The nursing profession is founded on the construct of altruistic principles in the provision of healthcare. Being the largest healthcare profession, nursing is integral in ensuring that the health and well-being of the population are met. It is, therefore, a moral responsibility, philosophical principle, and ethical practice for the nurse practitioners (NPs) to take part in all the actions that culminate in the improvement of care delivery and upholding the welfare of the population. Nurses also have a responsibility towards themselves and other healthcare practitioners. They have to ensure that all the care processes are coordinated with the health needs of the patients, welfare of the health practitioners, and the interests of the government and other stakeholders. This involves creating a balance between the restoration and maintenance of health and ensuring the sustainability of the healthcare systems ( Choi, 2015). In this regard, it is imperative for nurses to act as effective advocates in healthcare issues. Nursing advocacy entails a close relationship between the nurses’ civic responsibility and the health of the public. Effective and efficient advocacy is contingent on identifying the existing health needs and discrepancies, proposing ideas and strategies for improving the healthcare landscape, supporting or refuting existing or proposed health policies, and providing appropriate care at the local level ( Nickitas, Middaugh, & Aries, 2011). Healthcare policy is at the center of nursing advocacy. Proposing or supporting the development, enactment, and implementation of policies that positively alter the paradigm of care delivery is integral in the nursing profession. Nurses have to play the role of caregivers, leaders, activists, researchers, and educators to streamline the healthcare delivery processes.
As an NP, it is important to be politically assertive in advocating for the patients’ needs. The first step of nursing advocacy is identifying the existing gaps in care delivery and the needs of the patients ( Nickitas, Middaugh, & Aries, 2011). This evaluation is important as it helps to inform the NP of the cause of the discrepancies in healthcare and thus makes it possible to explore ideas and strategies that will specifically address the issues. The healthy needs are unique and specific for each patient. However, patient groups with a common condition, especially chronic diseases, may have similar health needs and thus require a unified advocacy plan. Among the populations with significant and neglected health needs are the underserved and minority groups. These include the immigrant and impoverished communities. Assessment of health access for these groups indicates that in many jurisdictions, these groups find it difficult to access care due to lack of money and insurance covers and the inability of the caregivers to understand the patients’ needs. The difficulty of these groups in accessing care or receiving inadequate care often exacerbates their conditions ( Mohammed, Stevens, Ezeonwu, & Cooke, 2017). It is therefore important to take an approach that widens the influence of policymakers in considering the needs of the underserved and minority groups and increase their access to healthcare.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The next approach in advocating for better health outcomes for the underserved and minority groups is focusing on the social determinants of health. These include factors such as access to healthy foods, health awareness and education, quality housing, and standards of sanitation. These are factors that traditionally fell outside the realm of care provision but are vital in influencing the health outcomes of the individual. In most of the racial minority groups, there is adverse SDH, which increases their susceptibility to diseases and consequently, negative health outcomes ( Mohammed, Stevens, Ezeonwu, & Cooke, 2017). The adverse SDH is primarily due to the racial/ethnic disparity and the under-representation of the groups in healthcare platforms. The HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities has attempted to curtail these challenges and improve the health outcomes among the minority groups ( Jackson & Gracia, 2014). However, NPs still have a role to play in changing the status quo and improving healthcare provision strategies. The HHS Disparities Action Plan was initiated on the premise of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which aims to transform the healthcare landscape in the United States.
As a nurse practitioner, it is important to support the implementation of the HHS Disparities Action Plan, and by extension, the PPACA. The policy is centered on the welfare of all Americans, with the minority and underserved groups being the biggest beneficiaries. This policy is thus a step in the right direction in ensuring the health and SDH disparities among the minority, and impoverished patient groups are addressed (Lathrop & Hodnicki, 2014). One of the biggest impediments to healthcare access, as previously mentioned, is the lack of insurance and finances to cater for the services. By expanding the scope of Medicaid, the PPACA has considerably reduced the number of uninsured Americans and thus enables the minority and impoverished groups to access healthcare. The goals and outcomes of the policy are changing the healthcare paradigm, advancing and prioritizing the health and well-being of every American, enhancing research, innovation, and scientific knowledge of health practitioners, reinforcing the healthcare systems and workforce across the nation, and increasing accountability and efficiency in healthcare provision (Lathrop & Hodnicki, 2014). It is therefore apparent that PPACA does not only aim to improve the welfare of the patients, but also the healthcare practitioners’ welfare. Increasing awareness for the support of PPACA and the HSS Disparities Action Plan is thus an important approach in ensuring the patients’ and health practitioners’ welfare is realized.
Globalization has resulted in increased social and cultural diversity among different populations. While diversity may be important in other aspects of life, it is an impediment to the provision of care in some instances. Cultural differences make it difficult for the care providers to interact with the patients, thus creating barriers in understanding the patients’ needs. Cultural diversity has been implicated as one of the causes of misdiagnosis and underdiagnoses, negative health outcomes ( Jackson & Gracia, 2014). This highlights the need to expedite cultural competency training and promotion strategies among the healthcare workforce. The ability of healthcare providers to provide quality and safe care with the attainment of the desired health outcomes despite the cultural differences should be an advocacy goal for all NPs. Cultural competency has been shown to have positive results on the patient outcomes and therefore, should be prioritized in policy formulation aimed at improving the quality of care. As a nurse advocate, I would propose a policy for enhancing cultural competency. The policy will include clauses for mandatory competency training for all healthcare practitioners, reiterate the inclusion of cultural non-discrimination of patients, and outline the punitive measures for practitioners found culpable of discriminating patients based on race or ethnicity. The enactment, adoption, and implementation of the policy is contingent on the involvement of all stakeholders.
The federal and state legislatures are the designated policymakers and thus play a vital role in ensuring that the cultural competence policy will be implemented. In this regard, it is important to solicit the support of the legislatures by organizing committee sessions and demystifying the importance of adopting the policy. Giving a thorough background of the problem as well as research and empirical evidence from clinical practice to back up the projections is important ( Jansson et al., 2017). Besides the legislatures, other stakeholders include the other healthcare practitioners such as physicians, interest groups, political parties, and the public. Political parties go in tandem with the legislatures, because the actions of the lawmakers are largely dependent on the views of their respective parties. Interest groups include activists and human rights organizations that fight for equality and the rights of the minority racial and ethnic groups. Often, these organizations will support policies and initiatives that will have a positive impact on the lives and health outcomes of the minority groups ( Jansson et al., 2017). Given an opportunity, I would establish a cultural competence organization for all NPs – Association of Culturally Competent Nurse Practitioners (ACCN). The primary role of the organization would be to advocate for the adoption of cultural competency literacy and skills as one of the integral requirements for the nursing practice. This will be aimed at plummeting the health disparities arising out of cultural diversity.
The current nursing profession is inclining towards the adoption and implementation of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and the PPACA to achieve the intersecting goals of diversity, reducing disparities, enhancing fairness and equal care access, and achieving equity in healthcare provision. However, there is still room for nurses to advocate for changes in professional practice and thus improve the future landscape of the nursing profession and American healthcare. By embracing and advocating for the need for cultural competency and equitable care access for the underserved and minority groups, the nursing profession is inclining towards a more altruistic angle. It is worth noting that the socio-cultural diversity is on the rise and will be deeply seated among all American societies in the future. Nonetheless, the nursing profession will enhance its cultural competence approaches through policy changes and regulations. This means that in the future, nurses will be able to provide quality and safe care without being hindered by the prevalent cultural diversity.
References
Choi, P. P. (2015). Patient advocacy: the role of the nurse. Nursing Standard (2014+) , 29 (41), 52.
Jackson, C. S., & Gracia, J. N. (2014). Addressing health and health-care disparities: the role of a diverse workforce and the social determinants of health. Public Health Reports , 129 (1_suppl2), 57-61. Retrieved on 11 th August 2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863703/
Jansson, B. S., Nyamathi, A., Heidemann, G., Duan, L., & Kaplan, C. (2017). Validation of the Policy Advocacy Engagement Scale for frontline healthcare professionals. Nursing ethics , 24 (3), 362-375.
Lathrop, B., & Hodnicki, D. R. (2014). The Affordable Care Act: Primary Care and the Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Retrieved on 10 th March 2019 from http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-19-2014/No2-May-2014/Articles-Previous-Topics/Affordable-Care-Act-Doctor-of-Nursing-Practice.html
Mohammed, S., Stevens, C. A., Ezeonwu, M., & Cooke, C. L. (2017). Social justice, nursing advocacy, and health inequities: A primary health care perspective. Practicing primary health care in nursing: Caring for populations , 61-74.
Nickitas, D., Middaugh, D. J., & Aries, N. (Eds.). (2011). Policy and politics for nurses and other health professionals . Jones & Bartlett Learning.
