What is Healthcare Policy in Nursing

Healthcare policy is a crucial component of the American healthcare system in terms of health and safety. Accessibility, affordability, delivery methods, and confidentiality are all fundamental aspects of healthcare that are influenced by policy. By establishing guidelines and regulations, policymakers at all levels of government contribute to this procedure.

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As an aspiring nurse, it is in your best interest to comprehend healthcare policy issues in the United States, how they function, and why they are crucial. For health administrators, however, understanding and contributing to health policy will help your organization achieve its objectives. Here is how to enter the disciplines of health advocacy and policymaking. What is Nursing Healthcare Policy:

What is nursing healthcare policy?

Who is eligible for treatment and how much it will cost is determined by healthcare policies. National healthcare policies address several factors, including insurance, financial responsibility, and access to care. Public health, international health, mental health, healthcare services, insurance, and medications are all subsets of healthcare policy issues.

The significance of health policy

Healthcare policy is essential because it establishes standards that enhance the outcomes for the entire healthcare system, for individuals, and for healthcare providers. When healthcare policy and legislation protocols are in place, a lack of explicit communication and human error can be avoided.

A healthcare policy reduces risk by ensuring that facilities adhere to best practices for securing critical data and care delivery, preventing frivolous litigation, and protecting employees from harm.

By ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local rules and regulations as well as stringent accreditation requirements, nurses and healthcare policy contribute to the ethical and legal operation of healthcare institutions. In addition, they improve internal communication by providing employees with the information they need to perform their tasks efficiently, resulting in streamlined operations and improved patient care.

Healthcare policies

To be able to provide patients with quality care, organizations must establish policies and procedures addressing the following aspects of their operations.

Bring Your Own Device

A bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy is a standard policy in the healthcare industry, and its implementation can be relatively straightforward. Your BYOD policy need not be exhaustive, but it should address the primary concerns that could jeopardize workplace security.

Currently, there is a smartphone in every palm. Despite their convenience, personal electronic devices present certain risks, particularly when used to access confidential company data. This is not limited to patient information; it may also include company emails, communications, and records.

Occupational safety and health policies

Your healthcare policy, which naturally focuses on your patients, should also include your employees, who are your most valuable asset. As the facility’s most valuable asset, the health and safety of employees on the workplace should be a top concern for any healthcare organization. This is especially true in light of the increased health risks confronted by healthcare professionals.

Beyond that, you should not disregard the general health of your employees. Among the healthcare policy issues that your company’s wellness department should address are breastfeeding, workplace stress, weight reduction, and healthy eating in the workplace. All of these factors contribute to the maintenance of a healthy workforce, which is demonstrably more productive.

Patient care policies

Whether your organization is a large hospital serving multiple states, a regional rehabilitation center, or a local podiatry office, patient care policies are essential. In your facility’s policies, you can outline the procedures you provide, the ailments and injuries you treat, when to transfer patients and when to refer them to other facilities. In your patient care policies, you should also address specific medical situations, such as an emergency or contact with bodily fluids.

Regardless of your organization’s size or mission, the first step in developing patient care policies is to ask yourself fundamental questions. Patient care policies outline medical protocols and workflow to aid medical professionals in making decisions in various contexts. Obviously, the policies of your organization should reflect the specific care it provides. Different treatment protocols necessitate distinct approaches to patient care.

Social barriers

It is possible to improve the health of underprivileged groups in the United States by confronting the socioeconomic factors underlying their deteriorating living conditions. Some public health clinics and non-profits aim to address patients’ overall health and well-being, in addition to their basic medical requirements.

Affordable housing, nutritious food, dependable child care, quality education, dependable transportation, etc., all fall under this category. Maintaining a robust population necessitates improved health outcomes and decreased costs for all.

Drug control health policy

The drug management policies address what to do in the event that inventory is lost, medication is delivered or prescribed incorrectly, or other drug-related issues arise. What safeguards and procedures do you have in place for the management of drugs? The majority of facilities do not carry medications, while others only stock over-the-counter drugs. Others carry highly restricted and regulated medications.

Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, you need clear policies and procedures in healthcare regarding how to administer medication, document and record it, and what to do when a problem arises at work or inventory goes missing. Regardless of whether the medication is over-the-counter, regulated, or uncontrolled, drug policies establish handling and administration protocols. This could include protocols for the recording, management, and administration of each medication.

Policy for information security

Security is becoming an increasingly critical issue for healthcare facilities of all sizes. How will smaller organizations without a dedicated security team manage suspicious people or situations? When and to whom does the alarm sound?

Security regulations specify in detail how personnel should respond to events that pose a threat to the facility’s security. This may include active shooters, medical staff abuse, larceny, the abduction or elopement of patients, etc. When a facility has security procedures, all staff members must be aware of them and adhere to them.

Your health-related policies should make it clear that security, like compliance, is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of whether your institution employs a security team. You must equip all levels of staff with the necessary information and procedures to enable them to respond to potential security-related incidents.

In addition to physical security, technological and data privacy regulations and procedures are essential for any healthcare facility. The HIPAA Privacy Rule prohibits the disclosure of patient information to the general public, while permitting the communication of this information between health personnel and in certain other circumstances. The greater the degree to which technology is integrated into the operations of healthcare facilities, the higher the likelihood of information leakage and privacy violations.

Social media policies

As appealing as they may be, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can pose complex medical care issues. What types of content are employees permitted to share in the workplace? What about when they’re not on duty but they’re still discussing workplace events?

There is a delicate balance between the requirements of the institution, the patient’s right to privacy, and the First Amendment rights of the personnel. It is essential to have a written healthcare policy that specifies what employees are and are not authorized to do.

Access, usage of official accounts, security standards, disclaimers, interaction, and online behavior should all be addressed in the social media policy of a healthcare organization. These nurses and healthcare policy specifics can help your institution avoid humiliating incidents such as an employee tweeting objectionable content from the official hospital account or a staff member leaking confidential information online.

Administrative and Human Resources policies

Administrative and human resource policies are additional examples of healthcare policies. From a management and personnel perspective, these address all pertinent concerns. Despite the fact that hospitals and clinics are in the business of assisting people get well, it is essential to remember that they are also businesses.

Wellness ensures that employees can provide secure patient care without jeopardizing their own health, which is crucial for the success of an institution. These policies should also resolve administrative concerns pertaining to healthcare, such as patient visitation and bed capacity.

These seemingly insignificant standards and procedures can assist administrative personnel in streamlining numerous inquiries and concerns, allowing them to manage the operational aspects of the situation more efficiently. Rules prohibiting the use of tobacco and alcohol on the job, chemical exposure, required protective gear such as face masks and gloves to prevent the spread of disease, nutritional incentives, and wellness initiatives such as paid time off are all included in policies with the dual purpose of protecting and promoting employee health.

Medical expenses

Even with health insurance, many individuals find that their portion of the medical expense is prohibitively expensive. Now, more than ever, policymakers must discover a cost-effective solution for the American people to combat the COVID-19 epidemic.

In response to these inflated costs, the US healthcare policy investigates methods to reduce expenditures in this area without lowering the quality of care. Allowing governments to set price controls for healthcare or drastically reducing the cost of prescription medications are potential alternatives. Additionally, there is the possibility of introducing publicly administered insurance plans with lower premiums than their commercial counterparts.

People who cannot afford private health insurance would not be required to go without coverage under the public option. If private insurers had to contend with the public option, they may feel compelled to reduce their prices.

Policy for infectious diseases

The purpose of a policy on infectious diseases is to define the significance of disease control and the methods for preventing outbreaks. Regarding workplace infections, the Society for Human Resource Management states, “Employers are legally liable for both employees and non-employees.”

Healthcare workers are more likely to come into contact with infectious diseases than workers in other industries. A policy on infectious diseases ensures that your employees are well-informed and adhere to all applicable protocols. This helps prevent the spread of disease, protects healthcare workers, and reduces the likelihood of legal action against your company.

Registered nurses and health policy

It is essential that nurse practitioners participate in the formation of health policy. Specifically, nurse practitioners have the ability to influence healthcare systems and organizations in order to enhance patient health. Since nurse practitioners are frequently found at the forefront of patient care, it is their responsibility to translate broad healthcare policy issues in the United States into more intimate interactions with patients.

Because nurse practitioners spend so much time directly with patients, they have unique insights that are essential for formulating health policy. Consequently, nurse practitioners are generally aware of what works and what does not. They can inform policymakers about the successes and shortcomings of the healthcare system.

Leaders in the nursing profession play a vital role in disseminating information about healthcare policy and legislation to their subordinates and enforcing the organization’s standards.

enhancing understanding of healthcare policy issues

Depending on the area of medicine in which they specialize as nurse practitioners, nurses can exert differing degrees of influence over health policy. Examine the following instances:

Due to their extensive expertise with this population, an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner might know more about illness prevention and wellness promotion in the elderly.

A nurse practitioner with expertise in psychiatric mental health can provide insight into how U.S. healthcare policy issues affect patients’ emotional well-being. Since they treat patients of all ages, family nurse practitioners may have unique insights into how a health policy could assist patients from all aspects of life in receiving the necessary care. To implement health policy and advocate for positive changes, nurse practitioners need a sound education.

Final remark

A healthcare public policy is essential for the optimal provision of healthcare services. Importantly, nurses are at the vanguard of healthcare policy and procedure implementation.

despite not participating in their formulation. Involving all task holders in the formulation of each health policy in the United States is the optimal course of action.

Each stakeholder must comprehend health policy and healthcare policy issues and provide a template for evaluating the healthcare program’s policy. Due to the rapid evolution of technology, healthcare professionals should be aware of all annual policy changes.