Discussion: The Role of Government in the U.S. Health Care System

As stated in the course text, Health Care Delivery in the United States, “the health care enterprise is one of the most important parts of the U.S. social system and of our economic system as well” (Kovner and Knickman, 2011, p. 4); however, with millions of citizens uninsured, rising costs, massive health disparities, and the need to improve quality and access, many view health care as a broken system. As such, it continues to be a significant political issue in the United States. Most agree that something needs to be done to fix the health care system, but the methods and solutions for addressing problems vary greatly, particularly with respect to the role government should play. Proponents of varying approaches often have strong, emotional opinions, making compromise difficult.

In this Discussion, you will consider the role of government in health care, and you will examine the impact of a social, economic, technological, ethical, or legal issue on health care delivery. 

To prepare:

• With this week’s Learning Resources in mind, consider this question: Is health care a right or a privilege? 

• Review the media presentation for this week, focusing on the role of the government in health care including the Affordable Care Act. 

• Pinpoint a social, economic, technological, ethical, or legal issue that could, or has, affected health care delivery in the United States. 

• Locate a current article from the popular press (within the past 6 months) related to the health care issue you identified. How does this article inform your understanding of the influence of your selected issue in the health care debate? 

Post your position on whether health care in the United States is a right or a privilege, and explain what you believe to be the proper role of government in health care. Justify your position. Explain how the social, economic, technological, ethical, or legal issue you selected is impacting health care delivery and whether this issue should be addressed by the government or by private entities. Identify the article you selected, and explain how this article informs your stance.

IMPORTANT: THE DISCUSSION QUESTION HAS TO BE FREE OF PLAGIARISM

NOTE: READ CAREFULLY EVERY INSTRUCTION, AND THE DOCUMENTS AND THE VIDEO ( MEDIA PRESENTATION)  ATTACHED BELLOW IN ORDER TO RESPOND CORRECTLY THE ASSIGNMENT. I ATTACHED DOCUMENTS THAT CAN  BE USED AS A GUIDE TO RESPOND THE DISCUSSION QUESTION CORRECTLY

MY PROFESSION/SPECIALIZATION IS : MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER

comment 1

Mucor is a fungus found in soil, decaying fruit, vegetables and other plants (Doctor Fungus, 2018). Mucor progresses from an infection into pneumonia by entering the lungs during inhalation of spores, mucor can also enter the body through a cut or opening in the body (Mandanas, 2017). The infection most commonly occurs in immunocompromised patients, and is not contagious (Mandanas, 2017). Nursing interventions that would be helpful in treating a patient with a mucor infection revolve largely around respiratory function. The nurse should monitor the patient’s respiratory function very carefully, ensuring proper oxygen saturation is maintained. Ensuring that there is suction available and working properly at the bedside is an important safety intervention that the nurse can provide. The patient’s lung sounds should be monitored, and the respiratory rate should be performed by the nurse. The nurse can also teach the patient about proper use of the incentive spirometer if patient is awake and able to use it as prescribed. The nurse should also ensure that proper fluid intake is maintained in the patient as long as it is not contraindicated.

comment2

The Centers for Disease Control defines Mucormycosis as “a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes. These molds live throughout the environment and mainly affect people with weakened immune systems. It can occur in nearly any part of the body but most commonly affects the sinuses or the lungs after inhaling fungal spores from the air, or the skin after the fungus enters the skin through a cut, scrape, burn, or other type of skin trauma” (Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, nd).

            Because of an already weakened immune system, pneumonia is not uncommon after Mucormycosis. The Mucormycosis triggers the immune system to respond by sending WBC’s to attack the organism. The neutrophils engulf and kill the organism, however it releases cytokines which cause a general activation of the immune system, typically leading to pneumonia. Two medical interventions that would be helpful include stating antibiotics for antifungal treatments and a more recent discovery is recommending the use of hyperbaric chambers because, “ It is hypothesized that hyperbaric oxygen might be useful for treating Mucormycosis in conjunction with standard therapy because higher oxygen pressure improves the ability of neutrophils to kill the organism” (Edwards, Ibrahim, & Spellberg, 2005, para 57).

            In evaluating the laboratory results, it is noted that the patient is in Respiratory Alkalosis. The fasting blood glucose is elevated, along with elevated WBC’s. This is all indicative of raspatory infection. A common risk factor for Mucormycosis Pneumonia is diabetes. Studies show that of 86 case reviews, 56% of the patients were diabetic (Igbal, Irfan, Jabeen, Kazmi, & Tariq, 2017). The elevated WBC is in relation to the fungal infection. The ABG shows a respiratory imbalance in relation to the infection.

 

Introduction

Quantitative research design provides an approach to finding scholarly evidence.  There are a variety of philosophical considerations, strategies of inquiry, and methods of data collection and analysis based on the study question and the types and numbers of variables.  For example, having one or more dependent and/or independent variables is what prescribes the statistical tests needed to answer the study question(s).  It is important for nurse researchers, leaders, educators, and practitioners to know how to select the correct statistical analysis for a study.

Upon successful completion of this assignment you should be able to:

• Select a data analysis method / tests appropriate for a potential research study.
• Expound on interpretation of data for a quantitative study.

Resources

• Textbook:  Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches (2018), Chapters 7, 8     
  • PowerPoint: Chapter 7 Questions and Hypotheses
  • File: Chapter 7 Questions and Hypotheses, Notes
  • PowerPoint: Chapter 8 Quantitative Methods
  • File: Chapter 8 Quantitative Methods, Notes
• Textbook:  Practical Research: Planning and Design (2016), Chapters 4, 8     

Respond to this post with a positive response :

Ask questions to help clarify the scenario and application of data, or offering additional/alternative ideas for the application of nursing informatics principles.

                                                           Main Post

The development of the electronic medical record (EMR) has been a pivotal advancement within nursing and to the delivery of healthcare. I have been a nurse for 19 years. While the electronic medical record was difficult to embrace in the beginning, it has proven to be a reliable and necessary tool. EMR has evolved over time impacting delivery of care and improving outcomes including time sensitive acute care patient scenarios resulting in positive outcomes (Sweeney BSN, 2017).   The availability of viewing labs and health records simultaneously allows nurses and critical care team members, i.e. pharmacist and intensivist, the ability to make safe time sensitive decisions for patients.  

     As a critical care nurse, things can go bad quickly at the bedside. For example, a patient arrives to the ED in an acute CHF exacerbation.  Lab work, radiologic studies and a baseline of vital signs are crucial to fast and effective care. If this patient is established in the system, baseline lab values, previous radiologic test for comparison and possibly even notes from a specialist i.e. cardiology/nephrology are available while waiting on new test to arrive and stabilizing the patient.  This information is available to the entire team instantaneously through his/her EMR. EMR has allowed physicians, nurses and other medical team members to make safe and effective decisions producing favorable and effective outcomes. For example, knowledge of the patient’s renal function or availability to notes from his/her renal physician will direct the ED physician to the appropriate treatment. This could potentially avoid possible long-term effects to this patients’ kidneys and provides insight to treatment options that have worked well for this patient in the past.  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) supports this with study results noting fewer medication errors, improved quality of care with and cost savings as a result of fewer medical errors from utilizing the EMR (“Electronic Health Reporter,” 2018).

    Nurses have contributed to the evolution of the EMR and applications centered toward favorable outcomes. The role of the informatic nurse has changed with the evolution of healthcare redefining roles and forms, it is not consistent and will change as healthcare evolves (Nagle, Sermeus, Junger, & Bloomberg, 2017). Nurses will continue to play a profound role in the development of EMR and other tools available to provide safe and effective patient care.

                                                                                                                 References

How Nurses Are Using Health Informatics to Improve Patient Care. (2018). Retrieved from https://electronichealthreporter.com/nurses-using-health-            informatics-improve-patient-care/

Nagle, L. M., Sermeus, W., Junger, A., & Bloomberg, L. S. (2017). Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist []. Forecasting Informatics                             Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health, 212-221. https://doi.org/doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-738-2-212

Sweeney BSN, N, J. (2017). Healthcare Informatics [Entire issue]. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI), 21(1). Retrieved from                             https://www.himss.org/library/healthcare-informatics

  

EPIDEMIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Go to http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx and review the Healthy People 2020 initiative. Pay close attention to the objectives, goals, and indicators.

2. Using your city (MIAMI, FL) or county public health department or the CDC, choose 3 population or community based problems such as disease, disaster, crimes, accidents, falls etc… from the topics outlined in the website and prepare an analysis discussing how these 3 conditions, affect your community and how they were identified and a plan of action to contained them base on healthy people 2020.

3. You can also use the following CDC link https://www.cdc.gov/outbreaks/index.html and identify 3 community infectious outbreaks such as measles and develop the assignment.

The presentation must be in APA format with a minimum of 1500 words (excluding first and references page) with a minimum of 4 evidence-based references using the required Arial 12 font. Must include the zip code of the city or county chosen. Follow the APA example paper that was sent to you at the beginning of the course for guidance. Make sure references are used according to APA guidelines and electronic references must be from reliable sources such as CDC.

The assignment will be post it in the discussion tab of the blackboard for grading and in the SafeAssign exercise in the assignment to verify originality. FNU only accept 35% of plagiarism. I will not accept any assignment that exceeds the percentage of plagiarism establish by the university.