HCA-DQ3-Reply
JS79
SSHW-DQ3-Reply.docxPlease reply to Georgelene Humberg– Please note minimum of 200 words. No sources citation needed.
The United State is an area with a rich diversity and culture of people from around the world. The United States is considered “the melting pot” where people from different areas come to live in the United States with their uniqueness with culture and diversity. As healthcare workers, nurses living and working here, we must care for people of different cultures, diversities, people from different socio-economic backgrounds, and people from all age groups, and from a variety walks of life, including those in the LGBT groups. With the Affordable Care Act made into law here, nurses are in an importance role for advocating the importance of preventive care, educating about disease prevention in different age groups, and being aware of current public health issues. Despite the wealth and being one of the powerhouses in the World, according to the CDC, people living in the United States have the highest suicide rates (World population reviews, 2022), Americans are overworked, stressed, and suffer from loneliness.
Nurses work with a variety of disciplines in healthcare, they work alongside with physicians, other healthcare professions such as those working in radiology, pharmacists, laboratory, those in administration, as well as those in information technology for the improvement of patient care and patient safety. As seen with the Affordable Care Act, the impact of poverty greatly affects the cost to everyone living in our communities. Unfortunately, there is a lack of literature linking how to foster a culturally competent environment (Nair & Adetayo, 2019). A study of 119 California hospitals have revealed that nonprofit hospitals serve a more diverse patient populations, are in more affluent and competitive markets, and exhibit higher cultural competency. On the industry level, the lack of diversity in healthcare leadership is divided with 98% of senior management in healthcare industries are White or Caucasian. In the field of plastic surgery, only 7% of department chiefs and chairs in this field are women. White males dominate the field of plastic surgery (Nair & Adetavo, 2019).
Preventative care showed a reduced cost in the hospital in comparison to treating an individual with a disease. As Nurses, we need to advocate and educate the public with benefits to health when preventative care is practiced. It is important to provide health care to the marginalized populations. Nurses are encouraged not to discriminate against the populations in their community. There is an increase in patients being treated in the hospitals who are poor, living in poverty, and/or are homeless. This is due to their lack of health preventative care, not making their health a priority, and public awareness of the homeless. As nurses, we have made an oath to care for people, regardless of age, race, social-economic status, and gender. The current health problem we face today is the opioid crisis and destigmatizing those who suffer with mental health. Nurses are also in the position to advocate for healthy self-care, unfortunately due to the nursing shortage, nurses are overworked, understaffed, nurses are part of the increasing problem of suicides due to stress and loneliness (Frontiers, 2022). Changes must be made to combat past and current issues nurses are faced with today.
Frontiers. (2022). Suicide in healthcare workers: determinants, challengers, and the impact
Of covid-19. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.792925/full
Nair, L., & Adetayo, O. (2019). Cultural competence and ethnic diversity in healthcare.
Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6571328/
World population reviews. (2022). Suicide rates by state 2022. Retrieved from:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/suicide-rates-by-state
Please reply to Linda Miller– Please note minimum of 200 words. No sources citation needed.
Social determinants of health (SDOH), including education, socioeconomic status, employment, the physical environment, and healthcare access, improve healthcare and effectively reduce health disparities. Addressing the over and underutilization of health services can help in reducing the health disparities caused by different SDOHs. According to Roberts et al. (2022), the overutilization of healthcare services compromises patient safety and leads to unnecessary healthcare costs, adding up to 780 billion dollars and making healthcare institutions less efficient. Underutilization is also harmful because it negatively affects prevention and disease management. An effective strategy to combat the over and underutilization of health services is interprofessional collaboration, particularly between nurses and physicians. Shared decision making between nurses, physicians and patients to inform patients of the potential risks and benefits of having a procedure empowers patients and supports them in making informed decisions on having a procedure or not.
According to Roberts et al. (2022), 30% of fewer patients opt for procedures after carefully thinking of their pros and cons. Additionally, 30% of uninformed patients report regretting having a procedure and say that they would not recommend their friends to have similar procedures. Therefore, the collaboration between the nurse-physician and patient is essential in curbing the overuse and underuse of health services. The nurse’s role is to be well-informed and provide the team with the most current evidence on the best practice in treating a condition. The information will enable the physician and patient to determine if a procedure is necessary or not. To curb underutilization, the interprofessional team should reach out to patients and advise them to do procedures they think are unnecessary (Glasziou et al., 2017). Informing patients of why they need a procedure will help them make the right decisions. The collaboration would include nurses, physicians and community health educators.
Diversity and cultural awareness among healthcare providers are essential for building stronger healthcare teams and improving care delivery for healthcare consumers. Diversity empowers healthcare professionals to develop their skills and talents. Diversity provides practitioners with diverse viewpoints that boost their problem-solving capabilities. Additionally, shared decision-making within a diverse team is more efficient because it brings together different perspectives on an issue, improving healthcare decisions. Cultural awareness improves the relationship within a healthcare team. It helps practitioners understand their own cultures, values, beliefs, and differences between their and others’ cultures, helping them accept and respect cultural differences. According to Henderson et al. (2018), cultural awareness reduces misunderstanding between interprofessional team members by reducing cultural barriers and helping team members appreciate the differences between them.
References
Glasziou, P., Straus, S., Brownlee, S., Trevena, L., Dans, L., Guyatt, G., & Saini, V. (2017). Evidence for underuse of effective medical services around the world. The Lancet, 390(10090), 169-177.
Henderson, S., Horne, M., Hills, R., & Kendall, E. (2018). Cultural competence in healthcare in the community: A concept analysis. Health & Social Care in the Community, 26(4), 590-603.
Roberts, D. J., Sypes, E. E., Nagpal, S. K., Niven, D., Mamas, M., McIsaac, D. I., ... & Grimshaw, J. (2022). Evidence for overuse of cardiovascular healthcare services in high-income countries: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 12(4) 67-72.
