Assignment Instructions/ Description
Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report
The IOM Future of Nursing report calls for an increase in leadership from nurses at all levels. One way nurses demonstrate their role as a leader, is through public policy change. A leader does not always carry an official title or position, but demonstrates leadership through the work and the stance the leader takes to make a change for the good of others. Nurses have been noted by the Gallop poll year after year as the most trusted professionals.
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This assignment requires thought about a public policy that is needed or needs to be changed that relates to nursing, health care, or the public. Policy changes can occur by working with members of your legislature, and state or national nurses associations, to introduce a new bill and/or change to a current law in your state or federal government.
Examples of public policy includes any component of the current legislation governing health care, Medicare Part D, Medicaid, nursing regulation, medication technicians, etc. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
In 750-1,000 words, propose a health policy change (that is currently a bill, a law, or may not exist at all) at the state or federal level that you believe needs to change and why.
- The policy must not be a clinical care policy for individual care. The policy involved may include public or community health, legislative or regulatory, professional organization (nursing-oriented), advanced nursing practice, health plan, or hospital plan.
- Include a specific section for the exact wording for the bill or change in wording of the law.
- Include the plan for the implementation of your policy development, to lobbying for passage, to next steps after passage.
- Discuss who would be the champion for the bill/law change from your state advocates (legislators, federal legislators, local or national state nursing organizations). Are these individuals also influential in making changes occur? Did you vote for the individual in office that you want to help you make this change?
Resources:
- Review different pieces of legislation for ideas on wording.
- Visit your state’s legislative governmental affairs website site to understand the process your policy change could take if you wanted to introduce to into legislation.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
Benchmark Assignment – Nursing Leadership Health Policy Paper
REFERENCES
H.R.2392 – Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2017
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2392?r=9
Improving Nurse Staffing to Improve Care QualityCongress has enacted many amends in the medical care section to boost the admission to healthcare facilities for the citizens in the United States. The Affordable Care Act introduced these changes and has made the number of patients currently seeking health care to increase drastically. For instance, the increase in the number of patients demands for many nurses and physicians who will handle the influx of patients in the system. Such changes aggravate the problem that already exists and that is the insufficient number of direct health care registered nurses present in the hospital staff. According to Dellefield, research has proven that more direct care registered nurses in the hospital staff makes medical and medication errors to reduce (2015). Dellefield adds that an increased number of direct care nurses on staff causes the mortality rate to decrease, improves the working environment which in turn enhances the patients’ outcome. However, with the reason best known to them, a number of hospitals ignore scholarly consent, and they do not have sufficient nurse patient ration. As a matter of fact, if a bill can be enacted and passed into a law which demands that all hospitals to employ satisfactory staffing to efficiently care for patients and minimize the impacts of having lower nurse patient ratios then their states will have many health facilities which will comply to such evidence. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
Current Legislation
The current legislation is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) which mandates the hospitals to have sufficient staffing levels and constitute a language that is indistinct. The provision allows for loopholes which the hospitals exploit. According to the American Nurses Association (2016), such gaps formulate mechanisms so that the hospitals can avoid having hospital staff levels that are unsafe. Just to mention, at the state level are only fourteen states which have enacted staffing nurse laws. ANA (2016) indicates the states with the nurse staffing laws which are WA, VT, OH, OR, RI, TX, NY, MN, NV, NJ, CT, MA, CA, and IL. While the step as mentioned earlier may be appealing and a step to the right direction, contrarily, only two states out of the stated fourteen states mentioned herein which have specifically addressed the levels of nurse staffing and have put all the hospital requirements in place. Conversely, California has formulated strict policies over having sufficient RNs on its staff in varied settings and Massachusetts which has constituted several ICU RNs who are on duty. Sadly, there are forty-eight states which require much legislation that can oversee more RNs on hospital staff to deliver best quality care services to patients. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
Change to the Current Legislation
One of the congresswomen Schakowsky Jan supported and sponsored a motion which requires the instigation of a nationwide task for increasing the figures for direct health care nurses registered on duty in any United States’ healthcare institutions which obtain funding from central government and recommends the least number of nurses who should be on duty (ANA, 2016). The enacted bill has a selection of initiatives which serves as an incentive for any healthcare care facility to conform to the new law. The bill also outlines rules which help in subsidizing the hiring of new nursing staff, ensuring long-term return on investments through creating retention programs as well as sponsoring learning progression for nurses who are on staff. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
The New Law
The new law which has been passed by the United States of America’s Congress is the H.R 1602 bill: “Improving Nurse Staffing to Improve Quality of Care for Patients Act.” For instance, title XXIV of the Act concerns with direct care nurse staffing ration who are registered. The enacted bill involves The Sovereign Authority; Bill H, R 1602 Improving Nurse Staffing to Improve the Quality of Care for Patients Act. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report. Despite the federal and political subdivisions of the country, the United States of America has successfully constituted a law which requires all healthcare institutions and facilities to have a bare minimum figure of registered nurses to patient ration for the for direct care. The minimum number of nurses on staff will raise the value of health care for the patients, enhance the patient’s contentment as well as improve the working environment for the nurses. The new bill includes:
- None of the hospital unit shall function if they do not meet the minimum threshold of direct care registered nurses on their staff.
- Hospitals ought to execute their plans of staffing which lessens the burnout and decrease errors. In increased quantity units like intensive healthcare, the direct care registered nurse patient ratio must be 1:2 or 1:1. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
- Ensure the patients are assured of receiving high-quality conscription practice who is well outfitted with a way to give feedback about insufficient enrollment strategies.
- Whistleblower safeties for healthcare professionals who notice contravention yet operate in the traditions of contentment. The bill safeguards the position of nurses which calls for interest in the violations of guiding principle from reprisal.
Implementation Plan
Many resources are required to undertake the massive program of the implementation magnitude successfully. Mainly, it indicates that there will be a time frame for the healthcare institutions to comply with the fresh legislation (Knight, 2016). The time frame is meant to be used for the preparation of enacting and putting into practice measures to attain conformity with the health institutions. However, the American Nurses Association will help the stakeholders understand what the new law means with the lobbying endeavors for the change in the nursing practice. There ought to be proper utilization of dailies, local and state news, social media and blogs to spread the news about the new law. The pre and post measures of implementation will assist in gauging the attitude of the change in the Health Act. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
The champion from my State
The United States of America requires this law urgently. The congresswoman Schakowsky Jan is the key pillar in championing this new legislation in the Congress. Delegate Jan trusts that every patient deserve nothing but the high quality health care. Increasing direct health care nurses on duty raise the health status of the population which Jan believes that it will be the outcome of the new law. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.
References
American Nurses Association. (2016). State Legislative Agenda. Online. August 2016. From http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy/State/Legislative-Agenda-Reports/State-StaffingPlansRatios
Dellefield, M. E., Castle, N. G., McGilton, K. S., &Spilsbury, K. (2015). The relationship between registered nurses and nursing home quality: An integrative review (2008-2014). Nursing Economics, 33(2), 95.
Knight, L. D. (2016). Staffing Ratios and Patient Outcomes: Looking Beyond Nurses, Doctors, and Survival at ICU Discharge. Critical care medicine, 44(2), e107-e108. Improving Nurse Staffing to improve Care Quality Essay – IOM Future of Nursing report.