Unit 3

This was the discussion topic referenced below that I did not complete.  You can complete it if you’d like.
Before you start, look over the instructions for the Unit 3 Assignment. This Discussion will assist with forming your responses for the Assignment.

First, think about a health problem that you find interesting, such as a disease outbreak, chronic condition (heart disease, diabetes, etc.), or common injury in a population (falling among seniors, occupational injuries, etc.). You could also choose a health problem that is currently affecting your community.

Next, choose and research an organization that is part of the public health system (local, state, federal or global health organization, non-governmental organization, or other organization) that is addressing the health problem.

Instructions

Systems thinking in public health looks at how different disciplines work together to create the public health system. When we examine the public health system as a whole, we can see several different parts; health education, health communication, the public health workforce, information technology, and even non-profit organizations concerned with population health help make the public health system work.

For the Unit 3 Discussion, you chose a public health problem and an organization that is part of the public health system (local, state, federal or global health organization, non-governmental organization, or other organization) that is addressing the health problem. Using the information, you drafted for the Unit 3 Discussion and the peer feedback you received, write a minimum 500-word expository essay that addresses the following:

· Briefly describe the health problem and organization that you chose, and what they are doing to improve population health.

· How does this organization fit into the overall public health system?

· Using systems thinking, determine what other organizations inside or outside the discipline of public health would be important for your chosen organization to build relationships with to meet their goal of improving population health. Then, describe the linkages between the organizations that make them a part of the system that is needed to address the health problem.

· You may include a diagram of the ‘system’ that shows how the organizations are linked.

Requirements

· The paper should be at least 500 words in length.

· There should be a minimum of three credible references used, including the source for your chosen organization, which should be presented in APA format.

1-The Patient protection and Affordable Care Act has many benefits for nurses and the nursing profession. There are two in particular that really stood out for me personally:

Section 5309 Nurse education, practice, and retention grants. —This section discusses 2 new grants that will be primarily focused on nurse retention rates. One will award grants to accredited nursing schools or health facilities to promote career advancement among nurses. The other will give awards to nursing schools or health facilities that can demonstrate enhanced collaboration and communication among nurses and other health care professionals. Priority directed towards applicants that have not previously received an award.

Section 5509 Graduate nurse education demonstration. Appropriates $50 million per year to establish a graduate nurse education demonstration program in Medicare. Hospitals selected will be reimbursed for educational and clinical instruction costs attributed to training advanced practice nurses to provide primary/preventive care, translational care, chronic care management, as well as any other nursing services appropriate for the Medicare eligible population. Those hospitals selected will partner with community based care settings and accredited nursing schools to undertake the demonstration program and will reimburse partners for their share of costs. 

I chose these two provisions because I feel as if they are important to the future of nursing. Nursing education plays a pivotal role in health care reform as we learned last week. The higher education nurses have, the more competent they are at their jobs and the more they are able to effectively care for patients. Having programs that help fund education can greatly impact the number of nurses that are willing to go back to school. Sometimes cost is the issue and nurses simply may not be able to afford the high cost of a higher educations. These two provisions and many more have realized the importance of nursing education and are investing in it.

2-Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is the health reform legislation that was established by the 111th Congress. PPACA, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare, was signed into law by President Obama March of 2010. This new legislation provides health insurance for so many individuals who didn’t have health insurance. With the many unique individuals gaining health insurance, the demand for nursing care has also increased. The PPACA has many health-care-related provisions that have been put into action and changed the nursing field. Two key nursing provisions that have impacted nursing practice are the health care workforce loan repayment program and the graduate nurse education demonstration (“Health Care Reform: Key Provisions Related to Nursing,” 2010). The health care workforce loan repayment program gives loan repayment options for psychiatric nurses, social workers, and professional or school counselors who serve in underserved areas. To be eligible, they must work in those areas for at least two years. This will encourage prospective students to choose those fields of practice to qualify for loan forgiveness programs. The second nursing provision is a graduate nurse education demonstration. This program provides grants and loans to nurses who are pursuing advanced nursing practitioners. Advance practice nurses needs are in primary care, translational care, and chronic care management. This program will encourage nurses to pursue an advanced degree and further their education.
References:
Health Care Reform: Key Provisions Related to Nursing. (2010). Retrieved from https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.wocn.org/resource/resmgr/AdvocacyPolicy/PPACA_and_Nursing_-_Nursing_.pdf

3-The PPACA has many health-care related provisions that has been put into action and changed the nursing field. The health care workforce loan repayment program offers loan reimbursement options for psychiatric nurses, social workers, and professional or school counselors who work in underserved areas. In order to be qualified, they must work in those areas for at least two years. This will inspire prospective students to pick those fields of practice in order to qualify for the load forgiveness programs. The second key nursing provision is the graduate nurse education demonstration. This program provides grants and loans to nurses who are pursuing advance nursing practitioners. Advance practice nurses are needed in primary care, chronic care management. This program will encourage nurses to pursue an advance degree and further their education.

Alba

Reference

           Health Care Reform:  Key Provisions Related to Nursing. (2010). Retrieved from https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.wocn.org/resource/resmgr/AdvocacyPolicy/PPACA_and_Nursing_-_Nursing_.pdf 

Measuring expected change outcomes is crucial in research to ascertain effectiveness of planned change into real-world clinical practice.  Outcome evaluation is important at all levels including patient, clinician, and organization level.  Outcomes need to be measured throughout the process including at the beginning, short-term, and long-term (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015).  Cultivating change mentors and champions can help improve outcomes and provide ongoing training with clinicians including “circulate information, encourage peers to adopt the innovation, arrange demonstrations, and orient staff to the innovation” (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2014, p. 434). 

Expected Change Outcomes

The expected outcome from this change will be a decrease in surgical site infections (SSI) with postoperative patients.  Many factors come into play when measuring outcomes which include measurement tools, validity of instruments and tools to measure outcomes, as well as accurate self-reporting in regard to clinician compliance (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015).  Outcomes can be measured by tracking statistics on postoperative patients regarding type of preoperative bathing solution used prior to surgery, the incidence of postoperative SSI, clinician compliance with intervention at point-of-care, 30-day hospital readmission data as well as patient satisfaction surveys (HCAHPS) over a 6-month period.  The results will determine if the change will be translated into practice.  

Implementation Process Outcomes

       Utilizing EBP leaders (mentors) can help with all aspects of the change process.  Mentors give guidance, encouragement, help foster self-confidence in clinicians as well as reinforce values to the team.  The ARCC change model stresses the importance of utilizing change mentors and champions to improve quality of care as well as patient outcomes.  Assigning a change leader and unit champions will help to provide support such as ongoing organizational assessment, conduct EBP workshops and provide ongoing education, encouragement with clinicians and staff focused on a culture of EPB, institute EBP implementation strategies (EBP rounds, newsletters, journal clubs, etc.), assess for and focus on overcoming barriers, facilitate involvement of staff and point-of-care clinician compliance, and implement a culture of multidisciplinary collaboration to promote and sustain EBP (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015, p. 378).

References

LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2014). Nursing research:  Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2015). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare:  A guide to best practice (3rd ed.). Retrieved from Amazon Kindle App

In a 4- to 5-page project proposal written to the leadership of your healthcare organization, propose a nursing informatics project for your organization that you advocate to improve patient outcomes or patient-care efficiency. Your project proposal should include the following:

• Describe the project you propose.
• Identify the stakeholders impacted by this project.
• Explain the patient outcome(s) or patient-care efficiencies this project is aimed at improving and explain how this improvement would occur. Be specific and provide examples.
• Identify the technologies required to implement this project and explain why.
• Identify the project team (by roles) and explain how you would incorporate the nurse informaticist in the project team.

Please, post a short response to the following discussion.

Use a reference from scholarly literature : Peer-reviewed Nursing journal not older than 5 years or your textbook:

 Polit, D. E. & Beck, C. T. (2018). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice(9th. ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer. 

Nursing researches, evidence-based practice (EBP), and theories can be subject to reviews and readings. Nursing is an ever-changing science and profession, even though nurses based their knowledge on previous studies. Literature review is significant to the research process because it balances the strength of the knowledge obtained and review the previous information obtained. The nursing research process includes the review or creation of concepts and theories (Polit & Beck, 2018). Therefore, a deep reading and investigation of the research allows for either confirmation, or exclusion, of that research. As Bernhofer (2015) expresses, a thorough review of the literature can show that there is no need to change the practice or, in the other hand, it can show that there is a possibility to improve the outcomes desired by changing the practice protocols. A literature review may influence new researches process and practices as it proves the knowledge already obtained is based on strong and appropriate evidences that were not biased.