Discussion Reply Week 1-1

Discussion Reply Week 1-1

 

Instructions: Explain how the chosen national healthcare issue/stressor below may also impact your work setting and what (if anything) is being done to address the national healthcare issue/stressor.

 

Inequity in access to quality healthcare services is one of the most serious concerns confronting healthcare today. I strongly feel that most of the healthcare settings are yet to live to the standards even with the many efforts seeking to address these inequalities. There are still discriminations towards access to healthcare based on ethnicity, race, geographical location, and socioeconomic class (Wasserman et al., 2019). The stakeholders such as patients, healthcare providers, all tiers of governments, communities, and households have been facing this major concern and yet to realize a viable solution to this issue.

          Some of the leading issues that I might sight in my work setting that could be attributed to the inequality in access of healthcare include lower quality care and burnout to practitioners due to the heavy workload. There are some of the healthcare professionals who realize this issue and in the effort to address it, most of them end up having an increased workload. This tendency may lead to low job satisfaction. I have also witnessed on some instances where the quality of care offered does not meet the expected standards.

          According to Northridge et al. (2020), some of the social determinants that can affect inequity in access to quality healthcare services include education levels, income and wealth, geographic location, immigration status, and race and ethnicity. The education levels of an individual affect the individual ability to comprehend the provided health information, put them into practice, and make better informed healthcare decisions. Others might not afford to pay for the quality of services such as preventative care, specialized treatments, or even medications. Living in certain marginalized or remote areas that have limited healthcare resources, specialists and facilities lead to the issue. The undocumented people or those from certain races and ethnicities are also prone to facing discrimination.

          Some of the techniques that the work settings are addressing this issue include enhancing access to primary care with various initiatives such as establishing clinic days and various special healthcare programs. Besides, there have been health equity training programs for the healthcare professionals to take responsibility and implement strategies in addressing this disparity. The organization has also been at the frontline in ensuring that there is use of technology to better healthcare access. According to Ricketts & Fraher (2013), continuous collaboration with various agencies to address the social determinants of quality health is among the approaches that healthcare organizations should embrace to address the issue of inequity in access to quality healthcare services. In my work settings, there are strategies to address the issues in this context.

 

Resources: FYI you can use up to two of these resources but the third must come from another source. 

  • Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
    • Chapter 2, “Transformational Leadership: Complexity, Change, and Strategic Planning” (pp. 34–62)
    • Chapter 3, “Current Challenges in Complex Health Care Organizations and the Quadruple Aim” (pp. 66–97)

Read any TWO of the following (plus TWO additional readings on your selected issue):