Political Health Care Interview

Introduction

Healthcare policy refers to the rules and regulations which are developed and implemented to help in delivering of healthcare services to the community. The healthcare policies also assist in guiding medical professionals such as nurses, physicians, healthcare organizations administrators among other healthcare practitioners to ensure that the healthcare services they offer meet the expected quality standards for the benefit of the patients. In its 2003 report, the Institute of Medicine emphasized on the importance of heath policies and politics in regard to healthcare and public health (Bayer, Smith, Volny, McKool, Yan, & Heiman, 2017). It is therefore impossible to ignore the critical role played by the healthcare policies in healthcare services delivery, regulation of the nursing practice as well as guiding the healthcare organizations administrators on how to run the institutions in the most efficient and effective manner. That is, the healthcare organizations administrators should and must collaborate with all other parties involved in delivery of healthcare services in the institutions in order to ensure that patients are able to access quality and safe healthcare services from the healthcare organizations. This discussion will therefore evaluate leadership models and or frameworks that can support change in healthcare policy and implementation.

How Organizations Influence the Regulation of Nursing Practice

The role played by healthcare organizations in positively influencing development of healthcare policies and procedures as well as ensuring that other policies provided by the governing boards are adhered to cannot be underrated.  Compliance to healthcare industry regulations as been cited by Giannini (2015) as one of the measures used to determine the commitment of healthcare organizations to maintaining quality standards. Through compliance, the healthcare organizations undertake to ensure all its healthcare service provision staffs such as nurses, physicians and also the administrators themselves abide by the policies and regulations which determine the manner in which they should execute their professional practices. It is undisputable that the healthcare sector faces myriad uncertainties which according to Grutters, Asselt, Chalkidou and Joore, (2015) may include uncertainties in decision making, methodologies, structural operations and heterogeneity among other forms of uncertainties. Adherence to policies and procedures provided by the healthcare boards and those developed by the management of healthcare organizations can have a significant positive impact in terms of providing solutions to these uncertainties. Policies and procedures also play a critical role in boosting the competence of the nurses and other healthcare services providers since they provide standardization in the services delivery. In this regard therefore, absurdities and ambiguities in the healthcare provision procedures are greatly reduced.

Role of Nurses in Developing Policies That Regulate Nursing Practice

In a healthcare organization, nurses play crucial role in developing policies that are used in regulating nursing practice. Nurses spend better part of their time interacting with patients and as a consequence, they according Gallegos and Sortedahl (2015) face numerous complicated situations and questions. Through this experience, the nurses acquire a wealthy of information on measures which can be taken to address the various ethical dilemmas and questions. During policy development the nurses can offer crucial information in regard to the best approach which should be taken to ensure that the policies developed provide solutions to the ethical dilemmas and questions pertaining to healthcare service delivery. As it is widely understood, quality improvement is a continuous and therefore any input made by the nurses on which policies can developed and implemented to enhance the quality of service delivery to the patients is of great importance. It is also important to mention that as they undergo through academic advancement, nurses acquire immense knowledge and skills which enhance their understanding in regard to healthcare aspects. Through their knowledge and skills, the nurses can offer useful information and proposals during development of the healthcare policies.

How Organization Are Influenced by Regulation of Nursing Practice and the Delivery of Health Care Services

Regulation of nursing practice and the delivery of healthcare services impose significance influence on the healthcare organizations. As a matter of fact, healthcare organizations’ operations are majorly dictated by the various healthcare regulations by the government and other professional bodies with regulation of nursing practice and healthcare services being one of them. Instances of safety violations which put the wellbeing of the patients into jeopardy have been cited by Matsudaira (2014) has some of the reasons which compel policymakers to develop policies and procedures to regulate how healthcare organizations and professionals provide medical services to the patients. Quality improvement in healthcare organizations which according to Hain, (2017) involves systematic and progressive actions which result into improved medical care services requires the collaborative effort of both the policymakers and the healthcare organizations. It is extremely hard to realize improved service delivery in the absence of appropriate coordination between the healthcare organizations and other organs which regulate the nursing practice and delivery of health services.

Involvement of Nurses and Healthcare Administratorsin Policy Development

It cannot be doubted that any professional healthcare practitioner who possesses sufficient knowledge, skills and competence can take part in healthcare policy development. For instance, nurses as I mentioned earlier are always in constant conduct with the patients and as a result gain sufficient knowledge and experience pertaining the problems which patients and the healthcare providers face while receiving or offering healthcare services. Healthcare organizations administrators on the other hand have general and in depth knowledge of the specific requirements in regard to the healthcare institutions they head. This may include issues such as staffing, procurement of medical equipments, legal aspects which are health related among other aspects. With this kind of immense experience and knowledge, there is absolutely nothing which can prevent them from participating in policies and procedures development which in their view not only help in making their work easier but can also play an important role in enhancing the quality of healthcare services. Fasanelli, D’Alterio, De Angelis, Piscitelli, and Aria (2017) argue that healthcare provision entails possessing values, knowledge, consciousness and above all the commitment to offering quality care to the patients. In this regard therefore, any healthcare provider involvement in policy development is a sign of commitment to service which is desirable act for any healthcare practitioner.

Achievement of Nurses and Health Care Administrators in Regard to Policy Accomplishment

Professional healthcare practitioner should have a clear record of how they have been able to contribute to the improvement of healthcare service delivery. It is not only a professional requirement but also a way in which an individual can assess their performance against the set or expected performance. This may entail being in a position to give an account of the specific contributions they have able to make as far as healthcare service delivery is concerned. Being able to give an account of how a professional healthcare practitioner has been able to contribute towards improvement of healthcare delivery is a show of accountability, commitment to duty and honor which is one among the six key professional aspects cited by Yoder (2017).  It is therefore crucial for nurses, physicians and all other medical practitioners to be able to explain how they have contributed to the enhancement of medical service delivery. As we have seen, participating in policy development is one of many ways in which the healthcare professionals can contribute to better healthcare to their communities.

Desirable Leadership Characteristics which are Essential in Advancing the Work of Policy Development in Healthcare Organizations

Successful policy development in any healthcare organization largely depends on the nature of leadership in those organizations. It is therefore extremely important for the leadership of the healthcare facilities to have specific characteristics which can yield desirable results as far as policy development is concerned. Firstly, the leadership of the healthcare organizations should and must demonstrate highest level of competence, skills and experience which can enable them to identify potential and ongoing challenges in the healthcare environment and proceed to formulate appropriate policies and procedures which can offer suitable solutions to the challenges. Secondly, the leadership of the healthcare organizations must have exemplary communications skills which can allow them to vividly explain to their subordinates on the practical courses of action to take when faced by dilemmas while executing their duties. According to Demir, Basaran, and Simonetti, (2016), effective communication can lead to lower issues in regard to anxiety and uncertainty in a healthcare facility setting. As we discussed earlier, uncertainty is a major problem which is faced by healthcare professionals while discharging their duties. In the absence of uncertainty and anxiety, medical practitioners can comfortably contribute to policy development in matters related to healthcare provision. Thirdly, Leadership of healthcare organizations should also commit themselves to developing team work in the healthcare institutions they head. The importance of teamwork in policy development cannot be ignored. This is because it is through teamwork that the leadership in collaboration with other healthcare service providers can positively identify and analyze various issues within the healthcare facility which need development of policies and procedures to address them. Lastly, it is extremely crucial for the leadership of healthcare organizations to create opportunities for innovation and experience development for all its healthcare staffs. In so doing, the leadership will be providing an enabling environment to the healthcare officials who through this can be able to realize areas of improvement which the leadership needs work on to provide solutions. It is through this kind of cooperation that the leadership together with other stakeholders can embark on developing relevant policies and procedures which can be used to offer guidance to the healthcare official and institutions. It is quite difficult for the healthcare organizations to realize such benefits if the healthcare staffs who include nurses and physicians are denied opportunities to discover their capabilities.

Conclusion

Nurses, healthcare organizations administrators among other medical practitioners play a crucial role in development of healthcare policies and procedures. For instance, as discussed, nurses possess immense experience in regard to patients’ issues due to the fact they spend much of their time interacting with them.  On the other hand, administrators of healthcare organizations have experience pertaining to challenges and other crucial issues which affect healthcare service delivery. This experience can be very useful in terms of developing policies and procedures which can provide guidance and solutions to healthcare service delivery. As a show of their commitment to improved quality healthcare service delivery, it is absolutely necessary for the healthcare organizations and medical practitioners to adhere to the policies and procedures that are developed to offer guidance to the healthcare industry.