Walden University Week 3 Organizational Policies and Practices Discussion

Developing Organizational Policies and Practices Competing needs arise within any organization as employees seek to meet their targets and leaders seek to meet company goals. As a leader, successful management of these goals requires establishing priorities and allocating resources accordingly. Within a healthcare setting, the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients are often in conflict. Mandatory overtime, implementation of staffing ratios, use of unlicensed assisting personnel, and employer reductions of education benefits are examples of practices that might lead to conflicting needs in practice. Leaders can contribute to both the problem and the solution through policies, action, and inaction. In this Assignment, you will further develop the white paper you began work on in Module 1 by addressing competing needs within your organization. Walden University Week 3 Organizational Policies and Practices Discussion

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Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

Add a section to the paper you submitted in Module 1. The new section should address the following:

Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Describe a relevant policy or practice in your organization that may influence your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Critique the policy for ethical considerations, and explain the policy’s strengths and challenges in promoting ethics.
Recommend one or more policy or practice changes designed to balance the competing needs of resources, workers, and patients, while addressing any ethical shortcomings of the existing policies. Be specific and provide examples.
Cite evidence that informs the healthcare issue/stressor and/or the policies, and provide two scholarly resources in support of your policy or practice recommendations.

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Name: NURS_6053_Module02_Week03_Assignment_Rubric

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Add a section to the paper you submitted in Module 1. In 4–5 pages, address the following:

·   Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor.—

Levels of Achievement:

Excellent

23 (23.00%) – 25 (25.00%)

Good

20 (20.00%) – 22 (22.00%)

Fair

18 (18.00%) – 19 (19.00%)

Poor

0 (0.00%) – 17 (17.00%)

·   Describe a relevant policy or practice in your organization that may influence your selected healthcare issue/stressor.

·   Critique the policy for ethical considerations and explain the policy’s strengths and challenges in promoting ethics.—

Levels of Achievement:

Excellent

27 (27.00%) – 30 (30.00%)

Good

24 (24.00%) – 26 (26.00%)

Fair

21 (21.00%) – 23 (23.00%)

Poor

0 (0.00%) – 20 (20.00%)

·   Recommend one or more policy or practice changes designed to balance the competing needs of resources, workers, and patients while addressing any ethical shortcomings of the existing policies. Be specific and provide examples.

·   Cite evidence that informs the healthcare issue/stressor and/or the policies and provide two scholarly resources in support of your policy or practice recommendations.—

Levels of Achievement:

Excellent

27 (27.00%) – 30 (30.00%)

Good

24 (24.00%) – 26 (26.00%)

Fair

21 (21.00%) – 23 (23.00%)

Poor

0 (0.00%) – 20 (20.00%)

Written Expression and Formatting – Paragraph Development and Organization:

Paragraphs make clear points that support well-developed ideas, flow logically, and demonstrate continuity of ideas. Sentences are carefully focused—neither long and rambling nor short and lacking substance. A clear and comprehensive purpose statement and introduction is provided which delineates all required criteria.—

Levels of Achievement:

Excellent

5 (5.00%) – 5 (5.00%)

Good

4 (4.00%) – 4 (4.00%)

Fair

3.5 (3.50%) – 3.5 (3.50%)

Poor

0 (0.00%) – 3 (3.00%)

Written Expression and Formatting – English writing standards:

Correct grammar, mechanics, and proper punctuation—

Levels of Achievement:

Excellent

5 (5.00%) – 5 (5.00%)

Good

4 (4.00%) – 4 (4.00%)

Fair

3.5 (3.50%) – 3.5 (3.50%)

Poor

0 (0.00%) – 3 (3.00%)

Written Expression and Formatting – The paper follows correct APA format for title page, headings, font, spacing, margins, indentations, page numbers, parenthetical/in-text citations, and reference list.—

Levels of Achievement:

Excellent

5 (5.00%) – 5 (5.00%)

Good

4 (4.00%) – 4 (4.00%)

Fair

3.5 (3.50%) – 3.5 (3.50%)

Poor

0 (0.00%) – 3 (3.00%)

Name:NURS_6053_Module02_Week03_Assignment_Rubric
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Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Perry David

Walden University

Interprofessional Organizational and systems Leadership

Alvira Phelps

March 14, 2021

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Description of National Healthcare Stressor and Impact on Organization

The national healthcare stressor manages digital patient data in an environment that faces a constant threat from cyber threats, privacy concerns, and interoperability challenges. The stressors are linked to issues of data collection, storage, and interoperability within the healthcare setting. A global transition is taking place towards value-based care, care coordination, and population health management. Use of application programmer interface (API) and other approaches can help make electronic health record data more accessible to the right individuals while being protected from malware and other cyberthreats. Usually, the healthcare setting data are considered vital informatics essential to the development of cost-effective and time care for the patients (Oyeyemi & Scott, 2018). The process of gathering, storing, and using such data is often plagued with ongoing cyber events. The widespread use of the data has made it more challenging to share the information across the healthcare setting.

The interoperability concerns are addressed within my Organization by using First healthcare interoperability standards (FHIR) and application programmer interface (API). The latter is used to keep the Organization’s exchange of data between the users and systems secure. It helps reduce the potential of cyber events. An API can broadly be looked at as a type of interface that allows unrelated software programs to communicate. Therefore, it acts as a bridge between the two applications encouraging the flow of data irrespective of the application that it was initially designed for.

On the other hand, the FHIR ensures seamless communication across the various systems and enhances communication. FHIR develops a standard that makes it easier for the users to share and apply the clinical data by restructuring the healthcare data for various sources into one compatible format that enhances information exchange. Issues of interoperability affect the performance of the healthcare workers. The interoperability provides standards that are essential for effective healthcare exchanges.

Articles Summary and how the Stressors are Addressed in Other Organizations

Braunstein (2018) focuses on the First healthcare interoperability standards (FHIR) and application programmer interface (API) that are critical health data standards used in patient care, standardized clinical data, among others. In the report, the researcher looked at the standards of packaging and shared the data that came before the First health care interoperability standards (FHIR) and application programmer interface (API), leading to their development. Oyeyemi & Scott (2018) summarizes stakeholder views of the main interoperability challenges in England’s health and social care data. The researchers outlined the importance of the many organizational barriers in the healthcare environment, such as commercial issues.

The U.S government has, over the years, developed broad-scale interventions and enhances interoperability in healthcare. The government understands the vital role the information exchanges plays, and during President Obama’s administration, the government invested $19.2 billion in the HITECH Act to help refocus attention to interoperability (Scott, 2009). The Health IT Policy and Standards Committee led to creating the application programmer interface (API) Task Force which identified security issues and risks that could impede the widespread adoption of API within the healthcare environment (HealthIT.Gov., 2021). Some of the U.K organizations consolidate information into a common data repository intended to reduce the technical interoperability challenges (Oyeyemi & Scott, 2018). Some examples include the Care and Information Exchange (CHIE), Emergency Care Summary used in Scotland. They provide a shared care system that can be accessed by other health systems and allow for joined-up care.

Strategies used in Addressing Organizational Impact of National Healthcare Stressors and the Positive Impact on the Organization

Braunstein (2018) focused on the application programmer interface (API) and the First health care interoperability standards (FHIR). The application programmer interface (API) secures data and communication in internal communications. The First health care interoperability standards (FHIR) are used to enhance communication between systems that transcends conventional challenges of various operating systems. It allows all systems to work together irrespective of the OS and make it easier for communication exchanges. Health care organizations are moving from the era of electronic healthcare record (EHR) adoption and implementation to one of interoperability. Organizations have automated healthcare records, but the next stage involves connecting all the information in the EHR and making it useful. Open platforms and interoperability help make that goal a reality.

Our Organization always strives to create better interoperability between the internal applications for enhanced efficiency. Application programmer interface (API) and First health care interoperability standards (FHIR) help manage the flow of information between different systems and make that goal a reality (Braunstein, 2018; Oyeyemi & Scott, 2018). FHIR has helped our Organization have better access to clinical data and research. It also provides easier access to epidemiology and outcome data that can be applied for better patient outcomes. Overall, it has enabled the facility to access electronic health records leading to shorter and less expensive clinical trials. There are also better interactions between the patients and clinicians and improved risk assessment of the latest medical products. API has helped the Organization streamline its activities. It has helped simplify interoperability and efficiently provide the healthcare staff and other users with the data they need.

References

Braunstein, M. L. (2018). Pre-FHIR interoperability and clinical decision support standards. Health Informatics on FHIR: How HL7’s New API Is Transforming Healthcare, 151–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93414-3_8

HealthIT.Gov. (2021, Mar. 11). Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC). https://www.healthit.gov/hitac/committees/health-information-technology-advisory-committee-hitac

Oyeyemi, A., & Scott, P. (2018). Interoperability in health and social care: organizational issues are the biggest challenge. BMJ Health & Care Informatics, 25(3), 196–197. https://doi.org/10.14236/jhi.v25i3.1024

Scott, P. (2009). Meeting the challenges of healthcare interoperability. Healthcare IT Management 4(3):24-5
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Nurse Staffing Shortage

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The nurse staffing problem is one of the major issues facing the healthcare sector today. Nurse shortage affects both the patient and nurse. According to Ohnstad and Solberg (2017), higher nurse staffing positively correlates with patient outcomes. Nursing staffing determines hospitals’ quality of care as it plays a critical role in improving patients’ outcomes. Nonetheless, the lack of nurses is a clinical issue that most healthcare organizations are experiencing today. Inadequate nurse staffing threatens the entire healthcare system (Ohstand & Solberg, 2017). Shortage of nurses results in increased patient mortalities and failure and also general healthcare facility failure. Lower nursing staffing is directly associated with negative process outcomes such as patient length of hospital stay, drug administrative errors, and missed nursing care.

Furthermore, inadequate staffing can lead to efforts directed towards the process of care. According to Blouin and Podjasek (2019), healthcare facilities with a lower nurse-to-patient ratio have a 25 percent reduced odds of being penalized than those with a higher nurse-to-patient ratio. The best intervention for the shortage of nurses is employing and training more nurses where possible. The intervention helps in reducing excessive workloads and reduces nurses’ burnouts. This intervention’s outcomes are reduced procedures, reduced medical errors, increased patient safety, and positive healthcare outcomes.

In the United States, the healthcare sector experiences nurse shortages because they are often described as institution-based practices. According to Willis, Cox, and Coustasse (2014), many U.S. states have not heavily invested in education systems that encourage people to pursue a nursing career. For example, poor working conditions and low wages have discouraged students from choosing nursing courses. Many people argue that poor government policies in the healthcare sector have not changed the healthcare system to ensure all stakeholders are involved in improving the sector. The American Nursing Association (2012) argues that the biggest challenge that affects nursing staffing is the privatization of the healthcare system. For instance, most nursing staffing crises are experienced less in the private sector than in the public health sector. This problem is attributed to poor management and low incentives that government provides in the public sector. In the private sector, higher investments have been made to enhance effective human resource management resulting in increased patient outcomes. Therefore, the public health sector’s staffing crisis has increased due to poor management and improper planning to solve the nursing staffing problem. Walden University Week 3 Organizational Policies and Practices Discussion

References

American Nursing Association (2012). ANA’s Principles for Nurse Staffing (2^nd ed.). Nurses Books, GA.

Blouin, A. S., & Podjasek, K. (2019). The continuing saga of nurse staffing: historic and emerging challenges. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(4), 221-227.

Ohnstad, M. O., & Solberg, M. T. (2017). Patient acuity and nurse staffing challenges in Norwegian neonatal intensive care units. Journal of nursing management, 25(7), 569-576.

Willis, W.K., Cox, P. & Coustasse, A. (2014). The American epidemic: The U.S. nursing shortage and turnover problem. Marshall University. Paper presented at BHAA 2014, Chicago, IL.

Walden University Week 3 Organizational Policies and Practices Discussion