Discussion responses

Instructions: The response is a substantive interaction that builds on the ideas of others, delving deeper into the discussion question and course content in response to a colleague. The response includes one reference from a professional peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

Response to Genesis

Chapter five discusses the role of the nurse which entails improving health equity (Wakefield et al., 2021). Unfortunately, healthcare disparities still exist which interferes with providing fair opportunity for patients throughout their lifespan. The lack of healthcare access and/or insurance, utilization of preventative care services, and language barriers are some of the contributing factors to healthcare disparities (Corvin et al., 2020). Telemedicine has shaped the way healthcare is provided; providers can now reach patients in areas where otherwise would be hard to reach patients (Samuels-Kalow et al., 2021). Although, patients would benefit from a direct access via telemedicine, there are a couple of challenges such as tech illiteracy and access to technology. Nurses have a strong leverage to identify factors that hinder healthcare equality. They can engage at the local, state, or government level to ensure decisions can be made that impacts many lives when health disparities are addressed correctly. Possible stakeholders that benefit from recommendations are hospitals workers, patients, leadership, and the government. They all play an important role in this matter. One tactic the advanced practice nurse can do to improve political engagement is the involvement in organizations such as the American Nurses Association, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and many others available to nurses.

References

Corvin, J. A., Chan, I., Aguado Loi, C. X., Dollman, I., & Gonzales, J. (2020). Analytic hierarchy process: An innovative technique for culturally tailoring evidence‐based interventions to reduce health disparities. Health Expectations, 24(S1), 70–81.  https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13022 (Links to an external site.)

Samuels-Kalow, M., Jaffe, T., & Zachrison, K. (2021). Digital disparities: Designing telemedicine systems with a health equity aim. Emergency Medicine Journal, 38(6), 474–476.  https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2020-210896 (Links to an external site.)

Wakefield, M., Williams, D. R., Menestrel, S., & Flaubert, J. L. (Eds.). (2021). The future of nursing 2020-2030. National Academies Press.  https://doi.org/10.17226/25982 (Links to an external site.)

 

Response to Liz

Chapter 10 of the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021) discusses the importance of nurses’ well-being in an out of the professional setting, and how it correlates with their performance. Currently, the most relatable example for most is the emotional and physical exhaustion that occurred subsequent to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020, nurses phased an emotional turmoil like never before, yet many had to put on a brave mask and leave work to care for their families as if their day had not been filled with sadness and defeat. To no surprise, the prolonged stress nurses are put under puts them at risk for infections, whether it’s due to one’s health or lack of vigilance for infectious exposure; as well as it affects the care provided and how that care is perceived, and suicide occurrence (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021; Barnes et al., 2021). The American Nurse Journal, a journal under the American Nurses Association, has identified steps to approach increased suicide rates amongst nurses. In their approach, they encourage Awareness, Identify, and Recognize (AIR) steps to identify and seek help for those at risk for suicidal ideation (Davidson et al., 2021). Although not every suicide may be preventable, their goals is to provide a basis of knowledge for action if suicidal ideation is suspected (Davidson et al., 2021).

     Stakeholders for this initiative are nursing employers, such as hospitals or physicians and advanced practiced nurses, mental health providers, and nurses. Organizations that would be beneficial allies in this matter are the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line. With their support, awareness and prevention can be optimized to make those who feel at risk, or identify others at risk, feel supported.

 

References:

Barnes, A., Choflet, A., Davidson, J., Lee, K. C., Ye, G., & Zisook, S. (2021). A comparative analysis of the substance use and mentsl health characteristics of nurses who comlete suicide. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 30(13), 1963-1972.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15749 (Links to an external site.)

Davidson, J. E., Choflet, A., Clark, P., Dilks, S., Earley, M. M., Mims, T., Morrow, L., & Tucker, S. (2021). Nurse suicide prevention starts with crisis intervention. American Nurse Today, 16(2), 14-18.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). Supporting the health and professional well-being of nurses. In M. K. Wakefield, D. R. Williams, S. Menestrel, & J. L. Flaubert (Eds.), The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity (pp. 301-354). The National Academies Press.

Response to Maka

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Report presents 11 chapters of well-researched and evidence-based recommendations for nursing practice in the current decade. Of these chapters, I find chapter 4, “The Role of Nurses in Improving Health Care Access and Quality”, to be best suited for the advanced nursing path as nurses have the power and accountability to improve the way healthcare is delivered. The chapter acknowledges that inequality and accessibility to quality care are a major challenges in U.S. healthcare system, and nurses are the best-suited professionals to address those issues (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, 2021). This chapter highlights two goals, ending healthcare inequalities and improving the quality of care. 

To achieve these goals, the government has taken a number of steps at both the state and federal levels. For instance, the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act purposes to improve the quality of services patients receive in the health care system, regardless of social determinants, such as race, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. Further, the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act ensures progress towards two objectives: an improved nursing workforce and enhanced patient safety and quality care. With mandatory minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, nurses can deliver better care (Shin et al., 2018). Achieving these goals is not seamless. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine (2021) recommends revising the scope-of-practice laws and advises that nursing schools must ensure to enhance nurses’ abilities to address social factors that influence health. 

Nurses, healthcare institutions, policy makers, nursing associations, nursing schools are stakeholders who would benefit from these recommendations. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 believes that nurses are in a great position to link the health and healthcare to social and economic needs of society (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021). Notably, advanced practice nurses could deploy tactics, such as advocacy, negotiation, and policy suggestions, to improve engagement of stakeholders and heed the goals of improving access and quality of care. 

References 

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The role of nurses in improving health care access and quality. In M. K. Wakefield, D. R. Williams, S. Menestrel, & J. L. Flaubert (Eds.), The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity (pp. 99–126). The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982. 

Shin, J. H., Koh, J., Kim, H. E., Lee, H. J., & Song, S. (2018). Current status of nursing law in the United States and implications. Health Systems and Policy Research, 05(01).  https://doi.org/10.21767/2254-9137.100086 (Links to an external site.)