Research Paper on Nursing Care Transformation

Introduction

Healthcare system is gradually undergoing a rapid change toward more patient-centered care, quality care for the patients and other changes like technological changes. The nursing sector is one of the major parts of the health care system. As healthcare undergoes the rapid changes, nursing has not been left behind. The roles and scope of nursing have been facing and is expected to face major transformation. To understand the future scope of nursing, the paper looks into the importance of transformation in the sector. The nursing role changes in the healthcare sector help understand future scope of nursing career. Technology plays a major role in the rapid transformation in the world including the healthcare industry (Mazanec, et al., 2018). Adoption of technology in the transformation and future scope of technology have been discussed as an evolving issue. Three nursing organizations at the forefront of transforming the nursing scope have also been discussed, as organizations play a big role in the transformation. Major barrier faced by transformation in nursing helps to understand the expected transformation and hence the scope change.

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As stated, the health sector has been changing rapidly. The changes are expected to continue, to help the industry move towards a patient-centered system unlike common specialty care offered, help nurses offer services to the extent of their training, and empower collaborations in the nursing sector (Cummings, 2918). When such changes are achieved, healthcare will benefit from factors such as improved quality in healthcare, improved safety, and error reduction. Nurses are at the best position to help attain the desired transformation, due to their numbers compared to other medical professionals and the nature of their scientific-based education. Importance of transformation can be looked into through discussing access to primary care and quality health care.

Quality care has been linked to nursing care. Transformation into regulations that improve nurse's safety has yielded to improved quality care. Nurses are directly involved in the treatment of a patient and can, therefore, reduce medication errors. Transformation into policies and working environment that favor the nurses has been linked to reduced rates of infections and improved patient services including help in the transition of the patients. Environments that adopt initiatives that are led by nurses to improve quality of healthcare have reported success.

The three professional nursing organizations that are at the forefront of advancing the nursing scope and influence the nursing profession transformation include American Nursing Association (ANA), American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), and Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNNA). ANA is one of the oldest nursing associations, and the largest national association. The association has members across all states, with several state-level organizations. Among the association's main agenda is growth of nursing profession, focusing on both individual and organization growth. AACN is a nursing organization that focuses on the specifics of the profession. The organization focuses on the specific clinical environmental factors, and on specific roles among the nursing scope. HPNNA focuses most on nurses who deal with palliative care. The association offers tones of information on this kind of care to its members. It also allows members to participate in various topics to come up with the best solutions (Benton, et al., 2017).

Among the associations, it would be my wish to join ANA. The association offers a chance of growth in the profession, through various means of educating its members, both at the national level and at the state level. It also offers various certifications, which are offered after certain tests, to ensure that one is equipped with the required skills to succeed in the profession. Also, the association offers several programs and interaction forums where the members can contribute towards advancing the profession. Its main goal is improving patient care, through supporting individuals or organizations. My world view of nursing is that the profession should be patient centered. Offering better healthcare services to the patients should be the main agenda for all nurses (Benton, et al., 2017). The association recognizes this fact, and is at the forefront of driving nursing transformation to achieve better healthcare. By joining the association, I will benefit from the more than a hundred years' experience the association has, and learn from associating with some of the best nurses in the country.

In changing the clinical practice, technology is expected to change the norms in the normal hospital settings (Mazanec, et al., 2018). Processes such as communication within the hospitals, communicating to patients or their family members, making decisions, review and diagnosing are expected to change from how they are done today. For example, many hospitals are now embracing data warehousing and decision system designs, which integrate hospital systems into one unit, which makes work more efficient and reduce mistakes. Technology will change the common means of service delivery, therefore redesigning the current roles. Nurses will have to work with systems that have patient integration more than before. Sharing of medical histories by nurses will be more digital and interconnected. Technology has allowed more connections between people, extending to the connection between patients and physicians. The patients and physicians will not have to communicate in real time anymore. Websites and mobile applications will be used to offer services that do not necessarily need the presence of a caregiver. Nurses will have to learn how to use such systems and still offer quality health care. Along the changes, the nursing profession will have to change to accommodate all technological advancements.

The transition in nursing is expected to have a great impact on healthcare. Advance healthcare management models result from the changes in healthcare technology. Targets and goals to improve care management for chronically ill patients have benefited from the transition. A range of strategies for individuals who need care from multiple providers and for a long period have been achieved to better healthcare quality through technological intergration. With the changes, programs that target specific diseases and specific patients, thus offering the nurses with better tools that improve the management of services (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2017). The changes also promote outreach and strategies that improve patient's response to treatment. Better systems that support patients' feedback have also supported care management.

Transition in healthcare is expected to get rid of the fragmentation which leads to poor quality and unaffordable costs. Nurses play a vital role in health care transformation and are therefore in a better position in leading transitions such as a patient-centered medical home. The model provides primary care where the care teams provide all need of the patient through coordinating a patient-centered. Such a model can work perfectly for special need children, especially those who study at home.

Transitional care is also expected to change with the changes in the nursing scope. In a recent study, it was discovered that about one in every five Medicare patients is re-admitted within a month after discharge. It was also discovered that about half of this patients are not attended to by any physician. A huge amount of money, almost about seventeen percent spent on Medicare, is spent on re-admission cases (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2017). Out of the re-admission cases, some can simply be avoided by having a physician or medical practitioner checking on them after discharge. In the future, medical facilities and practitioners should be expected to visit patients after they are discharged, to avoid cases that can be solved by the visit, therefore reducing the medical cost. Hefty fines should be imposed on any healthcare facility that does not offer transitional care. All this can be achieved through technological growth like use of data warehousing for communication and planning in the healthcare sector.

In future, the nursing scope will entail accountable care organizations, which is the integration of locally organized hospitals, care providers, insurance companies and all parts that makeup health care services to a specific population of patients. Accountable care organizations offer advantages such as cost control (Quinn & Ryan, 2016). Integration of services will ensure that healthcare providers and patients sign agreements that compels nurses and other healthcare providers to be accountable for every penny used in healthcare service. Service providers will also target certain quality levels for costs paid for healthcare to ensure patients pay for quality services.

Adoption of healthcare technologies simplifies delivery healthcare service. Most hospitals have not fully integrated the required health infrastructure technology, with only about five percent of the hospital practicing within all the required technology (Quinn & Ryan, 2016). Health information technology is expected to change the clinical process, redesign the skills and roles of healthcare workers, introduce a new way of how and where healthcare services are offered, and increase healthcare efficiency and increase better healthcare outcomes.

Conclusion

As discussed, the nursing sector has been transforming rapidly to better the service and healthcare in general. However, the transformation has been facing barriers and challenges that have been hindering the full potential of the transformation. There have been regulatory and policy barrier that has contributed to the lack of a more efficient transformation. Regulatory barriers are laws and bylaws that affect the scope of nursing (Joseph, et al., 2018). The regulations affecting nursing transformation vary from state to state. The nurses are trained in the same schools and using the same curriculum. Therefore, all nurses should be at liberty to practice to their full potential. Professional resistance is experienced through some professional medical organizations not supporting the transformation process of expanding nursing scope (Joseph, et al., 2018). There are several professional tensions that surround nursing just like in many other careers. Some nursing associations refuse to recognize some of the rising scopes. Fragmentation across many sectors in nursing and the medical profession, in general, affect the transformation. The fragmentation across many sectors comes with weak connections between several components, thus weaken chances of building value (Philip, et al., 2018). The insurance companies have outdated policies makes it difficult for nurses to expand their services in the private insurance health sector. Transformation comes at a cost most of the private insurance companies do not want to pay (Jones, et al., 2018).

References

Benton, D. C., Thomas, K., Damgaard, G., Masek, S. M., & Brekken, S. A. (2017). Exploring the Differences Between Regulatory Bodies, Professional Associations, and Trade Unions: An Integrative Review. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 8(3), 4-11.

Cummings, S. A. M. (2018). Nursing and its Importance in Future. Adv Nursing Patient Care Int J, 1(2), 180006.

Dellefield, M. E., Castle, N. G., McGilton, K. S., & Spilsbury, K. (2015). The relationship between registered nurses and nursing home quality: An integrative review (2008-2014). Nursing economic$, 33(2), 95-108.

Jones, C. B., Toles, M., Knafl, G. J., & Beeber, A. S. (2018). An untapped resource in the nursing workforce: Licensed practical nurses who transition to become registe...