Issue Definition and Description
Removing the current barriers to practice is a crucial step in improving patient outcomes and the overall quality of the nursing services (McInnes, Peters, Bonney, & Halcomb, 2015). Despite the recent introduction of new policies allowing for efficient management of the existing limitations, a range of obstacles to meeting the needs of diverse populations exist (Gallison, Xu, Jurgens, & Boyle, 2012). Therefore, efficient leadership strategies must be adopted to empower nurses to handle the identified barriers by engaging in cross-cultural communication, whereas the tools based on the careful use of the available resources and well-thought out time management approach must be utilized to motivate the nurses.
Issue Background: Retrospect
With the recent increase in diversity levels, nurses have been facing significant challenges (Twigg & McCullough, 2014). While the opportunities for learning new information and acquiring new skills have emerged, the need to cater to the needs of a wide range of patients has also appeared (Wilson et al., 2015). Efficient management and leadership approaches must be developed to help nurses acquire the relevant skills and information successfully.
Key Stakeholders
Patients can be viewed as the primary stakeholders in the identified scenario. Nurses, who will have to face significant challenges to handle the problem, can also be deemed as essential stakeholders. Similarly, nursing organizations and state healthcare bodies fall under the specified category as well.
Issue Statement
Even though new policies for addressing the barriers to nursing practice have been introduced recently, nurses still have to face a range of obstacles on their way to the provision of the relevant information, promotion of healthy behaviors among the target population, and the increase in the number of positive patient outcomes. The problems associated with meeting the needs of diverse populations and engaging in a cross-cultural communication process deserve to be mentioned as the primary areas of concern. Therefore, new and improved policies allowing for a more efficient process of information management and patient education should be introduced.
Type of Legislation
When considering the type of legislation that needs to be reviewed for addressing the dents in the contemporary barriers to nursing practice, one must keep in mind that there are only four essential regulations that have been introduced to the realm of nursing for handling the issue so far (Pfaff, Baxter, Jack, & Ploeg, 2013). The Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education issued in 2008 is one of them (Hain & Fleck, 2014).
Literature Review
As stressed above, the Consensus Model (CM) can be defined as rather general. Herein lies the primary problem thereof. Being easily generalizable, it needs to be shaped significantly so that it could be applied to manage the needs of a specific community. As a result, a significant number of chances for promoting a patient-centered approach and active patient education based on the integration of social networks and other IT tools into the nursing strategies are missed (Hart & Mareno, 2013).
Therefore, when implemented at the state level, the model needs to be adjusted so that the needs of every member of the community could be taken into account. As a result, the premise for a significant improvement in patient outcomes can be expected. Furthermore, the alterations in the framework so that it could be used to handle the issues faced by a specific community will allow for establishing a dialogue between a nurse and the community members. Consequently, the foundation for successful patient education, as well as the process of raising awareness about the current health concerns, can be created successfully.
Current Policy and Its Impact
However, because of the lack of initiative regarding the necessary adjustments to the CM framework, as well as the lack of consistent and efficient cross-cultural communication strategies, CM lacks efficacy. Without the proper support and promotion of active acquisition of knowledge and essential information about the community, nurses fail to develop the approach that will allow them to define and satisfy the health needs of the community members (Kleinpell et al., 2014). Thus, the current impact of the policy can be defined as rather mediocre. It would be wrong to claim that there is something fundamentally wrong with the CM framework. That being said, it needs the improvements that will help it become the basis for multicultural communication between nurses and patients.
Proposed Policy Change: Description
It is suggested that the focus on a patient-centered approach and the enhancement of the communication process, particularly, by building an online community, will contribute to significant improvements.
Who Will Benefit and from Where the Support Will Come
Patients are the primary target audience for whom the changes in the policy are intended. It is expected that the alterations of the approach toward identifying the needs of the community members and promoting patient education will allow for a drop in negative patient outcomes and a rise in the levels of patient education.
Policy Change: Impact on Nursing Practice and Healthcare
The change in the policy toward the management of the current barriers to practice, including the use of cross-cultural communication and the incorporation of social networks into the set of tools for patients education, is bound to have an impact on the quality of care. It is expected that the nursing practice will become more successful, with a larger number of positive patient outcomes being achieved.
Analysis of the Policy: Personal Perspective and Practice
From a personal point of view, the current policy lacks the opportunities for encouraging a multicultural approach and patient education. Furthermore, it needs the introduction of more opportunities for efficient communication between a nurse and the community.
Methods of Addressing the Issue
To manage the issue, one will have to focus on the application of the approaches that will encourage nurses to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills for meeting the needs of the target demographics and engage them in a conversation. To handle possible misunderstandings, a flexible conflict management approach based on compromise and cooperation must be utilized. Additionally, nurses must be encouraged to engage in the active acquisition of the information about the target community and its needs, as well as promote patient education by using social networks as the primary means of disseminating the crucial information among the community members.
Goals and Options for Changes
The change described above pursues the goal of improving patient outcomes. It can also be achieved by increasing diversity rates among nurses.
Risks and Benefits of the Changes
There is a threat that some of the nurses may be reluctant to the change. To motivate them, one may have to consider introducing a flexible schedule to avoid workplace burnouts (Williams, Perillo, & Brown, 2014). The change is likely to trigger immediate positive results, such as a better management of the community’s needs.
Evaluation Methodology
The success of the strategy will be assessed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Statistical analysis will be carried out by comparing the recovery rates before and after the program. The qualitative data will be collected with the help of interviews with open-ended questions.
Recommendation: How the Problem Can Be Resolved
It is advised that a stronger emphasis should be placed on the enhancement of cultural awareness among nurses. Promoting a multicultural approach toward managing the patient’s needs is essential for the further improvements in patient outcomes. Thus, both the quality of services and recovery rates among the patients will rise.
References
Gallison, B. S., Xu, Y., Jurgens, C. Y., & Boyle, S. M. (2012). Acute care nurses’ spiritual care practices. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 31(2), 95-103. Web.
Hain, D., & Fleck, L. M. (2014). Barriers to NP practice that impact healthcare redesign. OJIN, 19(2), Manuscript 2. Web.
Hart, P. L., & Mareno, N. (2013). Cultural challenges and barriers through the voices of nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 23(15-16), 2223–2233. Web.
Kleinpell, R., Scanlon, A., Hibbert, D., Ganz, F., East, L., Fraser, D., … Beauchesne, M. (2014). Addressing issues impacting advanced nursing practice worldwide. OJIN, 19(2), Manuscript 5. Web.
McInnes, S., Peters, K., Bonney, A. D., & Halcomb, E. J. (2015). An integrative review of facilitators and barriers influencing collaboration and teamwork between general practitioners and nurses working in general practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71(9),1973-1985. Web.
Pfaff, K., Baxter, P., Jack, S., & Ploeg, J. (2013). An integrative review of the factors influencing new graduate nurse engagement in interprofessional collaboration. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(1), 4-20. Web.
Twigg, D., & McCullough, K. (2014). Nurse retention: A review of strategies to create and enhance positive practice environments in clinical settings. Nursing Studies, 51(1), 85-92. Web.
Williams, B., Perillo, S., & Brown, T. (2014). What are the factors of organisational culture in health care settings that act as barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practice? A scoping review. Nurse Education Today, 35(2), 34-41. Web.
Wilson, M., Sleutel, M., Newcomb, P., Behan, D., Walsh, J., Wells, J. N., & Baldwin, K. M. (2015). Empowering nurses with evidence-based practice environments: Surveying magnet, pathway to excellence, and non-magnet facilities in one healthcare system. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 12(1), 12-21.