Current Nursing Issues Related to Globalization of Healthcare
Nowadays, the healthcare sector must face a lot of issues worldwide. One of the most significant reasons explaining such a tendency is the process of globalization, which equally affects the medical sphere. According to Jones and Sherwood (2014), “As nurses move within and among countries to provide care to peoples and populations, the profession, health care organizations, communities, and nations are also affected” (p. 59). Thus, the expansion and growing value of the encompassing healthcare net not only changes the shape of the nursing but also adds to its complexity.
Globalization causes problems which remain equally vital for healthcare providers and customers. Researchers note that on the list of potential challenges, one can find the development of more exceptional professionalism and the preference of education in higher institutions (Blaauw, Ditlopo, & Rispel, 2014). After all, as Holmgren (2017) states, a phenomenon of “global nursing” requires a broader horizon and critical approach from the nurses in socially unfavorable situations. So, the education of nurses is placed on the frontier of the debate.
The Proposed Policy Change
Since it is noticeable that education contains the primary keys to the renovation of healthcare, the proposed changes should revolve around the enhancement of education quality. However, the actions should accentuate one particular trait that appears to be vital for the nurses. Namely, the leadership aspect should be put as a central theme for the improvement. Ross et al. (2014) mention that “Professional nursing associations have the opportunity to create cultures that promote and value leadership” (p. 205). Moreover, according to Corazzini et al. (2014), the adaptative ability of the leadership would be able to bring forth the changes into the nursing culture. Hence, leadership education should become the prime target for transformation in a policy proposal.
The idea to amplify the leadership component for nursing should counteract the flaws of the current medical education with the help of several principles. Researchers note that the concept known as transformational leadership may allow the nurses to gain more capacity, self-confidence, and initiative (Fischer, 2016). Also, as already stated, the abilities of adaptive leadership open new possibilities in improving the quality of the personnel.
So, these leadership notions should be featured throughout the educational process and beyond. Furthermore, the benefits extend to both customers and the institutions themselves. According to Shariff (2014), the initiative of the nursing employees could lead to their participation in health policy decisions, which ensures the safety, accessibility, and quality of future healthcare. Thus, the proposal may potentially change the face of the nursing profession as per the latest requirements.
Agenda Setting Strategies
The proposal holds a potential interest for all the members of society, which are affected by the healthcare policy. However, for a successful startup, it is necessary to attract the attention of the stakeholders. Primarily, current and future employees should realize the advantages. They could be pushed to that realization by the promotion of the ideas that the proposal can ease their everyday burdens. Researchers state that the lack of involvement, knowledge, and support act as the barriers in the nursing duties (Shariff, 2014). So, the promotion should involve emphasis on the fact that leadership improvement can add to their skills and support, as well as raise the rate of the participation in decision making.
However, the interest should be spread among the civilians and major organizations which directly or indirectly influence the healthcare policy. So, for the support of the idea, one should make the public companies aware of the perspectives. According to Alloubani, Almatari, and Almukhtar (2014), healthcare organizations, as one of the most developed public services, heavily rely on adept leadership strategies. Thus, they should be convinced that the proposal holds a value for the organizational functioning. Regarding the public opinion, they should learn through the mass media about the possible change, with the news accentuating the probable rise in healthcare stability and quality.
The Models for Change
The models which would lead to the proposal’s realization can be divided into theoretical and practical ones. About the theoretical base, as mentioned before, the change must follow the guidelines of the transformational leadership style. According to Fischer (2016), transformational leadership concept includes ethical and secure relationships between the leader and their subordinates who gain inspiration and motivation for excelling. As for the practical model, it should remain on the ground of medical education and use the tools offered by it, although informal educative initiatives would also complement possible success.
Design Strategies
The strategies of the design should aim to achieve several tasks. Firstly, the change should unveil the complaints and demands of the nurses, customers, and organizations regarding leadership in the environment of the implementation. Secondly, based on the received data, one should develop a scheme that would deal with both broad and specific demands. Thirdly, one must create an educational program with sections specifically designed to counteract the flaws and nurture the values of transformational leadership. Finally, through the surveying methods, it would be possible to learn the performance of the strategies and modify them if necessary.
Implementation Strategies
Several schemes that can be exploited to implement the mentioned designs. First, the changes should be demonstrated by deploying them on a small scale. In other words, one can use a specific healthcare organization or educational institution after gaining governmental and public approval. During the implementation, it is necessary to establish a series of lessons which provides the nurses or nursing students with the required knowledge on transformational leadership features. After the completion of the theoretical phase, the students must prove their proficiency in real-life experience. If their scores demonstrate the effectiveness of the program, one can start the process of implementing it on a grander scale.
Evaluation Strategies
Of course, it is crucial to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal while applying it in real life. Firstly, one must invite public observers who would oversee the implementation phase and make the notes about the successes and shortcomings. Secondly, one should also organize survey-based research afterward, so it would be possible to evaluate the effectiveness statistically. In the end, by putting both results together, one would receive an elaborate evidential report of the project’s performance.
Conclusion
Globalization tendencies specifically affected healthcare and the policies regarding it. Above all, the current challenges require the improvement of nursing professionalism and ethics during education. Thus, the leadership component plays a quite valuable role since it allows to enhance both the skills and initiative, especially if one applies the concept of transformational leadership. The stakeholders should be attracted using promotions featuring the potential benefits for nurses, civilians, and organizations, respectively. For the project itself, one must use the theoretical base of transformational leadership and pre-existing formal and non-formal education methods.
Firstly, the design should rely on the needs of the interested parties. Secondly, the implementation should start as an educational program for a specific institution before advancing it to the next stages. Finally, the project must be evaluated by public observation and statistical research to estimate its worth.
References
Alloubani, A. M., Almatari, M., & Almukhtar, M. M. (2014). Review: Effects of leadership styles on quality of services in healthcare. European Scientific Journal, 10(18), 118-129.
Blaauw, D. Ditlopo, P & Rispel, L C. (2014). Nursing education reform in South Africa – lessons from a policy analysis study. Global Health Action, 7(1).
Corazzini, K., Twersky, J., White, H. K., Buhr, G. T., McConnell, E. S., Weiner, M., & Colón-Emeric, C. S. (2014). Implementing culture change in nursing homes: An adaptive leadership framework. The Gerontologist, 55(4), 616-627.
Fischer, S. A. (2016). Transformational leadership in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(11), 2644-2653.
Holmgren, J. (2017). Global nursing: Educating future nurses for tomorrow’s nursing care needs. Nordic Journal of Nursing Research, 37(3), 172-174.
Jones, C. B., & Sherwood, G. (2014). The globalization of the nursing workforce: Pulling the pieces together. Nursing Outlook, 62(1), 59-63.
Ross, E. J., Fitzpatrick, J. J., Click, E. R., Krouse, H. J., & Clavelle, J. T. (2014). Transformational leadership practices of nurse leaders in professional nursing associations. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 44(4), 201-206.
Shariff, N. (2014). Factors that act as facilitators and barriers to nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development. BMC Nursing, 13.