Developing Health Legislation - Essay Example

?Developing Health Legislation Inserts His/ Her Inserts Grade Inserts (17, 11, Outline Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Background 4. Problems 5. Solutions and effects 6. Leadership and change 7. Collaboration with other professionals 8. Advance Practice registered nurse Implications 9. Conclusion Developing Health Legislation 1. Abstract. Health legislation seeks to reduce negative effects of poor health in a given population. Using information from publications, this paper will talk about developing health legislation. The process of developing health legislation identifies issues, solutions, leadership and collaboration with different professionals to complete the formulation. The advance practice registered nurse faces implementation as a result of health policy development. The process requires involvement in research and interpretation in an understandable manner to the legislators to support the health professional initiative. 2. Introduction. Health legislation entails the rules, regulations and laws given by the state to the society regarding health. The legislation applies to its population and is enacted by the healthcare system or appointed bodies as public health. Public health is concerned with the health of a particular society by ensuring that people make informed choices in their given situation and reduce the negative effects of poor health. Its motive is to assist the society live in good health and assist them get protection from health threats. This paper will discuss talk about developing health legislation. It will discuss how health policy is developed, problems leading to policy formulation, their solutions and effects. This paper will also state role of leadership and change, importance of collaboration with other professionals and implications for the advanced practice registered nurse. 3. Background. Health legislation has over the time evolved and become composite. Health policy that has been integrated as a strategy, implemented into the health care systems and the outcomes measured. The government through institutions comes up with different regulations used in the administration of health programs and healthcare services. Institutions are mandated to deal with public health function by developing policies. The health policy is researched on and analyzed regularly to establish its effectiveness on the society. Health legislation can be developed by legislators who may be informed by health professionals. The health professionals will have done research and come up with recommendations, which the legislators can use as a guideline. Health legislation will be part of the strategic plan of the government. Developing health policy is a process that entails decision making from the national level and is enacted at the decentralized level. This is because such policies may need funding from the government to sustain the endorsement of the policy. Health policy can be proposed by the government, nongovernmental organization or the private sector. It can be as a result of evidence based scientific research to improve certain health outcomes. Attempts to improve healthcare provision have also triggered policy development. Besides management of chronic illnesses and poor health outcomes, health policies have been developed to enable access to health professionals, medication and surgery. The healthcare policy facilitates access to medical technology and research. The policies may leave the population to cater for their health from own pocket or come up with policies that allow citizens access health facilities and health services (Holtz 2012, p. 3). 4. Problems. Health problems are unique and change over time in every society as Hassmiller (2010, p. 2) discusses. Therefore, there are health issues that can be identified as common in different societies. Policy makers begin their process by ensuring that they employ the most appropriate research methods to identify areas that need change and health policy. This exercise entails collaboration between different departments in health sector. The process begins by identification of health issues in society and is followed by research. The health policy is preceded by emerging issues in the society on the health of a society. Holtz (2012, p. 7) notes that, health issues are at times as a result of changing world, unintended activities, and planned actions. People interact with the environment that has organisms capable of causing disease. People can be victims of lifestyle changes that may contribute to health problems. One of the issues that health legislation considers is population. The growth of a population can increase rapidly than the available resources. The quality of life is better for families with few children. Thus, controlling population growth may be opted for to improve the quality of life. Equality in healthcare is a major issue in different parts of the world. There is inequality in the distribution of healthcare. The distribution of health facilities and professionals seem to be concentrated in the urban areas than in the rural areas. Developing countries have a bigger burden of health legislation because they lag behind in public health provision. Inadequate healthcare services result in poor health, social instability and poor economic growth. Bethel et al (2011, p. 24) mention that, infectious diseases are a major concern in health care. Recurring illnesses such as cholera, malaria and tuberculosis pose a threat to the populations. There are cases of resistance to certain antibiotics and drugs. In some cases the patients develop resistance because of poor management and poor adherence. Preventable diseases and avoidable injuries are a major health concern. Traffic accidents, war, street fights and poisoning. Pollution of the air and environment pose a threat to population. Tobacco use has effects on the health of the user as well as the second hand users. A lot of human suffering is experienced by patients with mental illness, abusing substance, depression and those with neurological disorders. The patients are either stigmatized or discriminated when they seek attention. The infrastructure to help the patient may be lacking. Intended injuries resulting from violence or suicide is a health issue. The burden of injuries is extended to others other than self because majority of the victims are teenagers or young adults. There are emerging illnesses that need to be addressed as they prove to be threatening. The treatment and management of cancer is a challenge. A society that does not take care of health needs will have low life expectancy or high mortality. The healthy life expectancy will be low. There will be a high number of people with disabilities. 5. Solutions and effects. Upon identification of health issues within the society, health professionals use the data collected and results to interpret the impacts on society and come up with solutions. The findings from the research and solutions are in line with scientific consensus. The solution to an issue results in the development of a policy. The professionals present the facts to policy makers, give estimations on the finances and enlighten them with the benefits of such policies. The professionals have a duty to present the facts in a manner that both the policy makers and the population can understand. Holtz (2012, p. 7) adds that, population issues are solved through enactment of family planning method. The government may enact policies that enable members of the society access either affordable or free family planning assistance. The assistance may be in the form of contraceptives and education to people of child bearing age. Family planning has been seen to have a positive impact on population control. Women who use contraceptives have a lower number of children than those who do not use contraceptives. Moreover, children are a given a good start in life if the parents are enabled to be healthy life from birth onwards. Equality in health provision results in economic growth and social stability in a society. This can be facilitated by increasing funding for health. The funding can be used to support health education, research, health programs as well as healthcare. Preventable diseases can be handles by ensuring that immunization is given at appropriate time and in amount to the population. With available medication and trained personnel, patients with mental illness, depression, substance abuse addiction and neurological disorders can get health assistance. Health interventions will include preparedness in the case of emergencies to care for their health and to minimize death. Policies that discourage consumption of harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol and abusive substances can be developed. There is need to improve diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This will assist a number of people in society live comfortably and survive. There are lifestyle health issues that require health policy such as obesity and diabetes. The state can encourage training of more professionals to assist in providing medical intervention to the population. 6. Leadership and change. To champion the implementation of health policy, the health professional is to take the leadership role and facilitate change. Leadership and change will require development of initiatives that comply with moral values and ethics. The leader will subscribe to humanitarian values. They will act in favor of those in need of health care. The main goal will be to improve the overall health of people living within a specific society. Leaders will bring change by ensuring that all the people can access health facilities to improve own health. Human rights will be upheld at all levels of the policy formulation. To bring change, leaders will support the development of research and medical technology. The leaders can join with advocacy groups to support health policies. To promote change, the stakeholders will collaborate and engage in team work in enacting the health policies. Changes will be necessary to make the healthcare system efficient and effective. For the change to occur collaborating with other professionals in health sector will be significant. Therefore, mentorship and development of support network is inevitable and should be encouraged as Hassmiller (2010, p. 23) states. 7. Collaboration with other professionals. Collaborating with professionals other professionals will enable the health policy making process become objective, credible and balanced. Furthermore, combined efforts lead to the generation of concrete evidence and facts to support the health policy formulation. Diverse input in the policy formulation provides insights on the effects and outcome upon various intervention methods. The best estimates on data can be obtained if different professionals collaborate in a given area. It will be possible to gain data in case there is a gap in the creation of information. Different perspectives will bring valuable contribution and additional information. The health professional has to find the state legislator who can introduce the health policy. This involves finding the committee as well as the members concerned with legislation of health. The health professionals can get local representatives. The professional organizations can also be consulted if they are willing to establish the policy. This can be achieved by giving explanations why the change or creation of a new policy is necessary. Additional support can be gained from other professionals in different departments in addition to the population. Consulting with the legislative workers is of great consequence. The legislative workers will assist in identifying areas that need to be corrected and what needs to be emphasized to make the health legislation process a success. This may entail meeting educational requirements, definitions of words and provide advice during the process. Gaining support to enable the health policy from diverse professional will give the health legislation support to become successful when it comes to implementation. 8. Advance practice registered nurse Implications. Registered nurse can contribute to health legislation by assisting patients achieve long term health goals and shun from poor health, by implementing the health policy. This can be achieved if they take part in implementation of innovative healthcare in line with health legislation. Additionally, the nurse will engage in research by participating in data collection. Research objectives can be to minimize errors in healthcare, enhance healthcare, enhance coordination of project, increase accessibility to healthcare and recruit more personnel in healthcare. Consequently, the nurse will remain up to date with emerging information in the health sector and continue with education. This will help in dealing with the changing needs of the society. It will of great value to extend the scope of service to the fullest so that the nurse fully utilizes their knowledge in promoting good health. It is important to diversify in the workforce so that rising health needs of society are addressed. Diversity will reflect patient’s cultural diversity and reflect professionalism. The nurse can improve the quality of health provision by showing professionalism at work. Professionalism can be employed at all levels while at work to deliver competent work at all time. In addition, advance practice registered nurse will be required to familiarize self with the government policies on health, financial systems, and government strategy and health legislation. 9. Conclusion. `Health legislation is concerned with laws, rule and regulations of a state about the population’s health. It is commonly applied as public health through health policies. Health policies assist reduce negative impacts of ill health in society. Health legislation largely relies on the support of the government and is informed by those in health sector. Health legislation begins with identification of health problems. Examples of health issues consist of: population, equality in healthcare, preventable diseases, mental illness and substance abuse. Other health issues include: violence, suicide, accidents and treatment and management of cancer. The identification of issues is followed by identification of possible solutions and their effects. These solutions will form a basis for health policy formulation. For instance the state may come up with family planning initiatives, discourage use of harmful substance, educate the population on making the right choices, give funding to health sector, and encourage preparedness in cases of emergencies. The legislative process will be guided by leadership principles. Policies formulated will comply with ethics and be in favor of those in need. Change will be realized if the leaders support the legislation and consults with other stakeholders. Developing the health legislation will become a success if there is collaboration among the different professionals who include legislators, health professionals from different departments and groups. Then the legislators can be involved to present the health policy. The advance practice registered nurse will implement the health policy at work. References Bethel, C. D, Kogan, M. D., Strickland, B. B., Robertson, J., and Newacheck,P. W. (2011). A national and state profile of leading health problems and health care quality for US children: key insurance disparities and across-state variations. Academic Pediatrics, 11, 3, 22-33. Hassmiller, S. (2010). Nursing's role in healthcare reform. American Nurse Today, 5, 9. Holtz, C. (2012). Global Health Care: Issues and Policies. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Read More