The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency - Assignment Example

Nursing s al affiliation The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has created a chance for the medically underservedpopulations to access health care across the United States. The legislation has made health insurance accessible by forming health insurance marketplace where people can access it through the internet. It has also provided civilians with incentives such as reducing insurance cost. Moreover, the legislation has led to the redefining of the health care system by introducing changes that have improved the quality, accountability and efficiency of the health care system; hence, helping reduce costs of providing health care to Americans (Rosenbaum, 2011).

The government should play the following roles in the delivery of health care in the United States. Firstly, the government should regulate the health care markets. The health care markets are made up of both private and government hospitals, health care centers, and pharmaceuticals. The government should ensure quality services and medicines are sold to its people. Secondly, the government should play the bigger part of providing health care in the country. This will help protect the people from low-quality services while extending health care access to all Americans in the United States (Tang, Eisenberg, & Meyer, 2004).

Nurses can play individual roles in strengthening and improving the health care system in the United States. A nurse can contribute to the quality improvement in the health system by participating in nursing leadership forums in the hospitals. Thus, through such initiatives a nurse can get a chance to express his/her ideas and suggestions for the improvement of the entire health care system. In addition, a nurse can carry out research on how to strengthen the health care system. Such research could be on development of efficient and effective nursing models that can help cut costs and reduce spending across departments (Needleman & Hassmiller, 2009).

Reference Needleman, J., & Hassmiller, S. (2009). The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency: real-world results. Health Affairs, 28(4), w625-w633. Rosenbaum, S. (2011). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Implications for public health policy and practice. Public Health Reports, 126(1), 130. Tang, N., Eisenberg, J. M., & Meyer, G. S. (2004). The roles of government in improving health care quality and safety. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 30(1), 47-54.