Evolving Practice of Nursing and Patient Care Delivery Models - Essay Example

Evolving Practice of Nursing and Patient Care Delivery Models There are various fields of practice when it comes to patient care. Care to the patients has become an important issue. The essence has occurred due to emerging health conditions as well as the improvement in technology. One of the fields that have been experiencing these changes is nursing career. Nurses have been overwhelmed by various emerging issues in the health care. As a result, they are expected to change in the ways they practice in the field of health care. As a result, nurses need to be prepared in various aspects. For example, nurses have to change in terms of training, practice, provision of services, and how they interact with the patient. Moreover, nurses will need to be up to date with emerging health conditions. In United States, nurses are likely to be faced with various health issues. Some of such health issues are the rising level of chronic diseases and aging population. Moreover, there has been unprecedented advancement in technology, rise of alternative treatment methods, health policies as well as advances in nursing education and practice (Heller, Oros & Durney-Crowley, 2013). The paper reflects on how the practice of nursing is expected to grow and change as well as perception of colleague. There are various ways in which the practice of nursing is expected to grow and change. The growth and change is expected to occur due to changes that are currently taking place in the health sector. The increased progress in health care in the country has led to an increase in average life. For example, it is expected in the next five years; more than 20 percent of the pollution will be 65 years and older (Heller, Oros & Durney-Crowley, 2013). Increased life expectancy means there will be increased the number of people with health conditions. Such people are expected to have chronic and acute conditions that will overwhelm the health care in the provision of efficient and effective continuing care (Heller, Oros & Durney-Crowley, 2013). The underlying issues mean that nursing practice is most likely to change and grow to offer better and continued care. For example, the increased population with health issues means that more attention for the nurse is required. One of the ways of meeting these demands will be offering nursing services in community settings like home care. Such services will help in offering the necessary care needed by patients that cannot be able to visit formal care environment such as hospital due to old age. In addition, such care will help in assessing the ways patients cope in their homes and understand their health needs. Moreover, the increased population in need of care is likely to trigger the emergence of nurse-managed health clinics. For example, in United States, there has been the emergence of directed nurse-managed health centers (NMHC) (Wilson, Whitaker & Whitford, 2012). Emergence of such centers in the future will play a valuable role in ensuring continuity and available for care to the rising population. Such services will be located in community areas and hence making it easy for people to those areas to access care. The services are also likely to ensure there is good health outcome to the population in need and lead to less hospitalization. This also wills likely help in the improvement of health services at the local level. On the other hand, the emergence of NMHC will be crucial in the provision of primary health care. For example, such nurses in local areas will provide first services needed in the care such as consultation, health test, precautionary care and health education (Wilson, Whitaker & Whitford, 2012). Such services will be crucial in curbing the rate of diseases. In addition, with the emergence of chronic diseases, there will be changing roles of nurses. For example, more nurses will be required in the provision of secondary care. The primary aim in this environment will be to offer treatment to short term acute illnesses, as well as other small health conditions (Wilson, Whitaker & Whitford, 2012). As a result, more room will be left for other major illnesses. The other change that is likely to occur is increased regulation in terms of provision of care. The regulations are aimed at achieving a good performing health system especially with increased health conditions. An example of such changes has been the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The nurses will be required to be more accountable for the care they offer to patients based on expected outcomes. The standards laid are also due to increased cost of health care. Hence, nurses are expected to offer care in a way that leads to lower cost without compromising the expected quality standards (Silow-Carroll & Edwards, 2013). Moreover, it is expected that there will be increased collaboration among nurses and other health providers. This is expected to help in the transformation of delivery of health care (Silow-Carroll & Edwards, 2013). There are also anticipated increase nurse services at medical homes. The role of medical homes has been noted as crucial in reforming the health care system in the country as compared to other forms of care. It is expected the roles will change for the primary care nurse practitioner (Joel, 2013). In this model, nurses will be in the forefront of providing patient-centered medical homes programs (Joel, 2013). Such homes are seen as crucial in the provision of care especially with complex and chronic conditions. Moreover, this is seen as helping increasing access to primary care and promoted favorable patient outcomes. Colleague impression of the anticipated changes to health care delivery and the new role of nurses in hospital settings, communities, clinics, and medical homes First, it is clear that colleague acknowledge that there is most likely to be a transformation in the health care delivery. The colleagues believe that most of the changes will occur due to increasing number of people requiring medical attention. For example, they note that chronic conditions will pose a challenge to old ways of offering care. They are in agreement that there is a need for new methods of offering care to emerging conditions. Moreover, they note that nurses need to be more informed of new conditions. For example, they note that nurses need to understand how chronic conditions affect the individual families and communities at large. Such understanding will be paramount in ensuring that nurses understand the best way to approach the condition in individual, family, as well as the community. On the other hand, they note that exposure to emerging health conditions will help in the implementation of proper treatment plans in a given individual or population. In my opinion, I believe this is the best approach to addressing the current and expected health crisis especially with the rise of chronic and acute conditions. As a result, it will be possible to approach any given condition with the precision and quality required. Moreover, understanding of community set up will help in addressing some of the issues that are a hindrance to the provision of care. Secondly, colleagues anticipated increase in regulation. They note that regulation will be crucial in giving care. They realize that they will be more accountable for the care they offer to patients. Moreover, they acknowledge that they play a significant role in various care institutions in ensuring that such institutions meet the standard of various improvement activities. However, the colleagues have raised an issue concerning their role in ensuring quality is achieved. They note that there has been less understanding as well as acknowledgment of their contribution to the achievement of quality improvement. In this scenario, it is clear it is not just regulation that can help in improving patient care quality. The regulation should be collaborated with addressing challenges faced by nurses as they offer care. Addressing such issues will help in motivating nurses to be more accountable as they offer the necessary care. Also, it is crucial that provision of quality is not just a role to be played by nurse. For this reason, it is important that each and every member understands his or her role in the provision of quality care. In addition, the colleagues noted that nurses had a role in preventing escalation of various conditions that continues to exist in societies. For example, they noted that they had a direct role of intervening in the community, clinics, and medical homes. Such good intervention will be the development of clinics easily accessible by population affected by various conditions. The colleagues noted that such intervention will be crucial in offering preventive services that will help in addressing challenges facing health care. On the other hand, they noted that intervention of nurses in the community would help in meeting patients at their convenient places such as home. In my opinion, these interventions will help in preventing worsening of various conditions that exist in society. Moreover, it will be possible to follow up on the condition, as well as the progress of the patient, and be able to offer the necessary insight. On the other hand, such setup will help in offering the necessary education such as on preventive mechanism as one understands the environment of the patient and that of the community. On the other hand, the colleagues were worried whether the education they have will help meet the rising challenges in health care. For example, they noted some of the skills they have are not in line with current progress in technology taking place in the health care. As a result, they argued further training is required so that they can be able to offer quality care. They noted that are ready to get necessary training on new technological advancements in the sector. I am of the opinion that some of the skills that nurses have are not up to date with new technologies in the health sector. Hence, there is need to expose nurses to these technologies. The effect is that nurses will be able to conduct various researches and equip themselves with professional knowledge that will be crucial in research. In conclusion, it is clear that my colleague share almost the same sentiment of expected changes. They acknowledge various challenges are likely to take place. The only difference is that they acknowledge the need for further studies in meeting these new demands as care evolves. References Heller, B., Oros, M & Durney-Crowley, J. (2013). The Future of Nursing Education: Ten Trends to Watch. Retrieved 25 January 2015 from http://www.nln.org/nlnjournal/infotrends.htm. Joel, L. (2013). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essentials of Role Development. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. Silow-Carroll, S & Edwards, J. (2013). Early Adopters of the Accountable Care Model. Retrieved 25 January 2015 from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Fund%20Report/2013/Mar/1673_SilowCarroll_early_adopters_ACO_model.pdf. Wilson, A., Whitaker, N & Whitford, D. (2012). Rising to the Challenge of Health Care Reform with Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Nursing Initiatives. 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