Vulnerable Population in the Workplace - Essay Example

? Vulnerable Population in the workplace: Senior Crisis Unit (Mental Health). s of Submission Vulnerable Population in the workplace: Senior Crisis Unit (Mental Health) Alzheimer’s diseases have developed special challenges to psychiatrist nurses for the last few decades. It is sometimes extremely intricate to manage symptoms presented by Alzheimer’s diseases patients. In most cases, Alzheimer’s victims experience neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, delusions, depression, agitation, and hallucinations. On the other hand, in their service delivery, psychiatrist nurses experiences some barriers which hinder their services delivery to Alzheimer’s diseases patients. The available barriers in mental healthcare settings magnifies the disorder complications to patients, it hinders access to nurses and other mental health specialists by most patients, increases overreliance on caregivers for assistance and transport, over dependant on entitlement initiatives as well as increasing cognitive impairment (Lyketsos, Toone and Tschanz, 2010). The essay below will focus on the barriers encountered by psychiatrist nurses in their daily activities in psychiatric hospital. The essay will also offer some strategies to decrease or if possible eliminate these barriers. To start with, structural barriers constitute the main hindrance to psychiatric nurses’ quality service delivery. Structural setbacks in most cases influence nurses’ ability to efficiently diagnoses and treat neuropsychiatric complications brought about by Alzheimer’s diseases. Some of the main structural barriers that hamper with service delivery among psychiatric nurses include lack of the required psychiatric and geriatric skills and training as well as inadequate number of trained neuropsychologist and psychiatrist in healthcare systems. The structural barriers are in most cases known to compromise and complicate the care and treatment of Alzheimer’s diseases. Structural barriers in hospital setting have also amplified the burden in families that provide home care services to vulnerable and elderly patients in (Lyketsos, Toone and Tschanz, 2010). Secondly, lack of adequate time, resources, treatment options, and nurses’ abilities to offer comprehensive care to patients has significant negative impact to nurses’ service delivery in mental healthcare systems. The health care system has very limited trained and qualified professionals in psychiatry and referral services. Limited access to qualified psychiatrist nurses and practitioners means that, the available nurses are forced to offer medical care to complicated disorders which are beyond their professional training. Lack of adequate qualified practitioners has also lowered greatly the quality of services offered to patients in healthcare systems. Additionally, patients care is compromised by healthcare setbacks presented in offering the required treatment. Delays in offering apposite services are brought about by inadequate mental healthcare centers which led to delayed access to mental health services. Owing to inadequate number of trained psychiatrists, nurse in most cases are left with no option rather than to offer care to patient before consultation with mental specialist. Other nurses are forced to delay their services to patient which results to complication of the problem (Lyketsos, Toone and Tschanz, 2010). Due to limited available treatment services, nurses also experience brunt of families’ worries and frustration concerning poor services offered by inexperienced practitioners. Limited referral services to intricate disorders have also complicated access to quality services among severely infected patients. Moreover, family perception towards Alzheimer’s diseases symptoms also complicates nurses’ efforts to offer care to Alzheimer’s diseases patients. Access to referral services for medical assistance is extremely a complicated process especially for low income earners. The complication associated with access to referral professionals in most cases forces less trained nurses to handle very complicated cases. On the other hand, despite trying their level best to provide quality care to patients, many patients decline to get abrupt referral assistance. Delay to utilize referral services is mostly due to stigma, cultural restrictions and values, lack of adequate resources, frailty and reduction in the disorder symptoms, symptoms discomfort as well as logical issues such as transport complication for distant referral specialists (Lyketsos, Toone and Tschanz, 2010). Family ambivalence regarding the available treatment options has also impacted on the utilization of referral services. The structural guidelines on referral services constitute another complicated barrier among psychiatric nurses on their services delivery. In most cases, negotiations on referral services are supposed to be conducted through indirect channels of communication. The process of accessing referral follows a strict procedure which puts treatment plans on hold. Older adult on the other hand do not acknowledge the important of mental health services. Most of the elderly people do not utilize referral services. This results to increased level of the unmet needs in the society. Poor relationship between mental health experts and psychiatric nurses complicate patient care services in hospital settings. The relationship complications entails; lack of well coordinated care, poor communication, and limited feedback from practitioners after patient visit. On the other hand, mental patients’ medical records take substantial long time to transfer from specialists to nurses. The delay leads to communication breakdown that interferes with timely diagnosis and treatment. The use of carve-outs has also led to delay in service delivery to patients. Carve-outs deter direct communication between specialists and psychiatric nurses. Lack of direct interaction between nurses and specialists interferes with continuity in taking care to patient (Lyketsos, Toone and Tschanz, 2010). Delays in getting feedbacks from mental specialists have also turned referral service unhelpful to most patients. In most situations, nurses rely on mental health specialists to prescribe medication. Untimely feedbacks from psychiatrists as a result hamper and limit timely treatment for emerging complications. The gap which is developed by carve-outs has also reduced professional development among psychiatric nurses which might me relevance in improving coordinated treatment for mental patients. Professional developed is as well useful in increasing nurses’ comfort in treating emerging symptoms by themselves without referring cases to ever busy mental health specialists. Before the introduction of carve-outs, nurses had the potential of developing professionally as well as developing synergistic relationship with other service providers. Despite the compromising situations faced by the Alzheimer’s diseases patients, structural barriers also interferes with others facets in medical practice. As nurses try to offer quality services, they results to wear and tears on patient, other staffs and even to themselves. Working on extra time leads to lacks of control, strain, burnouts and sense of powerless. Overwork which is brought about by structural barriers interferes severely with the quality of services offered by nurses to their patients. The process of accessing referral services is also very complicated and tiresome to practitioners. Actions plan Support Education, Career Development and Training among Mental Health Staffs Lack of adequately trained psychiatrists is one of the common barriers that hinder elimination of disparity in workplace. On the other hand, psychiatric nurses are underrepresented in policy development, researches, policy making bodies, and in administration bodies. To facilitate quality service delivery to mentally challenged people in mental health hospitals, the hospital administration have the liability of increasing psychiatric nurses’ representation in all health development sectors. The training curriculum for psychiatric nurses and psychiatrist should also include training on the significant and impact of culture, ethnicity, and race in mental illness, mental health, and mental health services. To improve the quality and competency level among psychiatric nurses, the hospital administrators ought to offer frequent seminars and conferences to advance the proficiency level of health practitioners. During training, nurses and psychiatrist should also be trained on the importance of early treatment and diagnosis of mental related complications. Other plans relevant in advancing the competence level of health professionals include; advancing efforts to incorporate cultural competence in training curriculum, recruitment of more psychiatric nurses to serve as policymakers in training schools, recruitment of more psychiatric nurses to serve as psychiatric researchers in training schools as well as in developing support initiatives to advance cultural intelligence, cultural diversity and the efforts to reduce mental health disparities (Smedley, Stith , Nelson, 2010). Enhance Access to health services by patient through reducing barriers The structural and administrative barriers should be eliminated through facilitating interaction between nurses and medical health practitioners. The procedure of accessing referral services should be reduced to increases the number of patients who can access referral services. The involved organs should as well consider allocating adequate funds to cater for quality services to Alzheimer’s diseases patients. The fund should be used to offers seminar to nurses and specialists as well as for purchasing the required resources for treating Alzheimer’s diseases. The following actions are extremely crucial in enhancing access and elimination of barriers that hinder quality service delivery among psychiatric nurses; Facilitate interaction between nurses and mental health specialists, increases both tangible and intangible resources to mental health services, increases the number of trained psychiatrists in mental healthcare hospital, and offer quality training to mental health trainees. Provision of adequate policies to manage operation in mental health care services and nursing advocacy Adequate policy to eradicate barriers which hinders service delivery in referral systems is exceptionally important. Policies to eliminate mental health carve-outs will helps in reducing the gap between nurses and other mental health specialists. With the anticipated increase in the number of patient with Alzheimer’s diseases, policies to reduce the procedure of accessing referral specialists are also very crucial and relevant. Nurses should also play a role in policy making exercise. Additionally, mental disorder victims require adequate support from nurses. The nurses should as well offer adequate advocacy services to vulnerable people in the society (Smedley, Stith , Nelson, 2010). References Lyketsos C, Toone L, Tschanz J, (2010). Population-based study of medical comorbidity in early alzheimer’s diseases and “cognitive impairment, no dementia (CIND)”: association with functional and cognitive impairment: The Cache County Study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 13:656–664 Smedley B, Stith A, Nelson A, (2010) Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, Board on Health Sciences Policy, Institute of Medicine. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Read More