Nurses as Full Partners in Redesigning Health Care in United States

Background

Effective communications is an important element in influencing the delivery of healthcare to the public from the medical practitioners. However, there are incidences that communication between physicians, nurses and other professionals in the medical field fail. The resultant is rise in medical errors that occur in patients and this is detrimental to the health of the society. Indeed, when there is communication breakdown between nurses and other medical practitioners, the patients likely suffer from wrong medical intervention (Wang et.al. 2017). Actually, poor communication result to patient harm and relatively long duration of admission for sick people in the society. It is necessary that nurses are involved in redesigning of different health care measures in America. 

Current Characteristics

Reports indicate that 70% of medical errors in hospitals originate from poor communication between different health professionals and the nurses (Apollo Hospitals, 2018). Indeed, poor communication results to avoidable harm and misuse of different resources in the hospitals. Ineffective communication arises from different scenarios such as giving information when it is late. Another characteristic is failing to give adequate information to all members of a team in a healthcare setting (Apollo Hospitals, 2018). Additionally, there are issues of relying on consents that are incomplete resulting to inaccurate intervention of patient condition by the nurses. Actually, health centers where there is effective communication between the different medical professional achieve higher patient outcome and lower readmission (Apollo Hospitals, 2018).

The Impact of the Recommendation to Different Stakeholders

Consumers benefit from a move to incorporate nurses in redesigning healthcare because they are able to get quality care from the hospitals. Indeed, consumers understand that when nurses are engaged in decision-making and this boosts their morale and they are able to offer friendly approach to their patients. Nurses on the other hand, feel that when their involvement in redesigning health care recognizes their important role in boosting health of the society (HealthCom Media, 2010). The nurses therefore are willing to offer their skills in responding to health needs of the public. Other health professionals such as doctors feel that, by engaging nurses, they build teamwork in hospital set up and improve service delivery. The public perspective is that of a healthcare that focus to prevent diseases in the society by offering timely interventions.

Current Solutions

One of the solutions to boosting effective communication in hospitalist is through conducting briefs before handing over shifts (Seller-Boersma et.al. 2017).  The brief ensure that nurses understand the needs of different patients and necessary intervention before they start the shift. The move further allows nurses a chance to understand any challenges that previous shift practitioners faced and their intervention. Further, introduction and use of safety checklist in drug administration is also available to ensure that wrong medication is avoided (Seller-Boersma et.al. 2017).   Additionally, health care professionals are communicating different patients’ daily plans and objectives and this guides medical administration. 

Status in the Health Policy Arena

There are different challenges that are currently facing the health care policies from the government and from other external stakeholders. There are different international actors such as pharmaceutical companies that supply drugs to the hospitals (Marmor, 2013). The pricing of such products is relatively high and this adds to the cost of medication for the society. However, through involvement of some medical professionals, they are able to suggest alternatives to the costly drugs. Through innovative approaches, there is introduction of generic drugs that are relatively cheap that original brand (Marmor, 2013). Indeed, nurses are pushing for recognition in management boards to give their insight about drugs and medical equipment they find affordable and reliable for the hospitals. 

Conclusion

Communication is important in the health sector and nurses are supposed to have an input in redesigning healthcare in America. Poor communication or ignoring nurses in redesigning care for patients results to medical errors. Further, the problem results to prolonged stay for patients in hospitals and readmissions. However, incorporating nurses in major decision in the healthcare has positive impact for different stakeholders including consumers, public and other health professionals. Currently nurses are pushing for recognition as important players in decision making in the health sector. 

References

Apollo Hospitals. (2018). Improve Effective Communication. Retrieved January 14, 2019, from: https://www.apollohospitals.com/lets-talk-health/patient-safety/improve-effective-communication/

HealthCom Media. (2010). Nursing’s Role in Healthcare Reform. American Nursing Today. Retrieved January 14, 2019, from: https://www.americannursetoday.com/nursings-role-in-healthcare-reform/

Marmor, T. R. (2013). Health Care Politics and Policy.The Business of Medicine: A Course for Physician Leaders. Yale JOURNAL OF Biological Medicine, 86(3), 407-411. 

Seller-Boersma, A., Simons, R., Steenbruggen, J. Et.Al. (2017). An Exploratory Study Of Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions Of Interprofessional Communication And Collaboration. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31(3), 397-400.

Wang, Y., Wan, Q., Lin, F. et.al. (2017). Interventions To Improve Communication Between Nurses And Physicians In The Intensive Care Unit: An Integrative Literature Review. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 5(1), 81-88.