Comment 1

The role of health care reform in shifting the focus from a disease-orientated health care system toward one of wellness and prevention is to avert disease in the public. One of the ideal choices is to promote and encourage good health within groups of people across ages, gender, ethnicity, race, and social economic status. Health care reform, in this context, can strive to help people change the social behavior. Help care reform can enhance people’s ability to care for their health. They can lessen health disparities within the population. In the meantime, help care reform targets non-help care policy that impact people good health. That is, decisions related to social, economic, housing, nutrition, and environment might have a direct effect on wellness and prevention.

 In terms of prevention, health care reform can converge health care practitioners’ attentions and the public’s focus on screenings, immunizations, counseling, and disease management to avert complications. This will encourage health care professional to always encourage patients and their loved ones to take preventive measures and steps to avert unhealthy circumstances in their lives.

                       The profession of nursing has the obligation to educate nursing students and current nursing practitioners to understand the benefits of wellness and prevention in the practice of nursing. Nurse spend most of their working times with patients than any other health care professional. They are the first who witness patients’ calamities. This makes them more apt to embrace this shift because integrating prevention in their practices can avert acute and chronic diseases, and other non-desirable health conditions. Nurse can participate in consumer education or awareness campaigns for the good of society.

Comment 2

n 2010, the Affordable Care Act became law, and the law aims to improve the health care system of the U.S. by widening the health coverage to more Americans and by protecting existing health insurance policyholders (Nordqvist, 2016). Cherry & Jacob (2016) state that the ACA is expected to provide insurance coverage for 32 million previously uninsured Americans. America faces the increased medical expenditures which can be the burden of the American economy.  Moreover, the shortage of health care providers and facilities, as well as the rise in health awareness also alter the care from the treatment of disease to health promotion and disease prevention. As a result, health care reform plays an important role to lead the way in determining the type of providers needed to care for patients (Cherry & Jacob, 2016).

The shift from disease-oriented healthcare towards wellness and prevention provides a health resource to assist in creating a balance to promote health and cure disease. “Health care is a human right and that all persons are entitled to ready access affordable, high-quality health care service” (ANA, 2008). Restructuring the health care system will reinforce and ensure universal access to health care. The primary focus points are affordability, availability, acceptability, and quality of care. Access to care alone is not enough if the quality of care and safety is not satisfactory. A restructured health care system must provide dependable, high-quality care across the country.

There are six specific aims described to raise the quality of care that includes: Safe health care, Effective health care, Patient-Centered Health Care, Timely Health Care, Efficient Health Care, and Equitable Health Care. These aims of health care are essential to the nursing staff because many outcomes are associated with the care provided by the nursing staff. It is our job as nurses to positively embrace the change in health care reform and implement the changes with the highest standards. The agenda for the shift in health care reform can be considered a new step in health care and requires all associated with health care to participate.

Comment 3

Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Americans get less exercise, spending work and leisure time in from of screens. Diabetes and other chronic diseases are on the rise, a leading driver of escalating medical care costs. More and better medical care will not fix this countries declining health status or slow the rising costs of health care. History and science show that a multifaceted public health effort, including delivery of clinical preventative services, to protect the nations health. America must invest in the policies, programs, community environments and preventative care that are known to protect and restore health. By doing so, this can lower the disease and disability resulting in a decrease in the cost of expensive medical treatment in the future.

Three major reforms re required to make prevention and wellness the cornerstone of national policy.

1. Provide consistent policy leadership that advocates for and funds mutifaceted approaches to prevention and wellness.

2. Strengthen the ability of the public health system to facilitate and provide community-based prevention, health promotion, and early detection of disease.

3. Assure that all Americans have access to recommended clinical preventitive serices.

Nurses are on the frontline for providing valuable education to patients, the public and communities relating to nutrition, exercise and disease prevention. Health promotion should be done everywhere, at every level of our health care system. Nurses are innovative and know how to expand car and improve quality at a lower cost. Emphasizing the use of master-prepared nurses to oversee care from the hospital to within the home reduces hospitalizations.