their quality of care and consequently improve patient outcomes.

All these measures boil to the idea of patient-centered care. The patient is the center of attention for all the four measures, and this means that everything that hospitals and other healthcare facilities implement must focus on improving the delivery of care to patients. In any case, the overall goal of all the outcomes is to improve patient outcomes, and this means giving them quality care at all times, and this entails giving efficacious medical interventions and reducing the number of hospital readmissions (James, 2017). Patient-centered care is the center of attention, and this affects the role of nurses in healthcare. It becomes mandatory for nurses to ensure that they provide patient-centered evidence-based practice. At the same time, they must establish best practices and medical ethics to improve care delivery.

Professional Nursing Leadership and Management Roles

It is expected that nursing professionals respond effectively to emerging trends and put effort to promote patient safety and quality care. It comes with implementing professional nursing leadership and management roles. One of these roles is motivation. Nursing leaders and managers are expected to motivate their subordinates, and this also involves addressing their challenges and communicating with them consistently (Whitney, 2018). Motivated workers promote quality of care as well as patients’ safety. The other role is taking on leadership, and here nursing education is critical for enhancing leadership skills.

Consequently, it becomes easier for nursing managers to manage patients, nurses, and other professionals in the healthcare environment. Improving patient care is the other important role that nursing management is expected to execute (Whitney, 2018). It involves improving the quality of care through effective communication and promotion of a culture of safety. Additionally, nursing management facilitates collaboration within the hospital environment. It is a collaborative prospect between nurses and their colleagues and other professionals like physicians to improve the quality of care.

Emerging Trends

There are several emerging trends in nursing. One of the trends that mark this industry in this industry is increased specialization such that nurses are now specializing in specific areas of medicine such as psychiatry, obstetrics, among others (Purdue University Global, 2019). The other trend is the increased nursing movement into the community outpatient setting, especially because there is an increased demand for healthcare as a result of an aging population (Purdue University Global, 2019). These two trends will create more specialized hybrids to cater to the need of increased specialization in nursing. Additionally, nurses will start to focus more on programs that prioritize geriatric care. It is the case because there will be increased demand for geriatric care in the future.

Conclusion

The nursing profession is ever-changing, and an influential factor is in existing laws. The Trump administration repealed the Affordable Care Act, and this affected the nursing profession. However, there are other laws, such as the Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 that are revolutionary to this profession. The industry is also evolving as a result of changing leadership schemes, social trends, and incentives. In the recent future, specialization in this industry will increase as well as more focus on geriatric care.

References

James, J. (2017). Pay-for-Performance. Health Affairs. doi: 10.1377/hpb20171011.90233

Purdue University Global. (2019). Top 10 Nursing Trends for 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020, from https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/nursing/top-10-nursing-trends/

Sapio, M., & Federal Government Affairs. (2019). AANP Forum. The Journal For Nurse Practitioners, 15(8), A15-A18. doi: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2019.08.004

Whitney, S. (2018). Trends in Health Care: A Nursing Perspective. Retrieved 15 July 2020, from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs440vn/trends-in-health-care-a-nursing-perspective/v1.1/#/home