Research Paper About Nursing In The United States (Research Paper Sample)

Nursing in the United States
Student’s Name
Institution affiliation
Nursing in the United States
Introduction
Patients in different settings have the right to access quality medical services. They also deserve service delivery that is based on their different needs, as opposed to what is desirable and convenient to health professionals (Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2012). This goal may only be achieved if there exists transformed and modernized health care systems and processes. To achieve a transformed system of health will require a robust change of the roles of different health care providers, including nurses. Various initiatives and programs have already been established to focus on a number of improvements such as access, quality, and value among others which are yet to be devised (Sculz & Johnson, 2013). Nurses bear the opportunity to play a key role in transforming the health system with a higher quality of services that would be blended with easy accessibility and value-driven platforms for patients.
Nursing is currently one of the fastest developing occupations in the United States. Even though this is true, there is an increased number of the aged, people living with chronic diseases, and yet limited admissions to nursing school, and an aging nursing workforce. All these have led to demand outpacing supply, and therefore there rises the importance to educate nurses on how their profession is expected to change and grow (Keeling, Hehman, & Kirchgessner, 2016). One of the most important issues is to develop a clinical carrier ladder. This organized carrier ladder offers direction for development in the clinical carrier, progression and profession. Nurses should be in a position to take up roles with higher complexity and scope, especially with the daily advancement in medical technology.
Additionally, nursing is expected to grow and change through the widening of the professional scope to not only attend to patients in hospitals, but also cover communities. With the increased number of patients in hospital facilities, there is need for the development of community based healthcare (Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2012). This might be workable especially in consideration of the elderly population of individuals who have chronic diseases and need regular medical interventions. Their conditions might be managed and monitored from home, rather than them making visits to the hospital facilities (Sculz & Johnson, 2013).
The continuity of smooth service provision can only be achieved if the government and different stakeholders manage to fill the vacancies left by retiring nurses. The nursing education system has failed to keep up with growing number of graduates who are willing to join the nursing career. This has led to a huge number of aspiring nurses being denied a chance to practice (Keeling, Hehman, & Kirchgessner, 2016). There have been a number of reasons affiliated to this menace, which include limited budgets, faculty insufficiency, and classroom space among other huddles. In many instances, the hindrances to joining practice is not usually identified in nursing school, but rather in the form of training that comes afterward (Lundy et al., 2016). In places like Philadelphia, there are many nurse graduates, a majority of hospitals shun giving these new nurses a chance to practice (Sculz & Johnson, 2013). For there to be an increase in the number of trained nurses, the profession ought to nurture a culture where registered nurses become educators to the upcoming nurses.
Moreover, organizations such as Accountable Care Organization should establish ambitions for transformational partnerships, which should grow into Accountable Care Systems (Sculz & Johnson, 2013). This may be accomplished through the collaboration of different healthcare providers in meeting the needs of a particular population (Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2012). The providers ought to work with a budget that would be allocated to them by a commissioner to meet a wide range of needs in their focal population. The organization ought to work under a contract that specifies the objectives, and outcomes that should be met within the stipulated budget in a span of ten years. The local population’s well-being is improved by a population health system, which blends with care.
Nurses’ Responses
The identified nurses had different views on the anticipated change to health care delivery, new roles and change in the work setting. However, healthcare delivery and change of the work environment stood out in their observations. The nurses noted that nurse leaders should tirelessly create a safe environment in all settings, and to all nurses belonging to different professional capacities (Keeling, Hehman, & Kirchgessner, 2016). According to them, this approach boosts morale, and at the same time increases the chances of success in either hospital, or community based care. These nurses also claimed that integrity among nurse leaders was pre-requisite in extending commendations and appreciation to the efforts of the individual nurses. Apparently, there is a contrast between the three nurses’ responses and the findings of the research. However, both approaches towards the subject matter are informative, hence giving the reader a widened perspective of the subject matter.
On the issue of new work settings, the nurses appeared to commend community health care. They asserted that this approach offers professionals a chance to interact with their patient, and thus foster maximized care. Attending to patients at the comfort of their homes might give professionals vital details about the patient’s lifestyle and habits that could be major contributing factors to their chronic illnesses (Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2012). Additionally, they asserted that this new approach could foster new experiences that could assist professionals to better handle their patients. Apparently, the issues of focus are of direct impact to the profession of nursing, and they signify the nature of changes that could be anticipated in the nursing profession. Work setting shifts are also observed in long term facilities such as nursing homes (Sculz & Johnson, 2013). They could also be observed among expectant mothers who prefer nurses to be their healthcare providers during their pregnancy and childbirth. Clearly, these trends predict, and signify flexibility in the work setting for the nursing profession.
On the issue of nursing education, these nurses advocated for registered nurses to be educators to new graduates. Through the nurse-educator approach, the concerns of workforce shortage in healthcare facilities would be resolved (Lundy & Janes, 2016). According to the three nurses, the government ought to increase the number of training facilities for nurses. Such an approach would maximize on the number of individuals who wish to ultimately join the nursing practice (Sculz & Johnson, 2013). However, these nurses added that educational training would not be enough, since the trainees would also require internship opportunities. According to these nurses, solid internships would equip the trainees with the experience that would be paramount in a vast range of healthcare provision platforms (Chambliss, 2014). Empowering nurses not only benefits the healthcare facilities they are working in, but also the vast number of Americans who seek nursing services in primary healthcare, basic education on health, and counseling. Apparently, the research tackled real issues that are associated with the nursing profession, as it gave a highlight on the educational needs of the profession.
Medical homes also had a share on the response received from the nurses especially on the patient centered medical homes which were brought about by economic constraints imposed upon healthcare currently. This new health care models (patient centered medical homes) calls upon all nurses under different categories to tirelessly push for its implementation. The model brought about various benefits which was improving the quality of care and service provision, cost saving a culture change consideration. Nurses being the first contact person patient’s contact in a chronic, preventive or acute situation play a major role in implementation of the model. Nurses should be up to date on new developments on health care and service delivery, research and understand what the model en...