Essay on Access to Mental Health

Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Retrieved February 21, 2015, from American Nurses Association: www.nursingworld.org

Fowler, M. D. (2010). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses: interpretation and application. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

The ANA is a professional organization that represents all the nation’s registered nurses. It helps the advancement of the nursing profession by issuing high standards of practice, and promoting the rights of nurses in the profession. The Code of Ethics is developed as a guide for carrying out nursing responsibilities, along with an appropriate quality in caring with the ethical obligations of the profession. Ethic has always been an essential part of nursing as nursing has a history of concern for the sick, injured. The Code of Ethics for Nurses serves these purposes: it serves

Energized by the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding most of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the American Nurses Association (ANA) is continuing its wide ranging efforts to ensure that Registered Nurses (RNs) have an even greater role in providing high quality care as implementation of the landmark law progresses. As guiding principles, ANA contends that health care is a basic human right, and that all deserve access to essential health care services. As nurses witness every day, a lack of primary and preventive care can cause people's manageable chronic conditions to spiral, leading to poorer patient outcomes and increased overall health care costs. (Anonymous, 2012). According to Billings and Halstead (2012), nurses are poised to participate in transforming this nation's health care system. Participation requires nurses to possess political advocacy skills so that nursing voice is brought to the policy debates and policy development.

“Despite many calls for change, mental health care continues to be separate from the rest of health care. Difficulties in accessing mental health care have become a “de facto” in the US. Although screening for mental illness in primary care has increased in recent years, subsequent treatment remains inadequate and referral for specialty treatment continues to suffer from long delays. In the National Comorbidity Study, only 21.7% of individuals with major depressive disorder received adequate treatment (Grembowski, 2002).”

American history is littered with tails of reform and revolution. Earlier on in America’s young life, revolution included war, struggle for basic human rights and dignity as well as radical tactics taken by the public. As time went on Americans learned that revolution and reform could occur through the government systems that our forefathers had put in place. The battle for human rights has all but ended but the way in which Americans wage war is a different story altogether. Now American’s fight for better public healthcare, equal rights for homosexual individuals and couples, and stricter standards for social welfare programs.

The American Nurses Association developed a Code of Ethics to guide nurses in everyday clinical practice for action in a consistent manner with quality of care and the ethical obligations as a nurse.

As of now, there is no general consensus that would require states to cover mental health (Cauchi, Landess, & Thangasamy 2011). Out of the 49 states that do cover mental illness, there are three main categories that vary considerably; mental health “parity” or equal coverage laws, minimum mandated mental health benefit laws, and mental health “mandated offering laws.” Mental illness is as serious a condition as any other health condition. It should be covered as such. Mental health parity has come a long way over the years. With health care reform underway, this issue is bound to come up. Hopefully the reform can enact a program that will lead to more mental health parity.

As patient advocates, professional nurses realize the importance of being active in the political arena, regarding health policy to improve the overall health of society (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). A nurse can work individually or as a part of a nursing organization, such as the American Nurses Association, to have a positive impact on health care policy (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the legislative process, analyze nurse-to-patient ratios, and provide my opinion on this workplace issue.

This paper will an analysis one of the nine provisions found in the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics and compare it with the provision of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Code of Ethics. Both codes of conduct serve as guidelines for ethical and moral dilemmas registered nurses may face. They both offer vague statements allowing for interpretation which will ensure “merit the trust, confidence, and respect of healthcare professionals and the general public (American college, 2016).” This is why Americans view the nursing profession as one of the most honest (Winland-Brown, Lachman,& O’Connor Swanson, 2015).

The inadequacy of access to treatment has been slowly improving. However, 55.8% of adults with a mental illness received no treatment (Mental Health in America Access to Care Data , 2017).

Healthcare has become a great challenge for the American society. The ambition to improve healthcare has develop an array of multiple disparities, unfairness, safety issues, scarce resources, and high cost. The need for citizens to be involved with their communities and become political activist, advocate, and contributors of policymaking is the turning key to improve American healthcare. Nurses can contribute immensely by advocating to improve the health of individuals and their communities (). This paper will discuss about the imperative need to understand the process of healthcare policy-making, understand political powers, identify policy issues, distinguish between private vs. public policy issues, and knowing the roles and responsibilities

These people deserve the time of day. This will help boost the confidence of any person and make them want to do better.

A lot of people do not get mental health care for monetary reasons. A lack of health insurance coverage, or coverage that leaves a great sum owed by the patient, leads a lot of people to not get care. "Many Americans are unaware of the free or discounted mental health services available to them in city, county, state, private or Veterans Administration clinics and facilities" (Boyd, 2011).

As nurses we are often expected to abide by a certain set of professional rules and obligations, as well as performing duties that we must follow. The field of ethics influences how we should treat each other, how we should act, what we should do, and why. The ANA code of ethics is a useful tool that helps guide nurses in everyday life and practice. When we are faced with an ethical dilemma the nursing code of ethics will aide us in making an appropriate ethical decision as well as caring for our patients effectively. The code of ethics for nurses consists of nine provisions and the accompanying interpretive statements. “It emphasizes the important qualities and responsibilities of a nurse (Provisions 1-3), distinguishes the limits of obligation