Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor

Posted: January 5th, 2023

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor

Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of goals to pursue to maintain and improve healthcare. Within each goal are many issues that, if addressed successfully, may have a positive impact on outcomes. For example, healthcare leaders are being tasked to shift from an emphasis on disease management often provided in an acute care setting to health promotion and disease prevention delivered in primary care settings. Efforts in this area can have significant positive impacts by reducing the need for primary healthcare and by reducing the stress on the healthcare system. Changes in the industry only serve to stress what has always been true; namely, that the healthcare field has always faced significant challenges, and that goals to improve healthcare will always involve multiple stakeholders. This should not seem surprising given the circumstances. Indeed, when a growing population needs care, there are factors involved such as the demands of providing that care and the rising costs associated with healthcare. Generally, it is not surprising that the field of healthcare is an industry facing multifaceted issues that evolve over time. In this module’s Discussion, you reviewed some healthcare issues/stressors and selected one for further review. For this Assignment, you will consider in more detail the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. You will also review research that addresses the issue/stressor and write a white paper to your organization’s leadership that addresses the issue/stressor you selected. To Prepare: Review the national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the Resources and reflect on the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for study. Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post for the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. Identify and review two additional scholarly resources (not included in the Resources for this module) that focus on change strategies implemented by healthcare organizations to address your selected national healthcare issue/stressor. The Assignment (3-4 Pages): Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Develop a 3- to 4-page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following: Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization). Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations. Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples. Looking Ahead The paper you develop in Module 1 will be revisited and revised in Module 2. Review the Assignment instructions for Module 2 to prepare for your revised paper. Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor

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Various national healthcare stressors are significantly influencing health organizations across the United States. While some are more urgent than others, these stressors should be addressed. In this case, the healthcare stressor chosen is a shortage of nurse practitioners and limited /restricted roles of these professionals. Recent research has indicated a recent decline of primary care physicians across the US (Morgan, 2019).  Partly, the decline is attributed to the increasing aging population and the high number of uninsured populations.

Similarly, medical schools are recording fewer graduates than before, and the only professionals qualified to fill these voids are nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are academically and professionally qualified to provide similar care to patients as primary care physicians. However, their roles are highly limited. Numerous barriers restrict the professional practice of practitioners. If permitted to practice to their full extent, advanced nurse practitioners will build the workforce required to meet the population’s health needs.Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor

Impact on my Work Setting

The shortage of primary care physicians and the limited roles of nurse practitioners has immensely impacted my healthcare organization. The shortage of primary care professionals has resulted in an increased workload for existing nurses as they have to work for long shifts under stressful conditions. Ultimately, this has increased fatigue, job dissatisfaction, and injuries. Nurses working under such stressful environments are also highly prone to medical errors and other mistakes, which jeopardize the quality of patient care. In the past year, my work organization has faced a significant shortage of primary care providers, an aspect that has contributed to high rates of turnover for the existing staff. Job demands have existed the capacity of existing nurses to deliver high-quality care. Burnout and dissatisfaction of primary care providers limit nurses’ capacity to deliver safe and high-quality patient care. These also increase the intent of nurses to leave the profession. While our organization has a large set of qualified healthcare professionals, some, like advanced nurse practitioners, are restricted from making critical patient care decisions, such as prescribing medications.  Nurse practitioners should be considered independent, licensed, and autonomous individuals who work collaboratively with other care specialists to provide numerous clinical care facilities. Although advanced nurse practitioners are highly educated and trained to provide various healthcare services, existing barriers such as state laws and federal policies, as well as institutional services, prevent nurse practitioners from practicing autonomously. The roles of nurse practitioners are consistent with the APRN consensus model.

Two Articles on Nurse Practitioners Shortage and their Limited Roles

Various outside sources have been reviewed that address shortage of nurse practitioners and limited roles of these professionals. Chouinard et al. 2017 have posited that allowing nurse practitioners to practice independently can improve the accessibility of health services as well as efficiency. Providing support to advanced nurse practitioners will streamline their integration into primary healthcare settings. Such support is key to overcoming integration challenges experienced in most healthcare organizations. Support activities are intended to meet the needs of advanced practice practitioners, resolve challenges facing this specialty, and improve their care delivery processes.  Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor

A study by Park et al. (2016) reveals that eliminating barriers to nurse practitioners’ scope of practice is highly essential. Nurse practitioners experience practice autonomy when they are accorded prescriptive autonomy. However, some states are entirely restricted to nurse practitioners. While some states allow independent practice, nurse practitioners are limited to prescription authority.

Strategies to Address the Shortage of Nursing Practitioners and Restriction of their Roles

A key strategy for intensifying nurse practitioners’ roles is to lessen the restrictions on their scope of practice. These professionals should be included in physician-led teams to enhance the quality of care. These professionals provide similar care as physicians and improve patient experience at lower costs (Peterson, 2017).  With the current shortage of primary care providers, resulting from the expansion of the Affordable Care Act and an aging population, nurse practitioners should fill the gap in providing safe and high-quality care to patients without restrictive requirements imposed by the state. Restricting the practice scope for nurse practitioners results in a smaller workforce and reduction of patients who are provided care by nurse practitioners. The IOM report on the Future of Nursing also recommends eliminating barriers to the scope of practice for nursing practitioners to cater to existing nurse shortages. Allowing advanced practice nurses to operate within their full degree in education and training will significantly improve patient outcomes.

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Additionally, the healthcare organization should ensure adequate staffing of existing nurses to reduce the rates of turnover. Heavy workloads, unhealthy working environments, fatigue, and job satisfaction resulting from a shortage of primary care professionals’ further fuel the intent of existing nurses to exit the profession (MacPhee et al., 2017). Ensuring adequate staffing ratios will benefit the healthcare organization by improving patient satisfaction, preventing nurse fatigue, decreasing patient mortality, and minimizing the length of hospital stays. Lastly, the organization can incorporate advanced nurse practitioners in primary care. Nurse practitioners provide the best option to fill the gap created by a dramatic shortage of primary care professionals. Allowing these professionals to practice at their full extent will significantly improve their practice. Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor

References

Chouinard, V., Contandriopoulos, D., Perroux, M., & Larouche, C. (2017). Supporting nurse practitioners’ practice in primary healthcare settings: a three-level qualitative model. BMC Health Services Research, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2363-4

McPhee, M., Dahinten, V., & Havaei, F. (2017). The Impact of Heavy Perceived Nurse Workloads on Patient and Nurse Outcomes. Administrative Sciences, 7(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci7010007

Morgan, P. (2019). Predicted shortages of physicians might even disappear if we fully account for PAs and NPs. Journal Of The American Academy Of Physician Assistants, 32(10), 51-53. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.jaa.0000580580.89002.f4

Park, J., Athey, E., Pericak, A., Pulcini, J., & Greene, J. (2016). To What Extent Are State Scope of Practice Laws Related to Nurse Practitioners’ Day-to-Day Practice Autonomy?. Medical Care Research And Review, 75(1), 66-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558716677826

10. Peterson, (2017). Barriers to Practice and the Impact on Health Care: A Nurse Practitioner Focus. Journal Of The Advanced Practitioner In Oncology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.6004/jadpro.2017.8.1.6

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Stressor