Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had a massive impact on the nursing practice to date. The PPACA has various provisions that influence the nursing practice directly or indirectly. In essence, this discussion intends to establish two of these provisions and their effect on the nursing practice. That said, the two key provisions whose impacts are assessed in this paper are primary care workforce and quality provisions.
First and most importantly, the primary care workforce provision of the PPACA has already had and will continue having an impact on the nursing practice. Under section 5301 of the PPACA, there is a requirement for a grant program for hospitals, physician assistant training programs and other entities to come up with and run accredited training programs that aim to provide primary care(American Nurses Association, 2010). Such a provision in its full implementation will strengthen the primary care since more individuals will benefit from the training. As such, this will see a rise in numbers of healthcare professionals with primary care knowledge(Beverly, Wietecha, Nottingham, Rush, & Law, 2016). Consequently, this will reduce primary care nurse shortages for the provision of primary care across the country and improve the nursing practice.
Similarly, the quality provision of PPACA has also had an influence on the nursing practice that is worth noting. Under the umbrella of this provision, PPACA demands that long- term health facilities report of nurse staffing both to the public and to the Secretary. Such information is vital to the consumers’ decision-making on the hospital that offers best and quality care(American Nurses Association, 2010). Also, the reporting will ensure that nursing staffs are liable and accountable for their actions upon the delivery of the information to the Secretary. With such a reporting mechanism, an increase in the levels of quality of nursing care and patient safety is inevitable(nciom.org, 2013). That is the case given the motivation of nurses to preserve the reputation of their health care facilities.
In closure, indeed, PPACA provisions have had a massive impact on the nursing practice up to date. A case in point is the improved quality of nursing care and strengthening of primary care. As such, full implementation of this legislation in the future will significantly increase the fortunes.
References
American Nurses Association,. (2010). Health Care Reform. Rnaction.org. Retrieved 5 February 2017, from http://www.rnaction.org/site/DocServer/KeyProvisions_Nursing-PublicLaw.pdf?docID=1241&verID=1
Beverly, E., Wietecha, D., Nottingham, K., Rush, L., & Law, T. (2016). Premedical Students’ Attitudes Toward Primary Care Medicine. The Journal Of The American Osteopathic Association, 116(5), 302. http://dx.doi.org/10.7556/jaoa.2016.060
nciom.org,. (2013). EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IN NORTH CAROLINA. nciom.org. Retrieved 5 February 2017, from http://www.nciom.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Final-Ch7-Quality-FINAL.pdf
