Discussion: Review of Current Healthcare Issues

If you were to ask 10 people what they believe to be the most significant issue facing healthcare today, you might get 10 different answers. Escalating costs? Regulation? Technology disruption?

These and many other topics are worthy of discussion. Not surprisingly, much has been said in the research, within the profession, and in the news about these topics. Whether they are issues of finance, quality, workload, or outcomes, there is no shortage of changes to be addressed.

In this Discussion, you examine a national healthcare issue and consider how that issue may impact your work setting. You also analyze how your organization has responded to this issue.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources and select one current national healthcare issue/stressor to focus on.
Reflect on the current national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and think about how this issue/stressor may be addressed in your work setting.

By Day 3 of Week 1

Post a description of the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for analysis, and explain how the healthcare issue/stressor may impact your work setting. Then, describe how your health system work setting has responded to the healthcare issue/stressor, including a description of what changes may have been implemented. Be specific and provide examples.

By Day 6 of Week 1

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who chose a different national healthcare issue/stressor than you selected. Explain how their chosen national healthcare issue/stressor may also impact your work setting and what (if anything) is being done to address the national healthcare issue/stressor.

Discussion: Review of Current Healthcare Issues If you were to ask 10 people what they believe to be the most significant issue facing healthcare today, you might get 10 different answers. Escalating
If you were to ask 10 people what they believe to be the most significant issue facing healthcare today, you might get 10 different answers. Escalating costs? Regulation? Technology disruption?

In this Discussion, you examine a national healthcare issue and consider how that issue may impact your work setting. You also analyze how your organization has responded to this issue.

To Prepare:

· Review the Resources and select one current national healthcare issue/stressor to focus on.

· Reflect on the current national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and think about how this issue/stressor may be addressed in your work setting.

Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of goals to pursue to maintain and improve healthcare. Within each goal are many issues that, if addressed successfully, may have a positive impact on outcomes. For example, healthcare leaders are being tasked to shift from an emphasis on disease management often provided in an acute care setting to health promotion and disease prevention delivered in primary care settings. Efforts in this area can have significant positive impacts by reducing the need for primary healthcare and by reducing the stress on the healthcare system.

Changes in the industry only serve to stress what has always been true; namely, that the healthcare field has always faced significant challenges, and that goals to improve healthcare will always involve multiple stakeholders. This should not seem surprising given the circumstances. Indeed, when a growing population needs care, there are factors involved such as the demands of providing that care and the rising costs associated with healthcare. Generally, it is not surprising that the field of healthcare is an industry facing multifaceted issues that evolve over time.

In this module’s Discussion, you reviewed some healthcare issues/stressors and selected one for further review. For this Assignment, you will consider in more detail the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. You will also review research that addresses the issue/stressor and writes a white paper to your organization’s leadership that addresses the issue/stressor you selected.

To Prepare:

· Review the national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the Resources and reflect on the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for the study.

· Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post for the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected.

· Identify and review two additional scholarly resources (not included in the Resources for this module) that focus on change strategies implemented by healthcare organizations to address your selected national healthcare issue/stressor.

RE: Discussion – Week 1

The national healthcare issue faced by every organization today is the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of April 24, 2020, the case-fatality rate of COVID-19 is about 7.0%, with 193,671 deaths and 2,761,121 confirmed cases around the world (Undela & Gudi, 2020, p. 5180). This pandemic brought uncertainty, panic, and fear in the healthcare industry. Nurses and medical practitioners became scared for their safety while caring for patients diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, with presenting symptoms due to shortages in personal protective equipment.

However, our organization was not exempted from this national crisis as surgeries were put on hold to rationalize the use of ventilators. The leadership team implemented several changes to tackle the crisis by following CDC guidelines.

Which entails; “reducing the number of patients going to the hospital or outpatient settings,

excluding HCP not directly involved in patient care, reducing face-to-face HCP encounters with patients and excluding visitors to patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and maximizing the use of telemedicine (Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, 2020).”

The reusing of N95 mask for days until visibly soiled, providing gowns that could be worn all day in the COVID-19 designated area, was part of a leadership strategy to maximize supplies. The said gowns were sent to a unique laundry, cleaned, and returned to staff daily. N95 mask was sent to special cleaning/sterilization and deemed safe so long the process does not exceed ten sterilization processes. These were some of the measures employed to maximize personal protective equipment amongst staff during the COVID-19 crisis.

Furthermore, this pandemic was unprecedented and devastating. Nurses had to sacrifice their safety for humanity with compromised personal protective equipment. The organization took a step further to convert the surgical intensive care unit to COVID-19 designated unit so they could confine the virus to a specific location. Visiting was prohibited, except there was a patient actively dying. The most challenging part is when a patient must die alone, or family members could only say goodbye via a glass door. I am sure there are other worse stories out there, but the bottom line remains, which was an unprecedented event and terrible experience.

Lastly, the organization had to improvise measures to rationalize work hours for nursing staff that was unable to function in the intensive care unit by making them runners for critical care nurses. Managers took a 10% pay cut and were asked to work from home. These interventions kept most nurses at float as many stayed home with nothing to do. Operating rooms were closed, whereby affecting work hours for OR nurses and PACU nurses. Cath lab and other surgical units were closed with minimal medical-surgical units opened for business

Reference

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). (2020, May 8). Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

Undela, K., & Gudi, S. K. (2020). Assumptions for disparities in case-fatality rates of

coronavirus disease (COVID-19) across the globe. European Review for Medical and

Pharmacological Sciences, 24(9), 5180–5182.

10.26355/eurrev_202005_21215

The Assignment (3-4 Pages):

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Develop a 3- to 4-page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following:

· Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).

· Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.

· Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.

Looking Ahead

The paper you develop in Module 1 will be revisited and revised in Module 2. Review the Assignment instructions for Module 2 to prepare for your revised paper.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

NURS_6053_Module01_Week01_Discussion_Rubric

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor
Main Posting	Points Range: 45 (45%) – 50 (50%) Answers all parts of the discussion question(s) expectations with reflective critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module and current credible sources. Supported by at least three current, credible sources. Written clearly and concisely with no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.	Points Range: 40 (40%) – 44 (44%) Responds to the discussion question(s) and is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module. At least 75% of post has exceptional depth and breadth. Supported by at least three credible sources. Written clearly and concisely with one or no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.	Points Range: 35 (35%) – 39 (39%) Responds to some of the discussion question(s). One or two criteria are not addressed or are superficially addressed. Is somewhat lacking reflection and critical analysis and synthesis. Somewhat represents knowledge gained from the course readings for the module. Post is cited with two credible sources. Written somewhat concisely; may contain more than two spelling or grammatical errors. Contains some APA formatting errors.	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 34 (34%) Does not respond to the discussion question(s) adequately. Lacks depth or superficially addresses criteria. Lacks reflection and critical analysis and synthesis. Does not represent knowledge gained from the course readings for the module. Contains only one or no credible sources. Not written clearly or concisely. Contains more than two spelling or grammatical errors. Does not adhere to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Main Post: Timeliness	Points Range: 10 (10%) – 10 (10%) Posts main post by day 3.	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%) Does not post by day 3.
First Response	Points Range: 17 (17%) – 18 (18%) Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings. Responds fully to questions posed by faculty. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources. Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.	Points Range: 15 (15%) – 16 (16%) Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.	Points Range: 13 (13%) – 14 (14%) Response is on topic and may have some depth. Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed. Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 12 (12%) Response may not be on topic and lacks depth. Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are missing. No credible sources are cited.
Second Response	Points Range: 16 (16%) – 17 (17%) Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings. Responds fully to questions posed by faculty. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources. Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.	Points Range: 14 (14%) – 15 (15%) Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.	Points Range: 12 (12%) – 13 (13%) Response is on topic and may have some depth. Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed. Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 11 (11%) Response may not be on topic and lacks depth. Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are missing. No credible sources are cited.
Participation	Points Range: 5 (5%) – 5 (5%) Meets requirements for participation by posting on three different days.	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)	Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%) Does not meet requirements for participation by posting on 3 different days.

Total Points: 100

Name: NURS_6053_Module01_Week01_Discussion_Rubric

The nursing shortage is a worldwide issue. Nurses make up the largest section of the healthcare profession. According the World Health Statistics Report, the United States have 3.9 million nurses and midwives, and still needed an additional one million more nurses at the end of 2020 (Haddad, 2020). Even though the production of new nurses has increased over the last few years, healthcare organizations continue to struggle to recruit and retain qualified nurses. Another contributor to the nursing shortage that is not often addressed is the lack of qualified nurse educators. Many nurse educators are part of the Baby Boom generation and it is quite likely that many of these educators have or will retire in the next 10-15 years, which will put an additional strain on the nursing shortage (McGee, 2021). On many occasions I have browsed websites looking for job openings for nurses, and I can always find job listing for nurse educators. Even while attending nursing school, 4 years ago I could not help but notice the high rate of staff turnover in my nursing program. The lack of nurse educators is and will continue to be a barrier in closing the gap on the current nursing shortage we see today.

Haddad, L. M. (2020, December 14). Nursing shortage. StatPearls [Internet]. .

McGee, P. L. (2021). A descriptive study of faculty-to-faculty incivility in nursing programs in the United States. Journal of Professional Nursing, 37(1), 93–100.

Discussion: Review of Current Healthcare Issues