Journal 4-5

Institutional affiliation

Course and code

Utility of the Information Learnt in Nursing Career

Martin-Garcia et al. (2020) defines nursing career as the licensed profession that involves autonomous, skilled and collaborative patient care under the guidance of a doctor. In the healthcare fraternity the nurse is the healthcare worker who is in direct day to day contact with the patient. Although instructions of the patient management are provided by the doctor, it is the nurse who executes these instructions hence the claim that the nurse is in more contact with the patient than other healthcare staff. For instance, it is the nurse that issues the prescribed medication, ensures the hygiene of the patient, carries out patient care and does other activities such as blood transfusion. Besides, it is the nurse who takes care of the patient in both the in-patient and the outpatient set-up. The chances that a patient who has come from home will meet a nurse before meeting a doctor are high due to the deficiencies in the healthcare system. The information learnt from the book “Healthcare Operations Management” has provided some of the methods of working through this profession.

The authors have discussed the Challenges and Opportunities that are in the healthcare system. With respect to the nursing career, I have been able to identify some of the challenges in the healthcare from where one can harness opportunities. With the current rate of university enrollment, it is not unexpected that the nursing field will be flooded with qualified staff (Guha and Kumar, 2018). It is therefore necessary that one identifies an opportunity within the nursing field so as to stand out among the many applicants. I have learnt that there are means I can use to be able to be competitive within the nursing field. The book has indicated that the success of the United States healthcare is based on strategies that have been implemented by the government and other relevant healthcare stakeholders. One of these strategies is employment of talented, skilled and specialized personnel. An example is hiring specialized nurses for respective departments within the hospital. I therefore plan to specialize so as to be competitive for employment and to succeed in the career. The other strategy is hiring of staff members that are conversant with the digital systems and technology. An example is a nurse who is able to use the digital vital signs monitors. I will therefore endeavor to take an IT (Information Technology) course to be able to use modern technology in patient care. This will not only make me favorable in the market, but it will also improve my work experience.

I also obtained information on how I can succeed in private practice. The book has identified one of such strategies as aligning oneself with the national and state policies. For instance, it highlighted the passage of the Affordable Healthcare which has promoted efficient healthcare system in the country. Famously referred to as Obamacare, the act compels nurses, through the Board of Nursing to ensure that nurses continuously appraise themselves with transformational, innovative and coordination leadership and management skills to ensure efficient patient care (Ginter et al. 2018). In private practice, I will ensure that I coordinate with fellow healthcare workers while managing patients privately. The concept of leadership is one interesting issue in the nursing field. Although the nurse executes the doctor’s instructions, he is expected to make some emergency life-saving decisions that are so urgent to wait for the arrival of the doctor. My approach to this concern will be to undertake extra training especially on emergency situations that may call for my action while in practice. An example is the ATLS program. This program equips the healthcare practitioner with basic skills on how to manage emergency situations involving trauma patients.

The book also has information that is centered on the patient’s interest. I concur with the information since the major goal of healthcare practice is to ensure patient safety and dignity. Indeed the cost of healthcare provision has been steadily rising in the US. This situation is informed by the desire for quality and efficient healthcare services, which reciprocates to an increase in the cost of healthcare. I will therefore seek to practice in a manner that will be cost-effective to the patients rather than exerting an unnecessary financial and other burden. In this consideration, I am cognizant of the fact that some investigations are expensive yet vital to the patients. My approach will be to utilize only the minimum required resources to reduce the financial burden as possible. The other concept I would adopt from the book is Scientific Management. In private practice, I would embrace the concepts of this theory in governing the entity.

Evidence-Based Medicine is one of the concepts that is being advocated for in the current healthcare practice. One of the simple strategies I would use to embrace EBM will be to use the standards and guidelines in practice. The use of protocols in patient-management ensures a standard approach in terms of caring for the patient. For example, managing a Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) patient using the standard protocols will have merits such as when the patient will be referred. The receiving healthcare worker will be able to understand the intervention that has thus far been done, and pick from there. The other approach I would use is to embrace the judicious use of medication. This will ensure that patients receive only necessary medication to avoid resistance and also reduce the burden.

References

Daniel B., McLaughlin and John R. (2007). Health Operations Management. 3rd edition. Health Administration Press, Chicago, Illnois. AUPHA.

Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

Guha, S., & Kumar, S. (2018). Emergence of big data research in operations management, information systems, and healthcare: Past contributions and future roadmap. Production and Operations Management, 27(9), 1724-1735.

Marin-Garcia, J. A., Garcia-Sabater, J. P., Ruiz, A., Maheut, J., & Garcia-Sabater, J. J. (2020). Operations Management at the service of health care management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 13(2), 213-227.