Free Essay Example - Priority Setting

Priority setting is a key critical thinking skill that is mainly used to prevent congestion. All activities are organized based on urgency, criticality, and attention required (Collins, McHugh, Baker, Morton, Frith, Syrett, & Donaldson, 2019). Therefore priority management is paramount in ensuring all the activities are done within a stipulated time due to proper management of time. The latter is highly essential in the health sector in the management of patient loads as a strategy of easing congestion and overlapping incidences in hospitals. A clear priority settings framework enables nurses to attend to all patients efficiently without strain since the most urgent and critical patient cases are given top priority in a healthcare facility (Collins et al., 2019).

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From the audio recording, the nurse is receiving crucial information about the patient's diagnoses to make a logical decision based on an evidence-based priority-setting framework. All four patients have different health complications that require a single nurse to attend to; however, the nurse will use an appropriate priority framework to come up with a priority list. If I was the nurse in the audio, I would make a priority list of the clients to be seen immediately; I listen to their health cases. With the help of the logical priority framework, I would first attend to the client diagnosed with gastritis. Patients with a medical record number (mrn) 6315 will come top in my priority list because, unlike other patients' cases, this client's case is critical and requires urgent medical attention. Gastritis is a condition that involves the development of an inflammatory along the stomach's protective lining. It can be dangerous to a patient if not attended within the shortest time possible.

Priority Framework

As a trained nurse, priorities come first on cases that touch on sensitive body parts and can be critical to the patient. Therefore, I would take accountability for the reasonableness (A4R) priority framework when addressing this case. A4R framework is the sole legitimate priority-setting tool that enables the nurse to make quick and valid decision-making basis on the urgency and the criticality of the issue (Razavi, Kapiriri, Wilson, & Abelson, 2019). From the case there, the four clients have different health issues; medical record number (mrn) 6315 is considered the most critical due to the diagnostic results, which indicate that his stomach lining is damaged by a pathogenic infection.

The cases reported by the nurse in the audio vary depending on the sensitivity of the victims' experiences. Patient Medical record number 6307, for instance, is feeling acute pains in his right calf. Such a case is least prioritized because such complications are caused by muscle stretch and can be relieved through massaging with muscle-pain-relieving gel. On the other hand, both clients' medical record numbers 6310 and 6314 are continuing patients who have come to the health care facility to seek for subsequent treatment. Therefore, all the clients expect the client, a medical record number (mrn) 6315 have minor medical cases. Accountability for reasonableness (A4R) framework of priority setting is the option I would take in addressing my clients' health care issues. It will give a precise priority-setting foundation, which would be essential for me in making sound decisions while attending to patients based on urgency and how critical their cases are.

Rationale of Selection

The rationale of my selection process of my clients revolves mainly on the condition these clients are in, where they vary from one client to another. The accountability for reasonableness (A4R) framework of priority setting offers me the guiding star on the selection process where the priority is given to the riskiest case, which requires urgent medical attention. In this case, my first client is a medical record number (mrn) 6315 because his case is a bit risky as compared to other clients' cases. This client is diagnosed with gastritis, which is a sensitive pathological health care issue affecting the stomach's protective layer or lining. Client clients have mild cases that can be addressed later after or given later priorities. With strict adherence to my chosen priority-setting framework, I would manage to attend to all my clients within the stipulated time while giving every one of them maximum and adequate time for consultation.

Conclusion

Finally, priority setting in nursing ensures organization and proper time management in healthcare facilities. It also results in orderly operations that enable the nurses to attend to all the patients within the shortest time, giving priority to the most urgent cases. Priority setting framework gives nurses the best approach to use in making critical decision making regarding patients with different healthcare issues requiring a varying degree of attention. The accountability for reasonableness (A4R) framework of priority setting is the best approach for this case. It gives the nurses reasons to account for any valid and logical decision they take while dispensing their health care duties and responsibilities. The rationale for selecting the patients' priority and the framework to be used depends on the urgency and criticality of the clients' healthcare issue cases.

Reference

Collins, M., McHugh, N., Baker, R., Morton, A., Frith, L., Syrett, K., & Donaldson, C. (2019). Frameworks for Priority Setting in Health and Social Care. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance.

Razavi, S. D., Kapiriri, L., Wilson, M., & Abelson, J. (2019). Applying priority-setting frameworks: A review of public and vulnerable populations' participation in health-system priority setting. Health Policy.