Telehealth and the Role of Nurses in Strengthening Healthcare Infrastructure - Essay Sample

Introduction

Nurses are trained and prepared to give a wide spectrum of services and skills throughout the health care system. Accordingly, telehealth requires the services of nurses, especially because they are the primary caregivers and have a closer relationship with patients. Nurses will also guarantee the proper and timely delivery of telehealth services (Fathi, Modin & Scott, 2017). Thus, all healthcare providers must all collaborate to strengthen existing infrastructure in the healthcare sector, delegate activities so that more clients are attended to; and develop pathways for healthcare delivery as well as models in telehealth to address pertinent issues like quality reimbursement (Dearholt & Dang, 2017). Nurse leaders play a crucial role in facilitating collaborative practices which are critical to the sustenance of effective care delivery.

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More so, nurses have been identified to be the most reliable, frontline healthcare givers. They are strategically placed to support ever element of telehealth and especially those that have the highest impact on the well-being of patients. In their role and policy advocates, clinicians, educators, and through transformational leadership skills, nurse leaders must be fully involved in the planning, adopting and implementation of changes within the healthcare system (Fathi, Modin & Scott, 2017). In this part, the role of a nurse leader in the adoption, implementation, and sustenance of an effective telehealth care system will be discussed.

Communication

Inspirational leadership has always been linked with the strategic vision and a cogent plan to realize the objectives. Leadership is also related to providing guidance and motivation to others so that the set mission is actualized. Crucial to guiding and motiving is skillful communication practices (Jeffers & Astroth, 2013). The skill of communication is essential to nursing leaders because every stakeholder needs to be involved in the adoption and actualization of the vision, consequently ensuring that results are achieved.

Training

Studies have suggested that to make coaching effective its value must be recognized right from the executive level down to the clinical staff where the nurse leader has training and coaching skills they pass the same skills to their staff consequently improving their performance. Training in conjecture with coaching is valuable in helping nurses to enhance their performance and maximize their potential. Besides, it is used for teaching new practices to the staff, which facilitates the implementation of such new practices (Jeffers & Astroth, 2013). For the current project, there is a need for the nurse leaders to apply training skills since the adoption of telehealth is similar to change management, where the nursing staff has to be introduced to new practices.

Budget

A key role of any leader is their participating in the planning process. Planning entails identifying the underlying problem(s), finding a solution, implementing the solutions, and ensuring that those solutions are adopted. All these steps involve the use of resources mainly to conduct research, facilitate training, and sustain the approved skills. For this reason, nurse leaders are required to participate in the budget planning since they are not only part of the department leaders, but they also understand their staff needs adequately (Jeffers & Astroth, 2013). They will be required to report to the budgeting team, the needs of their department and budget proposals that will be used to make the final budget of the organization.

Change Management

The concept of telehealth is new in the healthcare system, and hence, its adoption will entail the implementation of various changes within the hospital and the healthcare system in general. It is the role of a nurse leader to work closely with the change management team to ensure that the desired change is not received with resistance. More so, they are required to oversee its implementation within their department is successful and that their staff fully understand what the change is all about (Jeffers & Astroth, 2013). Practical communication skills are essential since the nurse leader must continuously communicate with both the change team and their staff.

Authority

The nurse leader has authority by default since they occupy a position of power. The authority that is held by nursing leaders helps them to have an influence on others since they are not only considered to be a leader, but they are also role models. As such, their staff emulates them and often follow their advice, direction, and behaviors. Nurse leaders are therefore required to conduct themselves appropriately at all times and to fully understand the influence that they have within the healthcare system. As leaders, they will be participating in the adoption and implementation of the telehealth system. More so, they will play a vital role in overseeing change management within their department (Jeffers & Astroth, 2013). The implementation of telehealth into the mainstream health care will require a person of authority to lead since they will facilitate its acceptance.

Conclusion

The nurse leader plays several critical roles in ensuring that any required change within the organization is well-received and that its implementation and adoption is successful. Accordingly, to play these roles effectively, the nurse leader must have strong leadership skills. The critical roles of nurse leaders mentioned in this part include communication, training, budgeting, change management, and authority.

References

Dearholt, S., & Dang, D. (2017). Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice: Models and guidelines. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.

Fathi, J., Modin, H., & Scott, J. (2017). Nurses Advancing Telehealth Services in the Era of Healthcare Reform. The Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 22(2).

Jeffers, B., & Astroth, K. (2013). The Clinical Nurse Leader: Prepared for an Era of Healthcare Reform. Nursing Forum, 48(3), 223-229. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12032