Abstract
Existing gaps in the coverage of health care, as well as access to quality healthcare, contribute to the poor outcomes of health care in the United States. This paper looks at the healthcare policy framework to examine strategic approaches that can be used to improve professional nursing and public healthcare in the United States. The existing shortage of nursing practitioner reflects the existing struggle that affects the overall public health care. In fact, the aspect constructs the policy landscape that espouses collaborative health care models. While the nursing professionals aim at providing extensive health care, the inappropriateness of the policy structure to address the Worlds Health Organization’s standard underscores the need for strategic leadership that will design procedures and policies that will enable nursing practitioners to execute their professional nursing roles in an optimal and efficient manner.
Introduction
In the contemporary nursing environment, the barriers that limit effective nursing practice and quality health care indicate a policy problem within the foundations of regulation initiatives, patient satisfaction, and state regulation. Irrespective of the continued expansion of the healthcare system, there are still barriers to realizing the foundational aims of health care. The policy guidelines must first address the reduced health care cost based on the principle of the diverse nature of health population. Through advanced health care professionalism and clinical training, nursing practitioners must work within the framework that eliminates the barriers in the health care systems. The public health policy in the United States is linked to the licensure practice and state regulation. Such policy trajectories capture the restrictive tendency of optimal nursing practice that extensively limits the ability of independent nursing exercise. In fact, the nursing practitioners play a vital role in the management of wide health care needs in the public health systems in America.
Improving Public Health Care System
Professional nursing practice is governed by the principles of full practice authority where some states’ practices allow the evaluation of patients, diagnosis, and management of treatment to formulate the foundational impediment for professional practice. Specialized medical practitioners should do the appropriate care (Hain and Fleck, 2014). For instance, pediatricians should handle healthcare conditions among children while gynecologists should handle conditions in relation to the reproductive health. It is essential that leaders in the health care setting must comprehend all-inclusive approaches to foster patient-centered care management. The facet of organizational leadership plays a leading role in the development of procedures that support measures of diversity and disparity in the health care practice (Melnyk & Fineout-Overhol, 2011). There is an imperative need to develop frameworks that are anchored on the principle of efficiency cooperation among health care providers, patients, and families.
Policy as Related to Diversity and Disparities
The policy initiative in the United States should address the challenges of diversity and disparities in Healthcare. According to Mitchell &Lassiter (2006), it is evident that the promotion of health standards within the objective of disease prevention calls for leadership and inter-health care professional team development. The cultural composition of patients in the contemporary nursing environment requires strategic leadership approaches in addressing issues of diversity and disparity. The questions about workforce diversity within the framework of health care practice offer suitable synthesis on the establishment of relationships of systemic health conditions.
Policy as Relates Nursing Conditions
Health care workers, especially nurses suffer low remuneration, allowances, and poor working conditions. Nurses work within a complex environment that requires protection from dangerous infection and disease exposure. Several nurses suffer physical accidents emanating from pricks and patient assault; hence, over exposing them to several medical related challenges. Despite the challenges, the nurses remain the lowest paid of all the healthcare workers (Hörnsten, et al., 2014). In fact, there exist inevitable gaps in the processes and outcomes of clinical care. The patients’ experiences and access to quality health care depend on several healthcare dimensions. In fact, several surveys reported that poor working conditions, low remuneration, and poor motivational system for health care providers is the largest contributors to the declining qualities in the healthcare sectors. Therefore, there is a need to revise the legislation on the issues of the remuneration of the nurses to improve the quality of healthcare provided.
Policy as Relates to Environmental Factors
Environmental considerations play a greater role in the management of diseases in the USA. In fact, many American citizens have apportioned their primary health care responsibilities to the clinical care workers. The majority of issues starting from temperature fluctuations, bloated stomachs, and chills are in most cases based on the lifestyle of the patient. The nurses in the US have enormous tasks of ensuring the primary health care requirements of the citizens are well explained and understood by the patients (Hain and Fleck, 2014). Theorists have stated that human health challenges within the environmental contexts should be traditionally handled in medical systems. Practically, the health challenges are outside the medical environmental scope that has generally changed at the socio-economic and political aspects within the health care. Therefore, qualified care providers should handle the health aspects of these environmental degradation scenarios to help the affected individual in locating solution centers. Nurses within their organization can manipulate the system and develop collaboration and coordination with the worst environmental polluters usually belonging to the corporate world. In this case, they can discuss health care issues related to the risks to hazardous inhalations and poor waste management exposure, and hence become health advocates to the affected citizenry.
Hain and Fleck (2014) indicate that the majority of the symptoms and incidences to diseases considered by the public are never the actual symptoms of the illness. With regard to this, nurses should educate patients on several aspects of health, including the need for effective consumption of medicine as prescribed by the clinical staff. In fact, this covers the side effects of medication with regard to over and under dosage, matters related to diets, physical health fitness, and maintaining proper sanitation within the hospital and back to the places of residence. These roles are something expanded to the family members and the community at large. The education shared adds great value to the patients and their family and contributes to the overall improvement of the public health situations.
Barriers to Health Care
Hain and Fleck (2014) articulate that the problem with state licensure reflects the one-third of the nation that continues to adopt licensure and other nursing practice laws for nursing practitioners. In line with that, it is vital to note that nursing practitioners are important individuals in the development of healthy societies, but do not have the required level of specialized knowledge to handle every healthcare condition among everyone. Apparently, professional nursing practitioners provide primary care to members of the health care unit, including preventive care and health promotion, counseling, and disease diagnostic and treatment services.
The public health care nurses in the US have a responsibility to ensuring the general quality sanitation and livelihoods of the citizenry are non-hazardous. The public health nurse interaction with members of the public can create real-time solutions to the socio-medical challenges experienced by the public in their neighborhood (Hain and Fleck, 2014). Public health nurses also become environmental crusaders when working directly with the public. In fact, they provide environmental advice on bringing about safe homes, learning institutions like school, colleges, and safe workplaces. The public collaboration with nurses ensures improved health care and safe environment, which are great challenges in the society and pointers to a degradable healthy scenario in the community.
Conclusion
From the discussion, it is evident that regardless of the positive expansion in the role of professional nurses, attention to state and national leaders must focus on addressing the existing barriers to realize the aims of health care within a reduced health care cost. Based on the diverse nature of the patient population within a family unit, nursing practitioners provide a wide range of healthcare services, including disease prevention, counseling, health promotion, and direct care among others. Primary healthcare in the United States is the surest way to maintain a steady, healthy labor force and the achievement of a nation development strategy. Healthcare providers have an ardent role in ensuring that the health care requirements are attained. However, this can only be facilitated by the implementing policies that support health from the political elites and government administrators. The general health of the citizenry is at the service of the nurses who provide clinical care and advice to the members of the public.
References
Hain, D., & Fleck, L. (2014). Barriers to nurse practitioner practice that impact healthcare redesign. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(2).
Hörnsten, Å., Lindahl, K., Persson, K., &Edvardsson, K. (2014). Strategies in health-promoting dialogues – primary healthcare nurses’ perspectives – a qualitative study. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 28(2), 235-244.
Kramer, M., Schmalenberg, C., Maguire, P., Brewer, B. B., Burke, R., Chmielewski, L., & … Waldo, M. (2009). Walk the Talk: Promoting Control of Nursing Practice and a Patient-Centered Culture. Critical Care Nurse, 29(3), 77-93.
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overhol, E. (2011). Evidence-based Practice in Nursing & Health care: A Guide to Best Practice. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. .
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
