Current nursing issues and the driving factors leading to healthcare transformation
Introduction
Nurses are the key personnel in the primary healthcare system with an extensive series of responsibilities such as provision of care and its planning with the medical team, giving patient education, administering vaccines and medications, dealing with delegated nursing visits, and providing telephone triage and advice (Anderson et al., 2012). Despite of several positive expansions to the role of a nurse, there are also several issues of a health care setting. Identified health care issues for nurses include public practice and licensing, physician related issues, financier testament issues, etc. As a backbone of the health care system, nurses are well trained and well-informed to deal the risen issues in a healthcare setting (Roux, 2017). They are poised to identify their issues and contribute to their fullest to bring transformative changes in the system. To institute positive changes in the healthcare system and to overcome nursing problems and issues, nurses are no more just the caregivers but are driving powers to deal health issues and to make the effort to solve them (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017).
There are several transformative changes happening in the healthcare system. Factors driving these transformations involve untenable costs, accessibility issues, chronic illness, and deficient quality outcomes. Heath related issues of quality, cost, treatment methods and disease demographics are present. Nurses due to their role, education and the respect associated with their profession, are well-positioned for the contribution and leading from the front. To be a change maker, nurses are required to understand the driving factors, mandates for practice transformation and competencies of skills, knowledge, and attitude, which would be required for personal as well as systematic success (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017).
This essay describes the nursing issues in a healthcare setting, poor quality of care, the driving factors for the healthcare transformation, and the role of registered nurses (RN) in the transformation of health care, and recommendations for improved health service.
Body
With the development of healthcare reform, registered nurses (RN) play a key role in improving the health of different populations. However, existing barriers in the healthcare field limit their practices. These barriers include national practice and licensing, physician related issues, finance issues, etc. The state license regulates the practice of RN and considered as a barrier for comprehensive education and training (Adams & Markowitz, 2018). Some professional organizations of practitioners believe that due to stricter training of doctors than RN, nurses cannot provide the same level of safety care as doctors. However, other doctors admit that education and training are not their own, but that nurses value practitioners. Many RNs report that payer polices have a significant impact on their full exercise of their abilities. Payer polices are usually linked to national practice regulations and licenses. Stricter policies may limit the ability of RNs to work liberally. Nurses are forced to live mainly as workers of doctors, hospitals, and other institutions. Another obstacle in RNs practice is job gratification and then a will to quit. Since the demand for more and more primary caregivers is increasing, it is expected that RNs will play dynamic responsibilities in meeting basic health care prerequisites. Leaving the job of an experienced NP may have a negative impact (Hain & Fleck, 2014).
The healthcare systems are facing various ups and downs worldwide. They include the deteriorating health quality which causes a range of non-communicable diseases, pay-for health care, age element, and healthcare workforce issues (Young et al., 2017).
The driving factors in healthcare transformation include, fragmentation, access issues, cost fluctuations, high outcomes, and inequality. Concerns about price and quality with constantly fluctuating social and disease statistics have caused the great need for change. For patients with chronic diseases, medical care and payment are a major issue (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017).
The Australian healthcare system is considered one of the best systems in the world, but its reputation in the Bloomberg’s 2019 Healthy Countries Index has declined. The Australian healthcare system is also facing other pressures on a global scale, including the rising onset of chronic diseases, the aging community, accessibility issues, and rising costs (including insufficient labor and infrastructure) (Miller & Lu, 2019). In addition, changing personal expectations require more personalized, digital, uniform and integrated care experiences. Although Australia has a world-class medical system, unfortunately, this system has become increasingly expensive and unaffordable. The Gratton Institute’s statement on private health insurance (PHI) paints a miserable portrait, with rising premiums, leaving insurance coverage-today, about 100 million Australians private health setting cover than a year ago. There are breaks in health outcomes. Among social and economic groups, there are also differences in the health outcomes of Australia’s indigenous and non-indigenous people. Studies have shown that lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to suffer from being obese and other chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Western Sydney (NSW) is known as a hub for diabetes disease, and the occurrence of diabetes in the northern and eastern fringes, is twice that of the region. Indigenous Australians have 10 years less life span than expected non-native Australians, partly due to lack of access to medical care. One important factor is the focus on the symptom, not the cause (Deaths in Australia, Life expectancy – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020). Although consumers are increasingly concerned about fitness and prevention, Australia’s health system is still prepared to treat this disease-the incidence of chronic diseases in this century is better than the need for emergency care in the last century. Evidence show that investing in disease control programs can lead to improved healthcare and low-priced, not just focusing on therapy and treatment. Investment in quality through novelty and exploration is very important. Although the Medical Research Future Fund took a move in the right way in 2015, there is still room to increase investment in new medical innovations that will run sustainable distribution and high-quality results. Australians can maintain their place as world leaders in modern medicine and diagnostics, which will not merely benefit from a better health user and patient information, but also the benefit from the financial growth brought about by investment and trade (Sarah Butler et al., 2019).
The leading driving factors for the healthcare transformation include quality of healthcare, duties of medical staff, disease statistics, costly treatment, and innovative learning and training patterns (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, 2013).
In the view of issues faced by RN and driving factor in leading to healthcare transformation, the following recommendations are proposed as the “next step” to enhance the role and participation of RN in primary health care.
Policy: The development and expansion payment models can provide appropriate compensation levels for nursing and inter-professional healthcare services. It can encourage doctors, payers, provider organizations, state, and federal governments to implement the provision of primary health care models using nurses within exemplary interprofessional primary health care models. Also, it can train public to deepen their understanding of the rights and responsibilities of basic rights nursing service users and advocate their own well-being and nursing management.
Education: Survey Nursing School for the identification of undergraduate course as an example, incorporates due diligence and practical experience that makes RN a leader in the field of basic primary healthcare to support their future contributions. This explains and disseminates the nursing and interprofessional skills required to practice and effectively guide registered nurses in a basic healthcare environment.
Practice: Roles and responsibilities of RNs’ healthcare can be designed and developed. High-quality plans can be developed and verified to achieve results that reflect RN’s contribution to basic medical institutions and support population medical institutions. Role of all members of the medical team can be explained and maximized to further strengthen the RN’s clear contribution to effective procedures in the primary healthcare environment (Smolowitz et al., 2015).
Being a fundamental part of a healthcare, nurses are contributing positively for the better healthcare system by delivering person-centred care, team-based work, great performance, improved quality, and less-costly treatment (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, 2013).
Conclusion
Nurses are the core strength of a health care setting, and they are well equipped and trained to deal with the important concerns in the system. However, they could face several barriers in the healthcare system such paying policies, poor healthcare quality, and staff issues. Driving factors leading to healthcare transformation involve transformations involve untenable costs, accessibility issues, chronic illness, and deficient quality outcomes. Being a fundamental part of a clinical team, nurses can definitely play a vital role to resolve not only the issues faced by them but also of the healthcare system. For that purpose, making proper policies, education and practices would be of key importance.
- References
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