Policy Development Management and Leadership in Nursing and Healthcare System
Policy Development: Management and Leadership in Nursing and Healthcare System
Introduction
There have been various policies and advocacy to improve nursing conditions and the healthcare system in the US over the years. According to the American Association of College of Nurses (AACN), most policy changes and implementation recommendations are expected to be enacted in the next year (AACN, 2022). Most of the policies revolve around the financial restructuring of the nursing sub-sector (AACN, 2022). However, other than financial matters affecting the smooth running of the nursing health division, leadership, management, and nursing must be prioritized to meet the rising demand for nurses in the United States of America and across the globe. This assessment shall attempt to provide more recommendations and stress on already proposed ones that need to be enacted in the shortest time possible.
Background to Vision of the Policy Development
The Covid-19 Pandemic showed the country that a lot needs to be done to ensure improvement, proper maintenance, and coping with health challenges since nurses are primary caregivers who must meet the health needs of every patient (Morris, 2022). Morris (2022) further points out that there’s still an overwhelming shortage of nurses in the West, and 1.3 million nurses would have to be hired to replace the retiring ones by 2030 in the USA and nearly 13 million in the world within the same period. According to (Ryan, 2018), socio-political issues have significantly caused derail in the performance of nurses in providing better quality services to their clients. Such issues significantly affect the efforts put foward in nursing roles.
Specific policies must be changed or removed as they affect nurses’ primary role and needs. For instance, the number of European union nurses reduced tremendously by nearly 90% following the endorsement of compulsory English tests for all nurses by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In the US, the removal of nursing bursary by the government discouraged enrolment of new students in nursing, leading to a low number of nurses in the country which enormously affected service delivery during and after the Covid-19 pandemic (Adams, 2017). Reinforcement of specific measures such as the nurse coordinator, as proposed by Weberg et al. (2018), is the first step in ensuring efficient service delivery and management of the system. Funding leads to be redirected towards developing leadership strategies to enable nurses to receive evidence-based insight on socio-economic aspects to provide holistic and high-quality care (Weberg et al., 2018). In line with this policy development vision, the government and other stakeholders should therefore consider putting more robust efforts into nursing to meet the exponentially rising demands.
Policy Development Vision on Management Strategies
Foster Development of Virtual Simulation and Knowledge: One way to address the dropping number of nurses across the globe is by developing and equipping online institutions and increasing the enrolment of future care providers (Morris, 2022). According to Woods (2022), technological advancement is the key to disseminating knowledge and closing the gap in the shortage of nurses, as seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, this policy hopes the government would chip in and even provide more scholarships for international students to access online nursing courses.
Advancement in Care Models: Traditional care models are based on the mode of delivery and the skills of nurses in the health center entity (Morris, 2022). Some experts believe they may have shown some efficiency in providing better, safe, and quality services to some types of patients, including the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. However, more assessments must be done to validate their efficacy (Jennings, 2016). However, when a country faces a health crisis, a more dynamic model needs to be developed, and research should be carried out to facilitate such endeavors.
Research on Prevention Rather than Cure: Health systems have always focused on eliminating illnesses by developing vital medicines to counter their prevalence and ward off further attacks among the population (Dowshen, 2018). However, the strategy does not provide a long-term effect since diseases keep occurring from time to time. According to PHAC (2016), health systems should focus on preventive rather than curative approaches. Therefore, nurses and other health professionals should be trained from the preventive perspective to not only develop vaccines but also stop the spread of infectious diseases such as Covid-19.
Policy Development Vision on Leadership Qualities
Quick Problem-solving skills: Problem-solving is an important skill, but quick Problem-solving skill within a limited time frame is needed for the best quality nursing output. Critical thinking coupled with high levels of creativity would enable nurses to tackle various issues faster and accurately, especially when the system is unfavorable (University of Rhode Island, 2019). The ability to creatively and precisely handle patient and system issues should be fostered within the health system framework with the help of evidence-based practice to catapult nursing procedures and improve service results.
Bilingual Skills: Effective communication is crucial in any leadership and management system. Scott (2017) articulates that one of the critical roles nurses play is to educate and advocate to ensure that critical information concerning the patient is well captured for reference in the system. Not all patients speak English; therefore, the ability to understand multiple languages is vital. According to the US Census Bureau (2021), over 350 languages are spoken in the US, with at least 58 million citizens speaking Spanish (the second most spoken language in the USA after English). Other languages that follow closely are Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and French at 3.5, 1.7, 1.5, and 1.2 million, respectively. German closes the top 10 most spoken languages with 0.92 million after Korean and Russia with 1.1and 0.94 million speakers, respectively (US Census Bureau, 2021). These figures imply that nurses would have to accelerate their game in bilingual skills for effective communication with their clients.
Expansion of Leadership Toolbox
Capacity building: This area requires increased human resources and hiring more nurses to meet the demands of patients. According to Montgomery et al. (2021), one of the obstacles hindering clinical and mentored research in APNs is understaffing, leading to overworking nursing health administrators, practitioners, and junior nurses in the health industry. Effective leadership systems in APNs, therefore, need to equip themselves with more soldiers on the ground to push for reforms, provide a base for research, and increase the human resource capacity needed for this profession.
Create more task-based divisions: The creation of divisions within the nursing departments will not only lower too much among APN administrators but also improve specialization among upcoming APNs and provide an avenue for capacity building. According to Fortis (2022), there are currently eight nursing departments where registered nurses (RNs) can work under them. A further breakdown can be done to come up with more specialized units. For instance, the epidemiology department can be added to respond to endemic and pandemic crises.
References
Adams, R. (2017) ‘Nursing Degree Applications Slump after NHS Bursaries Abolished,’ The Guardian, 2nd Feb 2017 (Links to external site) https://www.theguardian.com/education
American Association of College of Nurses (AACN). (2022). AACN’s 2022 Advocacy & Policy Efforts. The Voice of Academic Nursing. 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001. (Links to external site) https://www.aacnnursing.org
Dowshen G. (2018). What’s the Difference Between a Treatment and a Cure? (Links to external site). https://kidshealth.org/
Fortis (2022). Most Popular Nursing Departments in Hospitals. (Links to external site). https://www.fortis.edu
MontgomeryK.E, Ward J., L.Raybin J.L, ChelseaBalian C, Gilger E.A, & Smith C. (2021 November). Building capacity through integration of advanced practice nurses in research. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0029655421001585
Morris G. (2022). Nursing and Healthcare Trends in 2022
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). (2016). Health status of Canadians, 2016. https://www.canada.ca
Ryan, F. (2018) ‘Waiting for an Ambulance, Unable to Breathe, Brings Austerity Home,’ The Guardian, 8th February 2018. https://www.theguardian.com
Scott, A. (2017) Key Concepts and Issues in Nursing Ethics, London: Springer.
University of Rhodes Island (2019 December). Creativity and Problem-Solving Skills in Nursing. University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA. https://online.uri.edu
Weberg, D, Porter-O’Grady, T, Mangold, K. (2018) Leadership in Nursing Practice, London: Jones and Bartlett Publishing. www.nursejournal.org