Political Action : Modernize The Nurse Practice Act

The Nurse Practice Act of Maryland defines “Delegation” as “The act of authorizing an unlicensed individual, a certified nursing assistant (CNA), licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a medication technician to perform acts of registered nursing or licensed practical nursing (Code of Maryland Regulations 10.27.11.02)”. As a registered nurse there are many instances that delegation to an unlicensed individual will be essential in order to provide optimal care to the patient and learning how to be successful in delegation is perhaps one of the hardest things to learn. To ensure that the delegation process is done as safely and smoothly as possible, there are five (5) rights of delegation that should be followed.

In the Texas, state law prohibits Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) including nurse practitioners (NPs) from practicing to the full extent of their education and clinical ability. Currently, Texas law requires than an APRN receive approval from an individual physician prior to engaging in the practice of advanced nursing. This type of complex regulatory scheme is outdated and restricts patients’ access to care, creates geographic disparities in services, and unnecessarily increases health care costs. For example, current law requires APRNs to meet periodically face-to-face with a supervising physician; with few physicians choosing to practice in rural areas, many APRNs who are willing to work in rural areas are essentially forbidden from delivering care to these underserved areas.

Over the last five years, the United States has implemented a new policy in which Americans will receive their health care benefits. This policy is known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act which was implemented in 2010 through United States federal statue and signed into law by President Barack Obama. The intentions of the reform is to insure that all Americans have affordable access to health care benefits without struggling to afford the cost associated. The reform is broken down into nine title sections that affect all aspects of health care and changes that will be associated. In this paper, I will be discussing each of the title sections and how the changes will affect the field of nursing.

In 2010, the President of the United States signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law (Luther & Hart, 2014). As written, the PPACA will be the most extensive change in the financing and provision of healthcare in 50 years (Luther & Hart, 2014). The stated purposes of the legislation are to decrease the number of medically uninsured people as well as decrease the cost of insurance and healthcare for those already insured (Shi & Singh, 2015). Medicaid expansion is significant element of the PPACA and is designed to provide health insurance to the lower income population (Vincent & Reed, 2014). The purpose of this paper

The Healthcare reform is a public policy that is currently impacting the nursing practice. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was designed to address the cost, quality of healthcare and access to healthcare in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is “the 2010 health reform act that could extend insurance coverage to as many as 32 million Americans. The law also included regulations that affect the quality of coverage insurers must offer. Additionally, the law created a range of initiatives focused on encouraging reform in how medical care is organized and delivered, with a goal of reducing costs and improving quality and outcomes. Finally, other

In recent years, APRNs have been very vocal through many nursing coalitions and associations. The voices of all ARNPs seeking full practice authority has been heard with the proposed bills. The Florida Panhandle Nurse Practitioner Coalition (FRNPC), has given information to all ARNPs to keep ahead in legislative issues. A white paper published by the American College of Physicians have been shared to all Floridian ARNPs through the

“The health reform law contains provisions that will produce more nurses to meet increasing demands for health care, prepare more highly-skilled nurses to better meet the needs of an aging population with more complex health problems, and create opportunities for nurses to participate in and lead efforts to redesign the nation’s ailing health care system,” said Susan Hassmiller, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) senior adviser

Healthcare reform in the United States (U.S.), continues to be a hot topic in the news. Whether it discusses how the program will be financed, the need to redesign the organization, or how the process of delivering healthcare will be implemented; one thing that is a frontrunner, is the need for registered nurses (RNs) and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to fill the increased demands on the primary care system (Institute of Medicine, & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2011, p. 375). “Several programs and initiatives included in the health reform legislation involve interdisciplinary and cross-setting care coordination and care management services of RNs” (Institute of Medicine, & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2011, p. 377).

Many times, the people who are creating policies or legislation for health care reform are not the “first providers” of the health care system. As the journal article, “Influencing Health Care in the Legislative Arena” stated, “[nurses] are often the first providers to see clearly when and how the health care system is not effectively meeting patients needs;” hence, we need more nurses to take a stance in the legislative arena.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has just released a new study highlighting the steps 12 states are taking to prevent a looming crisis in nursing. Experts predict the United States could be short more than 260,000 nurses by 2025 and the study authors say state-level partnerships must take the lead in addressing the problem. The scarce supply and shortage of nursing staff has become a matter of sincere concern for healthcare organizations across the nation. The demand for healthcare services is increasing and requires healthcare organizations to employ qualified and well trained nursing staff.

Drafted by congress under the recommendation of president Barack Obama, signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President after long legislative debates, the Affordable Care Act 's main purpose is to provide access to affordable and comprehensive health coverage to millions uninsured Americans who do not have coverage or adequate coverage, those who would be denied coverage under the previous insurance practice either base on pre-existing condition, gender or age, while controlling the cost of health care. (New York Time, October 26, 2014) The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the Affordable Care Act, examine the nine titles of the law, their effectiveness as well as their impact on the nursing practice today

In this paper I plan to discuss an increasingly difficult topic of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I will go over the basics of the act including who founded it, when, what it states as well as what its purpose is. I will also discuss the nine titles of the Affordable Care Act. I will then go over how four of the nine titles have affected how nurses provide care. I will finalize my paper by reflecting upon what I have learned from the Affordable Care Act.

Great job, I enjoyed reading your discussion. Your opening statement “Examine the political process, its influence on nursing practice, and strategies to foster political action by advanced practice nurses”; it is so true. I believe nurses needs to be aware of and involved in health policy development. Nurses constitute the largest health care workforce in the United States and it is projected to grown 19 percent by the year 2022 (Shariff, 2014).

We hear nurse’s talk about how rewarding their profession is but what they seldom talk about is how it can be very challenging as well. There seems to be many issues existing in the nursing profession. One of the most affective issues in nursing is the decreasing number of staff nurses. With inadequate staffing, nurses are demanded to have more responsibilities thus causing more stress on the nurse. This increase in responsibility causes nurses to neglect many aspects of their patients’ care. Patient care is suffering from the shortage of nurses as there is an increase in adverse patient outcomes due to the shortage. Also, there is evidence that there is a positive relationship between the number of staff and the effectiveness of their teamwork. The more staff available the more likely nurses will work together as a team. A new act is being implemented to help with the nursing shortage. This act is called the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of nursing shortage and how the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act is an example of evidence-based practice.

There are over three million nursing professional in United States and they make the largest segment of nation’s health care workforce. Nurses can play a vital role in helping to realize the objectives set forth in the 2010 affordable act, legislation that represents the broadest health care overhaul since the 1965 creation of Medicare and Medicaid program (IOM 2010). Due to the restricting barriers nurses were not able to respond effectively to the changing health care systems. In 2008, The