PROMOTING BETTER PATIENT CARE - Essay Example

Promoting Better Patient Care Teacher Promoting Better Patient Care In the earlier times the health care workforce majorly consisted of physicians, nurses and pharmacists. But as time passed on and due to technological advancement there are other health related professionals who complement the work of physicians and nurses. The term used is ‘allied health’ and the professionals are related with many health-related technical areas. They can be divided into two categories such as technicians or assistants and therapists or technologists.

(Shi & Singh, 2012, p.146)We can take the allied professionals speech therapist and social worker into consideration. The function of the speech therapist is to diagnose children and adults who have speech problems or language difficulties. Speech-language pathologists are certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and hold the masters degree or the degree certified to be suitable for the role. (McKay, 2012a, p.1) The speech therapists role is to guide and simulate the process of recovery by means of speech and language exercises.

Autism, cleft palate, brain or damage disorders, voice disorder, stammering are some of the causes for the speech difficulties. There are normal swallowing and speech changes after the head and neck cancer treatment and they need assistance of the speech pathologist. (“Encyclopedia of Health”, 2010, p. 977) A social worker help patients and families cope up with the problem resulting from long term illness, injury and rehabilitation. ‘Medical and public health social worker provide psychosocial support to those affected by chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses.

They work with patients, families, and caregivers.’(Mc Kay, 2012b, p. 1)The Council on Social Work Education accredits the baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in social work in the United States. (Zastrow, p. xx)Communication is an important tool for the speech therapists as it enables them to interact with the patient and develop the confidence in them. The treatment varies according to its severity and is based upon the patient’s case history and also relies on the patient’s verbal report of symptoms.

There is a major concern in the availability of speech therapists and if the facility did not have this specialty, then the use of interdisciplinary team concept is appropriate. It is a group of health care professionals from diverse fields who work in a coordinated fashion toward a common goal for the patient.(“Interdisciplinary teams”, Medical Dictionary) The team includes mostly the individual with severe communication disabilities, a family member or guardian, a speech-language pathologist, psychologist, physical therapist and so forth.

‘ASHA (2008) explicitly recognizes the concept of "role release" among professionals operating within a trans-disciplinary team model, allowing for primary service provision by a single individual who is not necessarily the Speech therapist.’ (“Communication Services”, 2008, para. 7)This helps the speech therapist to assign the task to the social worker who is the individual with the greatest expertise in their own areas and professional from other disciplines. This way the social worker can take over the function of the speech therapist.

They work according to the requirement and their typical work day in a hospital would include the Care Plan and how to administer the patient. In long-term care facility they would have a plan of action and conduct meetings which would help them to retrieve the progress and the improvement that they come across. In an out –patient clinic they would assign the task according to the requirement and do counseling .They can provide the assistance to the patients, by learning the concepts through augmentative and alternative communication methods such as manual signing aids, pictures, gestures and so forth.

They can evaluate the need for the financial resources or counseling family issues with the patient. This shared perspective and coordination amongst the team enable them to be on common ground and help the patient to recover at the earliest. If there is any conflict in the decision making process then they can put it across to the experienced and reliable person in the committee or seek the help from the associations that work in the similar fashion. (“Communication Services”, 2008, Para. 3) The patient needs can be matched with available interdisciplinary team resources.

Patients receive better supervision and get the satisfaction of being given utmost care.“Healthcare leaders and policy makers, most notable among them are the Phew Health Profession Commission and the Institutes of Medicine (IOM), have recommended an interdisciplinary team approach to all facets of health care.”(Grange, 2007, p.28)This way the team can get cross trained and work with the common mission to help the mankind and do justification to the health profession.Workforce Shortages in Health Care~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ABSTRACT:This paper answers the need for finding the reasons for the workforce shortages in healthcare and to implement the various steps that can increase the workforce.

Population growth, nursing shortage, aging work group are some of the problems that we come across.We need to work on this because the demand for the healthcare professionals is connected with the mankind and the world itself.By finding the long term and short term solutions this can be initiated.We can check the organizations that work and support this and strives to bring reformation.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The healthcare system has changed over years and its impact is one of the reasons for the less healthcare career aspirants.

There are many emergency rooms that have longer wait times due to less health care staff. The shortage of primary health care professionals such as physicians, nurses, dentists and mental health workers has been increasing since many years drastically. The three main reasons can be stated as follows,1. In most parts of the world, people are living longer lives with high-tech healthcare and technological advancement which leads to increase in the population growth and demand for the healthcare professionals increases.

( “ Why Healthcare is Experiencing Work Shortages”,2010)2. Nursing shortage is also one of the reasons and is highly due to low salaries, heavy workloads and frequent overtime. (Timofeeva,2002, p.76) There are many alternative careers that are open up for women and they are less inclined towards the nurse career. ‘Research indicates that 35% fewer women would choose nursing as a career in the 1990s than they would have in the 1970s.’( “Nursing Shortage”,p.2)3. Healthcare workforce is aging and the number of students enrolling is decreasing day on day.

‘In 2009 the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that nearly 50,000 qualified applicants were denied entrance to professional nursing programs in 2008.’One of the main reasons was due to lack of nursing faculty. This reflects that the need to increase the faculty has to be considered.( Enrado,2009)Short term solutions: Many college graduates are unable to find job in their respective fields then this can become the retool for entering a profession in healthcare that is able to compete in today’s market.

There are short term initiatives such as accelerated baccalaureate programs for a career change prospects and this can be one of the foremost steps to confront the shortage of healthcare workforce situation. (Feldman, 2003, p.11) ‘Accelerated programs in nursing have gained popularity over the last 10 years’. (Finch & Zhan, 2012, p.xiii) and are considered to provide the student the fastest way to become a registered nurse with most programs 12-18 months in length. Long-term solutions: ‘Long term initiatives such as image campaigns and outreach to elementary and middle school children are in use.

’(Feldman, 2003, p.11) We can make use of posters and flyers to all grade schools, high schools and colleges, to focus on the younger population regarding the career and through which it can have the positive impact on the minds of the individual. Educational systems have to incorporate the hospital involvement to help identify skills and capabilities that can help them to take this up as the career. According to American Public Health Association (APHA) report, “the increased funding in the medical training, funding higher salaries for working professionals, hiring more nursing faculty at universities, admitting more students to baccalaureate nursing programs, and increasing marketing and lobbying efforts to create a higher profile for the public health industry” can help in adding more healthcare workers.

(“Why Healthcare is Experiencing Work Shortages”, 2010) The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. AHA works with the intention to address the needs of the healthcare, its challenges, problems, causes and measures and put it across the associated members in the legislation, regulatory debates and judicial matters. (“About the AHA”, 2006)This can help to find the ways to remove the gap.

This type of initiation can act as a catalyst for creating a solid foundation for the future of the health profession.ReferenceAbout AHA. (2006). American Hospital Association. Retrieved from http://www.aha.org/about/index.shtmlCommunication Services and Supports for Individuals with Severe Disabilities: FAQs. (2004). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/NJC/faqs-interdisciplinary.htmEncyclopedia of Health. (4th ed.). (2010).New York: Marshall Cavendish.

Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=C598KB29mWAC&pg=PA977&dq=(Encyclopedia+of+Health,+speech+therapist&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KbL-T8_NJ8bYrQevj729Bg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=(Encyclopedia%20of%20Health%2C%20speech%20therapist&f=falseEnrado, Patty. (March 11, 2009). Nursing faculty shortage a barrier to nurse training. Washington. MedTech Media. Retrieved from http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/nursing-faculty-shortage-barrier-nurse-trainingFeldman ,Harriet R.(2003).The Nursing Shortage.

Strategies for Recruitment and Retention in Clinical Practice and Education. New York. Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=cSGsxrIdRNkC&pg=PR11&lpg=PR11&dq=There+are+short+term+initiatives+such+as+accelerated+baccalaureate+programs&source=bl&ots=eXbQebW2wz&sig=7DVbXEoislWzusuTgJqKePOelIQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ucH-T4tni-itB-DpxLwG&ved=0CFEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=There%20are%20short%20term%20initiatives%20such%20as%20accelerated%20baccalaureate%20programs&f=falseFinch, Linda, & Zhan, Lin. (2012).Achieving Excellence in Accelerated Nursing Education. New York. Springer Publications.

Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mfCI8xkt3TcC&pg=PA81&dq=accelerated+baccalaureate+nursing+programs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=K5XuT_2uFIS0rAfy-9m9DQ&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=shortage&f=falseGrange, Gilton C. (2007).The Effectiveness of Interdisciplinary Team Dynamics on Treatments in a Behavioral Health Environment. Florida. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=YZKft4-vdz4C&pg=PA28&dq=interdisciplinary+team+policy+in+health+care+publisher&hl=en&sa=X&ei=H7z-T4_EOsjOrQe44dTJBg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=falseInterdisciplinary Teams, Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine (7th ed.).(2003). Saunders. Retrieved from http://medical-dictionary.

thefreedictionary.com/interdisciplinary+teamMcKay, Dawn Rosenberg. (2012a). Speech Pathologist: Career Profile. About.com Guide. The New York Times Company. Retrieved from http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/speech_path.htmMcKay, Dawn Rosenberg. (2012b). Social Worker: Career Information. About.com Guide. The New York Times Company. Retrieved from http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/social_worker.htmShi, Leiyu, & Singh, Douglas A.(2012).Delivering Health Care in America.

A Systems Approach, Jones and Bartlett Learning Publications. Canada. Retrieved from Timofeeva, A.A. (2002).The Nursing Profession. New York. Nova Science Publishers. Retreived from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=46c4cNSKuRcC&pg=PA76&dq=nursing+shortage+heavy+workloads+and+frequent+overtime.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Mb_-T7yPMoTIrQelyPDSBg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nursing%20shortage%20heavy%20workloads%20and%20frequent%20overtime.&f=falseWhy Healthcare is Experiencing Work Shortages. (2010). CareerBuilder.

Miracle Workers. Retrieved from http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-1806-Healthcare-Why-Healthcare-is-Experiencing-Work-Shortages/Zastrow, Charles. (2009). Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare, Empowering People. (10th ed.).Canada. Cengage Learning Inc. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=D89nSQMCBdoC&pg=PR20&dq=The+Council+on+Social+Work+Education+accredits+the+baccalaureate+and+master%E2%80%99s+degree+programs+in+social+work+in+the+United+States.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=383-T7HOIYjTrQfjqezLBg&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Council%20on%20Social%20Work%20Education%20accredits%20the%20baccalaureate%20and%20master%E2%80%99s%20degree%20programs%20in%20social%20work%20in%20the%20United%20States.&f=false