Nurses Practice Acts, Federal Regulations and Nursing Homes - Essay Example

? Policy Change Plan of Policy making is one of the areas in which politics and nursing interact, sincepoliticians are a core to the development, enactment and implementation of nursing legislation are concerned. To this effect, nurses and their professional and welfare organizations should strategize to work with and incorporate politicians and political organization in their activities. There are several rules and legislations that politicians enact that have direct and indirect impact on nurses and patients, making the corporation among these stakeholders rather important. The Nurses practice Acts and the Nursing Homes Reforms Act of 1987 is among the legislations in the nursing system. These legislations, among others, should be supported since their enactment and implementation have ensured better, safer and higher quality services and protection, for outpatients and nursing home residents. Consequent to compliance with the nursing standards and principles set by these legislations, patients’ mental, physical, and psychological well being has improved considerably. Unfortunately, the realization of the objectives of these laws has been hampered by challenges such as criticism, cost, complexities that lead to misunderstanding. Introduction Since historical times, nursing and other medical professions have been interrelated to politics and governments through health departments and agencies. This link is evident in the manner in which government agencies regulate, monitor, and certify nurses and nursing homes. Consequent to this bond, nurses have been empowered to express their opinions and concerns to the political class, thus influencing the nursing policies established and implemented by the government and the political class. To influence nursing policies, nurses should, in addition to dealing directly with the political class, seek, form, and join nursing associations that would assist them understand and appreciate their contribution to, role, and position in nursing policies, pending legislation, and functioning laws (Mason et al., 2007). Therefore, to participate in policy-making processes their profession, nurses should seek out the right information and associations as the first step towards participating in nursing policy making and development. Nurses should also participate in meetings and forums with the political class and government agencies at all levels. Politics and politicians may thus present nurses with the necessary networking for sharing of nursing views (Committee on Nursing Home regulation, 1986). This paper explores some pieces of legislations in the nursing system and determines the driving force behind the legislation, potential impacts, and challenges such as access, quality, or cost. Nurses Practice Acts Nurses Practice Acts (NPAs) are among the legislations currently passing through the nursing system. Nursing Practice Acts are state legislations, which play a critical role in defining, describing, and classifying the nature and scope of nursing practices. As a result of these Acts’ critical role in the protection of public health, welfare, and safety, their enactment and implementation should be supported to fruition. The first amongst these benefits is the shielding of the public from immoral, incompetent, unsafe, and unqualified nurses. These statutory laws are in fact found in every state where they monitor and regulate entry and registration into nursing practice and associations. Furthermore, these statutory laws define the extent of nursing practices and establish the right disciplinary actions and procedures for errant nurses. The key driving force behind the enactment and implementation of Nurses Practice Acts is the need to ensure that patients’ health and lives are not endangered by allowing unsafe and incompetent nurses to infiltrate the nursing industry (Reed, 2009). To ensure this objective is realized, every state’s nursing board has been mandated to oversee the implementation of these statutory laws. The state nursing boards are thus the other driving forces behind the implementation of the NPAs by determining those competent enough to enter nursing practice. From their roles in the nursing industry, it is quite apparent that NPAs are quite important legislations in nursing practice, more so since they seek to ensure quality and safe services to patients. Additionally, in conjunction with common law, NPAs have continued to define and implement sound nursing practices in the country. Federal Regulations and Nursing Homes The other important kind of nursing regulations currently in the system target nursing homes. At the forefront in regulating nursing homes is the federal government, which funds most of nursing homes in the country. Because of this funding, the federal government requires nursing homes to comply with the legislations and regulations that demand for quality care. Although all nursing homes are required to respect and operate within the confines of federal legislations, certain states have tougher nursing home laws (Reed, 2009). The main force driving the enactment and implementation of nursing home regulations are the widespread reports of abuse and neglect in these homes, more so in the last three decades (Reed, 2009). The first such legislation was enacted by the Congress in 1987 and it required nursing homes under the Medicare and Medicaid programs to work within the confines of certain quality care principles and standards. This law, referred to as the Nursing Home Reform Act is rather important and should be supported since it demands and ensures that nurses and nursing homes offer services and goods of the highest quality to guarantee patients’ physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being. Among the conditions the law sets for nursing and nursing homes to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs include sufficient nursing staff and they must have initially conducted an accurate and comprehensive assessment of their functional capacities (Gibson et al., 1993). In addition, such a facility must first develop an all-inclusive care plan for each resident. In developing such a plan, nursing homes should endeavor to prevent or stop the deterioration of their patients’ mental, physical, and psychological health and promote their ability to dress, groom, bathe, communicate, and move. In case a resident patient cannot perform certain activities for their upkeep and well being, nursing homes should ensure their good nutrition, grooming, and personal oral hygiene through the provision of the necessary services. Further, the legislation requires that nursing homes give residents the right and effective assistive devices and treatment to support and build their hearing and vision abilities, prevent infection, and promote healing. The Nursing Home Reform Act 1987 also seeks to ensure that nursing homes provide adequate supervision and ensure acceptable parameters of nutritional status and eradicate any significant medication errors (Digregorio, 2005). The legislation demands the promotion of patients’ quality of life, health care, dignity, respect, rights, activities, and schedules. The legislation also promotes accurate, complete, and accessible clinical record keeping by nursing homes (Crotts & Martinez, 1996). Finally, the Nursing Homes Reform Act of 1987 requires that nursing homes to give pharmaceutical services depending on the condition and the needs of their patients. These services should be administered in a manner that uses resources effectively and efficiently. Challenges Nursing laws have continually faced certain challenges in their implementation; the first being the exorbitant cost of enacting and implementing nursing laws. Secondly, there have been a lot of criticisms of nursing laws due to certain weaknesses and loopholes that nursing homes and dishonest nurses may use to exploit or harm patients and residents (Reed, 2009). The third challenge implies the opposition from nursing homes and associations that feel their professional space, rights, and freedoms may be infringed by some of the nursing legislations, which they regard as dictatorial. There has also been a challenge regarding the implementation of legislations by nurses who may find these laws hard to understand and navigate. For instance, there could be terms and contexts in these laws that a nurse may not understand. The many numbers of nursing laws also confuses nurses and nursing homes who may be confused on which law is above the others and should thus be overriding. Conclusion Since historical times, politics, government and nursing have always been interconnected, particularly with regards to policy, regulation and legislation. This relationship is evident in the legislations, such as Nursing Practice Acts and nursing home legislations such as the Nursing Homes Reform Act of 1987, which set standards for nursing practices and ensure they are adhered to by nurses and nursing homes. Despite the challenges faced, nursing legislations have been effective in ensuring patient safety, emotional, physical, and psychological well being, which is the main driving forces behind these legislations. Thus, the impact of applying these laws is the promotion of quality care and the resultant improved mental, psychological and physical well-being of patients. These laws will further promote competency, discipline, and professionalism in the industry. References Committee on Nursing Home Regulation (1986). Improving the quality of care in nursing homes. Institute Of Medicine (US). Crotts, T. J., and Martinez, D. A. (1996). The nursing home residents' rights act - a good idea gone bad. Stetson Law Review. Digregorio, C. (2005). Everything you need to know about nursing homes: The family's comprehensive guide to either working with the institution or finding care alternatives. Civetta Press. Gibson, D., Turrell, F., & Jenkins, A. (1993). Regulation and reform: Promoting residents' rights in Australian nursing homes. Journal of Sociology 29(1), 91. Mason, D. J., Leavitt, J. K., & Chaffee, M. W. (2007). Policy and politics in nursing and health care (5th ed.). Saunders. Reed, D. M. (2009). Insider's guide to better nursing home care: 75 tips you should know, first edition. Prometheus Books. Read More