...A person’s ability to access health services has a profound effect on every aspect of his or her health, yet at the start of the decade, almost 1 in 4 Americans do not have a primary care provider (PCP) or health center where they can receive regular medical services. Approximately 1 in 5 Americans (children and adults under age 65) do not have medical insurance. People without medical insurance are more likely to lack a usual source of medical care, such as a PCP, and are more likely to skip routine medical care due to costs, increasing their risk for serious and disabling health conditions. When they do access health services, they are often burdened with large medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses. Clinical preventive services, such as routine disease screening and scheduled immunizations, are key to reducing death and disability and improving the Nation’s health. These services both prevent and detect illnesses and diseases—from flu to cancer—in their earlier, more treatable stages, significantly reducing the risk of illness, disability, early death, and medical care costs. Motor vehicle crashes, homicide, domestic and school violence, child abuse and neglect, suicide, and unintentional drug overdoses are important public health concerns in the United States. In addition to their immediate health impact, the effects of injuries and violence extend well beyond the injured person or victim of violence, affecting family members, friends, coworkers, employers, and communities...
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... I adopted my values in a collage characterized by strong family bondage and commitment, sharing, love, happiness and family pets. This collage values happiness, wealth and family bondage than other matters in life. I express my vision for a happy family, values and goals to measure progress. My vision aims to ensure family safety, health and togetherness. In order to have a happy family, one must attend to all their needs including shelter and food. One also has to try and be the best father or mother and thus promote common family values that ensure commitment, guidance, respect and openness in the family relationships. I upholds these values as a consequence of ill-upbringing. There was no care for me during my early life. There was also no such a thing as rights to be provided. After a deep soul-searching, I...
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...Solution Novice nurses are usually not confident enough to handle patients during their initial practice. They are not able to critically appraise and use scientifically proven evidence as a way of providing quality health services to patients. The main goal of evidence based practice on novice nurses is to impact informal knowledge and skills to new nurses. Novice nurses will gain the required competence skills as they continue training under the skilled physicians. Novice nurses will be accessed on regular basis to determine the EBP positive impact on their transition exercise. Therefore, the evidence based practice on novice nurses will provide best intervention for quality service delivery. The experienced physicians will play...
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...Contemporary nurses remain highly regarded as the foundation that permits health care organizations to function. However, the institutions that rely on these professionals face a potentially critical talent shortage. As early as 2025, the approaching talent deficiency may affect institutions across the nation. Then again, telehealth technology may help medical institutions sidestep the shortage altogether. This presents an opportunity for nurses with enhanced skills to increase their value as professional care providers. The technology has arrived at a time when patients suffering from chronic illnesses required augmented consultations and services. Furthermore, telenursing provides the following seven benefits for patients and providers. Benefit One: Remote Service Delivery Telehealth technology allows nurse practitioners (NPs)...
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...The Use of Personal Cell Phones in the Clinical Setting University of Louisiana at Lafayette Kevin Besse, RN, MSN, CNE The use of technology in the clinical practice has rapidly increased in delivering quality patient-centered care. Technological advances in the last decade have transformed the manner in which healthcare is delivered. “Nursing is a complex profession which utilizes the integration of knowledge, skills and competencies to provide patient care and improve outcomes. Nurses are knowledge workers who are responsible for the delivery of patient care. Accessing online evidence-based resources may be challenging for nurses as computers are often located away from where patient care occurs – at the bedside” (Johnson, 2008). Since the development of the personal handheld device (PDA), access to any online reference material or clinical guideline at the tip of one’s fingers will make all the difference in delivering quality patient-centered care. The technological advances have also brought a new field of studying in the nursing profession, formally known as informatics. Today, the technology that is available to the general public is astounding. The advances that have been made over the years have dramatically changed the general public’s personal lifestyle. A person today, more than likely, owns a smart phone, laptop, computer, PDA, iPad, etc. All of these technological devices have simplified our lives to a dramatic extent. There has been “an 18% increase in...
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...involves the process of persuading someone to at least consider one’s point of view. The role of the nurse as an advocate in healthcare policy is not a new one. The many opportunities nurses have to observe firsthand the positives and negatives of the current healthcare system enable them to identify needs and concerns related to the care patients currently receive ( or don’t receive)( Gonzalez, 2012). Some health needs returning veterans and their families might need health care, psychological and family reorientation to life outside of the war zone, gainful employment. How might one advocate for the needs of this population? First, set up a plan which describes the things that you want to advocate for in terms of helping the veteran find organizations and funding for their needs in civilian life. Get in touch with legislators and other resource groups that can help with accomplishing the goals you set. What responsibility must a nurse have to be an advocate? First, she must have expertise in the care of needy populations, be familiar with legislators who would be sympathetic to the cause and be willing to help with the advocacy of the plan presented. Collaborate with peers and other nurses who can assist in the development and presentation of the plan. My choice is the current nursing shortage, what healthcare problem was the policy designed to address: cost, quality, access, or a combination? A combination of all of the above other areas of nursing the shortage is also...
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...Quality Data Collection Grace C. Turne HCS/588 March 26, 2012 Ismael Caicedo Quality Data Collection Quality data collection plays an integral part in quality improvement. In order to measure performance, quality data must be gathered by the use of data collection tools that must be implemented. Nurses Just for Kids a pediatric specific home care agency specializing in the care of medically fragile children must develop a QI plan that best suits them by choosing data collection tools that based on potential improvement areas that they plan to tackle. The paper will discuss potential improvements, data needed to monitor for improvement in performance areas, data collection tools used, comparing and contrasting the tools and measurements as well as its importance in healthcare. Potential Areas for Improvement for Nurses Just for Kids There are many different areas that have the potential for improvement for Nurse Just for Kids but only two areas have been in need of quality improvement efforts the most. The two areas are back injuries and ventilator associated pneumonia. Two of the five clients that are being serviced from the home care agency has seen an increase in back injuries that are seen from their employees. The second area in need of improvement is in the area of ventilator associated pneumonia which there has been two pediatric clients with hospitalization due to pneumonia in the same month in 2011. This is a significant amount considering how small...
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...Evaluating a Website for Credibili Chamberlain College of Nursing NR500 January 8, 2016 Evaluating a Website for Credibility Receiving healthcare information for professional nurses and their patients is an important topic in today’s society. The term “just Google it” is as common as drinking a cup of morning coffee. This paper will evaluate the website Healthfinder.gov. This is a government website that provides access to disease management and tools to keep healthy. The website can be found by accessing Google.com and typing healthfinder in the search or by entering the domain name http://healthfinger.gov in the search engine browser. This paper will examine if this is a credible website to use as a professional nurse for reference material. I chose this site to review based on the wide array of healthcare topics found on this site. Characteristics of a Credible Website A website with authority helps determine if a site is credible. The site Healthfinder.gov identifies itself as a site that provides the latest health news that is evidence based. The site launched April 15, 1997 with the backing of the US government. This sites authority can be found by looking in the “about us” section. Dr. Wright is listed as the Chief Medical Advisor. His credentials of being a physician and his title of Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Health and Human Services provides authority for this site. In addition the two coordinator for the site, Office of Disease...
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... Uncontrolled asthma places an enormous strain on individuals’ and health systems resources, and is a major cause of hospitalizations and poor quality of life (Mash et al. 2009) The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States estimates that asthma accounts for 1.6 million emergency department visits and 440,000 hospitalizations annually. In addition CDC states that the cost of asthma accounts for 10.6 million dollars in primary physician visit and cost US $3,300 per person annually to manage. As the question of quality care continues to plague our society organizations continue to seek me ways and methods to improve the standard of care and reduce cost. AHRQ in its quality initiatives found that the persons diagnosed with asthma continue to increase in the society. WHO, CDC, GINA and AHRQ are all the organizations working together to curb this epidemic that is continuing to rise. The American Nurses Association (2007) stated that the goal of nursing informatics is improving the health of individuals hence the community by improving the way in which communication occurs and is shared. It is with foundation the development of the asthma database will seek to improve the health of individuals, families and communities. This will be done by improving the way in which information is gathered, analyzed and shared so that quality...
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...has been affected tremendously. The Piedmont county clinic budget has been cut by 15%. The population that is mainly affected by the budget cuts are the Medicaid recipients. Medicaid recipients are affected in two ways, benefits are reduced and the services they receive at the clinic are reduced as well. The administration at Piedmont County Clinic are being forced to reduce or eliminate services that are provided to Medicaid recipients. In order for Piedmont County Clinic to continue to provide quality health care the administration has to address the budget cuts by either reducing or eliminating services that will unfortunately affect many Medicaid recipients. The Piedmont County Clinic has appointed a team of managers to plan and make decision in regards to addressing the recent budget cuts. To be able to decide what is best for the clinic and the clients, the team of managers will use the informed decision tool box. The team would have to know pertinent information which would be needed in order to make a sound decisions in regards to services that are provided. The team of managers would need specific questions answered in...
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...has been affected tremendously. The Piedmont county clinic budget has been cut by 15%. The population that is mainly affected by the budget cuts are the Medicaid recipients. Medicaid recipients are affected in two ways, benefits are reduced and the services they receive at the clinic are reduced as well. The administration at Piedmont County Clinic are being forced to reduce or eliminate services that are provided to Medicaid recipients. In order for Piedmont County Clinic to continue to provide quality health care the administration has to address the budget cuts by either reducing or eliminating services that will unfortunately affect many Medicaid recipients. The Piedmont County Clinic has appointed a team of managers to plan and make decision in regards to addressing the recent budget cuts. To be able to decide what is best for the clinic and the clients, the team of managers will use the informed decision tool box. The team would have to know pertinent information which would be needed in order to make a sound decisions in regards to services that are provided. The team of managers would need specific questions answered in...
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...The expansion of health information technology may have an impact on patient satisfaction and outcomes either positively or negatively. More and more healthcare providers are using health information technology (nursing informatics), to improve patient care. I will also be discussing the impact of the electronic health record on improving the efficiency, safety, and privacy of healthcare today, along with the skills nurses need related to informatics and technology. Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of healthcare quality. “Satisfaction is an attitudinal response to value judgments that patients make about their clinical encounter.” (Kane RL, Maciejewski M, Finch M, 1997) Nursing Informatics is a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge and wisdom in nursing practice. (McGonigle D, Mastrain KG, 2012, p. 95-96) (ANA, 2008, p.1) The goal of nursing informatics is to improve the health of populations, communities, families, and individuals by optimizing information management and communication. (McGonigle D, Mastrain KG, 2012, p. 95-96) (ANA, 2008, p.1) Information technology has dramatically changed the way nurses work. It is clear that advances in technology and the internet have transformed consumer and professional access to information and has influenced changes in public policy and the public’s role in healthcare. (McGonigle D, Mastrain KG, 2012, p.95) The...
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... NURSES AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPEMENTATION OF HEALTHCARE POLICY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: CASE SCENARIO THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT BACKGROUND The argument that every American citizen should have a guaranteed healthcare cover takes two dimensions (Grover, 2007). Is it that all citizens should have access to the same level of healthcare? Or should they have a right to some minimum healthcare cover? The U.S government has selected the second option in relation to the policies it creates directed to healthcare. There are quite a number of policies that have been put in place to realize this goal since there is no single healthcare policy that can cater for all of this demands. The government has made a move to provide access to medical services. In the past, particular groups of people have been selected based on their economic status or their distinctive social circumstances. The policies include Medicaid (for poor children), Medicare (for the elderly), Veterans’ Administration (for veterans), Indian Health Services (for Native Americans) and renal failure security (for transplants and kidney dialysis). The purpose of this study The research’s main focus is to investigate the how government and nurses are involved in the development and implementation of healthcare related policies. The District of Columbia will be the highlight of this paper. Accordingly, the paper will put more emphasis on one of the most recent health care policies...
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...was having surgery at Nightingale Community Hospital on Thursday, September 14. The patient’s mother accompanied the patient before surgery and completed all consent form. An estimated time of 1 hour 45 minutes was given as the time to complete surgery and recovery. The mother informed the pre-op nurse that she would be off campus during the surgery and would return to pick up the patient in the time frame given. She also provided a phone number to contact her if the procedure was finished earlier than planned. Upon completion of surgery and recovery, the patient’s mother was paged from the waiting area by the recovery nurse. The mother was had not returned to the hospital at this time. The patient care was then transferred to the discharge nurse while waiting for the mother to return. During this time the patient was very upset and crying for her mother. The discharge nurse was notified that the father was in the waiting area and approved for the father to see the patient. The father was with the patient for about 30 minutes and the mother had still not arrived. At that time, with no specific information about the patient’s custody arrangement, the discharge nurse provided the father with discharge instructions and allowed him to leave with the patient. When the mother arrived to pick up the patient, she was very upset that the patient was released with the father who does not have custody over the child. Hospital security and law enforcement were notified and a “code...
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...populations within Australia. An issue of particular public interest is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a much lower life expectancy than the general Australian population. Indigenous Australians born in the period 1996-2001 are estimated to have a life expectancy at birth of 59.4 years for males, and 64.8 years for females. This is approximately 16-17 years less than the overall Australian population born over the same period. (AIWH, 2011) The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2011) has identified narrowing this differential in life expectancy as a priority in health policy. Primary health care is based on the central premise that prevention is better than cure. The primary health care sector is the most vital in early detection of disease and its risk factors, and preventing disease complications, thus minimizing the cost of health care provisions downstream. (Couzos & Murray, 2008, p29) Sutherland and St George Hospitals are working hard with the local Aboriginal community to promote and improve the health of Indigenous people. The Aboriginal Early Childhood Service – operating out of Menai – is available to mothers (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) of Aboriginal children from birth to five years of age. The service announced, by Maxine Brennan (2011) is called Narrangy-Booris, meaning ‘Little Children’ in the local Dharawal language. Since the commencement of the service 12 months ago, Narrangy-Booris has made exceptional inroads in ‘closing...
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