Changes in the U.S. Health Care Delivery System
The Affordable Care Act
A few years back, policymakers adopted the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The regulatory law has dramatically changed and strengthened the American national health service, providing medical insurance to over 18 million citizens and preserving the livelihoods of millions of others (Gaffney & McCormick, 2017). The ACA improved preexisting condition rights for many Americans and reduced patient service costs for increased preventative care. On the other hand, the statute goes further than health coverage by requiring businesses or administrators of various organizations to also provide breastfeeding female employees with free breaks (Gaffney & McCormick, 2017). The move also aims at allowing calorie counts in more commonly available restaurants for these individuals. The legislation has also established the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which further assists the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government departments in identifying and responding to health hazards (Ingwell-Spolan, 2018). Therefore, this law aims at ensuring the medical services are readily available to every citizen regardless of their status.
Affordable Care Act and Health Care Efficiency
The ACA has had a massive influence on the standard of medical assistance because it provides most American people with easy access to health care. Insurance coverage now incorporates much more severe health issues, including behavioral and mental health problems (Ingwell-Spolan, 2018). Importantly, the significance of the act is that it includes preventative treatment, with more persons developing a strategy of caring for their well-being before they become ill. For instance, most Americans today undergo flu vaccination or cancer scans before becoming sick. Hence, this ensures that fewer patients are getting into emergency rooms or dying from preventable causes. It also puts less financial pressure on the public health system.
The Affordable Care Act and Its Influence on the Nursing Career
The former President’s administration actively tried to criticize and attempted to repeal the ACA and its policies. Despite that, the act has had a profound effect on the nursing profession and nurses’ duties and responsibilities. The policy has shifted the emphasis on quality care results, putting more pressure on clinicians to demonstrate their ability to provide safe and efficient care (Gaffney & McCormick, 2017). Owing to the progressive forces, the mandate for advanced practice clinicians and nurse practitioners (NPs) has enormously increased. Although NPs are required to have specialized qualifications to perform duties effectively, they typically have optimal clinical results than other caregivers. The revolutionary ACA requires nurses to keep innovating, provide organizational change, and coordinate care as crucial players in delivering the next wave of cost control, improved efficiency, and patient access advancements (Gaffney & McCormick, 2017). Therefore, with this policy’s help, nurses can gain more knowledge and advance in their profession.
Pay-for-performance Influence on Client Results and Nursing Profession, and the Prospects and Accountabilities of the Nursing Duties
Quality interventions result in clients getting sufficient health treatment in hospitals, thus increasing the facility’s reported patient recovery rates. Furthermore, the introduction of pay-for-performance would diminish healthcare services’ standards and the sick person’s experience in hospitals (Lee & Nathan, 2018). Consequently, introducing quality controls in hospitals would enhance job efficiency by ensuring that medical staff meet strict standards to ensure client satisfaction. In a bid to maintain the hospital’s reliability of quality care, the staff will also be expected to report any cases of guidelines not being implemented by other employees at work. Also, pay-for-performance would cause a great deal of tension among caregivers, who will feel pressed when given tasks by the hospital management (Lee & Nathan, 2018). Finally, in such scenario, clinicians’ job will be to deliver better health care to patients entrusted to them in the facility.
The Significance of Professional Nursing Governance and Administration Duties in Encouraging Varied Client Safety and Excellence Care
Nursing leadership and management refers to the responsibilities of nursing practitioners who supervise healthcare workers, control the institutional framework of medical processes, and guide clinical personnel in inpatient care. Nurses and other healthcare employees who work in the medical sector perform increasingly interdependent and skilled management functions. Nearly every day, challenges do occur, some of which do not have specific or straightforward solutions. In this situation, leaders who give orders and require them to be implemented will fail. Transformational leadership is thus one of the expected approaches, and it primarily includes working on equal terms with others in an environment of understanding, respect, and cooperation. Thus, this type of governance has been linked to positive health outcomes, fewer medical mistakes, and lower employee turnover. It can also minimize occupational stress and inappropriate behavior, which is still an issue in the healthcare system (Lee & Nathan, 2018). Thus, the employees will be able to perform their duties in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Furthermore, all members of an organization’s team ought to collaborate in the operation of their profession. Doctors, clinicians, and other healthcare providers should work in a coordinated manner to eliminate hierarchical silos and keep each other responsible for improving safety and reducing avoidable adverse effects and medication errors. Everyone should be able to adjust to the ever-changing complexities of the health-care system. As technology has advanced, skilled nursing management and leadership have expanded to include technical innovations. For instance, leadership styles in technology, such as electronic medical records, necessitate a broad range of specialized skills. Knowledge capacities, such as computer and database acquaintance, are required for nursing leadership or management positions. Healthcare workers in places of authority frequently use agency databanks and reporting software applications to document, organize, and coordinate critical patient information.
Two Means in which Nursing Practice and Duties Will Grow or Change in the Next Five Years to Respond to Forthcoming Trends
Below are the forecasts for how nursing practice and responsibilities may evolve or change over the next five years. Firstly, the Ministry of Health will impose through ACA a wide range of demands on health practitioners, also providing them with various ways to advance a more patient-centered process. The medical system structure will change to ensure the effective distribution of primary health-care services to the majority of people to reduce the anticipated infections (Lee & Nathan, 2018). A high-tech facility will be designed to provide patients with quicker access to treatment. Health professionals will be able to merge their office and hospital activities. There will be a significant number of hospice facilities to assist with pain management. There will be more health centers to promote chronic illness care coordination and provide better access to specialist care and full consultation.
Secondly, the government will hire many health experts, including doctors and physician assistants, to provide effective primary health care services to all communities. Patient-centered nursing residences would be developed to promote more accessible admittance to medical care and provide clients with care at a reasonable fee. The nurses will collaborate with other experts such as nutrition experts, physical therapists, and mental health professionals, which will increase the efficiency of care management approach and assist nurses in decision-making (Lee & Nathan, 2018). Many new facilities, such as ambulatory surgery centers, will be established in new locations to provide employment opportunities for clinicians and physicians to apply their healthcare delivery expertise.
References
Gaffney, A., & McCormick, D. (2017). The Affordable Care Act: Implications for health-care equity. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1442-1452.
Ingwell-Spolan, C. (2018). Chief Nursing Officers’ views on meeting the needs of the professional nurse: How this can affect patient outcomes. Healthcare, 6(2), 56.
Lee, J., & Nathan, H. (2018). Quality measurement and pay for performance. Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America, 27(4), 621-632. Web.