The best indicator for determining the effectiveness of any healthcare system is the medical outcomes and experiences of the targeted patients. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the latest law that continues to restructure various aspects of the United States’ medical sector. Healthcare professionals should be informed about every emerging change in this field to meet the demands of different people. This paper uses the ACA to describe and discuss the present and future roles of nurses in different areas, including care delivery, leadership, and patient safety.
Selected Health Care Law
The issue of reform in the field of healthcare remains contentious in the United States. The successful enactment of the ACA in 2010 became a turning point for the sector since it presented additional benefits to both physicians and patients (Murray, 2019). Some of the changes included the provision of medical insurance cover to more citizens, allowing young citizens to remain on their parents’ medical plans for additional years, expanding the adoption of pay-for-performance procedures, and eliminating inappropriate practices in medical practice. These changes have empowered and made it possible for more people to record positive health outcomes.
Effect on Nursing Practice
The introduction of the ACA has transformed the field of nursing practice positively. For instance, more practitioners are required to collaborate with their clinicians, leaders, and physicians in order to maximize patients’ experiences, reduce sentinel events, and provide high-quality care. These attributes are informed by the concept of pay-for-performance since any form of malpractice will result in Medicare non-payment. Many professionals in nursing are, therefore, considering additional models, procedures, and theories that have the potential to improve care delivery. Similarly, nurses have unique responsibilities and roles in accordance with the ACA (Edmonds, Campbell, & Gilder, 2016).
Firstly, practitioners are expected to form cohesive teams that can result in excellent care delivery. Secondly, every nurse should develop a powerful philosophy for coordinating healthcare activities, leading others, solving problems, and minimizing sentinel events. Thirdly, nurses have a responsibility to involve all patients and their respective family members to ensure that personalized medical services are available in different hospitals.
Quality and Pay-for-Performance: Roles and Responsibilities
Quality measures have become an integral part of the ACA, such as patient safety, patient outcomes, and the effectiveness of every insurance system. Nurses are currently being guided to engage in continuous learning, embrace emerging concepts, and promote the concept of evidence-based practices. Many policymakers embrace the ACA since it supports the idea of pay-for-performance. Hospitals and medical professionals that promote specified improvements to maximize patients’ medical experiences eventually receive timely financial support or incentives (Murray, 2019). These gains have been found to improve efficiency and quality, thereby transforming the effectiveness of the healthcare industry. This means that more people are getting timely, high-quality, and sustainable medical care.
Under these situations, the profession of nursing needs to change if positive results are recorded. Practitioners and leaders should consider the requirements of the ACA, implement new procedures, and solve challenges affecting the entire healthcare sector. Nursing practice is being forced to change accordingly in an attempt to maximize quality outcomes and make it possible for more people to lead better lives. The first expectation of the nursing role is that additional amendments will emerge to ensure that more practitioners receive new concepts, resources, and tools that can streamline care delivery (Murray, 2019).
The second one is that better health results will be recorded in the United States within the next few years. Some of the responsibilities of the nursing role include being involved in policy formulation agenda, partnering with other stakeholders, and presenting superior approaches or processes to improve the quality of care available to more patients who have insurance cover under the ACA law.
Leadership and Management Roles
Since the ACA has presented positive trends in promoting quality and patient safety in diverse healthcare settings, there has been a need for nurses to undertake additional leadership and managerial roles. Some of these developments include being involved to guide both patients and nurses to establish meaningful relationships that can result in positive health outcomes, forming teams to improve care delivery, and solving emerging issues that might affect the quality of services available to different patients.
As part of leadership, nurses are presently being required to monitor the overall nature of patient care, develop appropriate treatment regimes for their patients, implement disease prevention practices, and introduce superior models to improve health experiences (Edmonds et al., 2016). Those in managerial positions can delegate various roles, staff every unit appropriately, and motivate their respective followers. These roles are instrumental in promoting quality care and patient safety in diverse health settings.
Emerging Trends
Within the next five years, nursing roles are expected to change due to the upcoming changes or issues in health care. The first emerging trend is that more nurses will be required to consider the emerging developments in technology and understand how to utilize them to improve patients’ experiences. For example, these professionals should be able to promote the use of mobile technology, telemedicine, hi-tech simulators, mobile applications, and electronic health records to improve the quality of services available to the targeted patients (Mensik & Kennedy, 2016). The use of technology will ensure that more practitioners are able to collaborate with other professionals and deliver reliable medical support in a timely manner. This means that future nurses will be empowered to deliver high-quality services to their respective patients.
The second trend or growth is that nurses will be expected to pursue additional knowledge in quality improvement, maximize patients’ experiences, and reduce costs. If positive results are to be realized in accordance with the ACA, nurses should be ready to apply their skills and acquire additional ones in these key areas: leadership, coordination, and evidence-based practice (Mensik & Kennedy, 2016). They will also be required to partner with insurance companies, physicians, and hospitals to ensure that positive health results are recorded. They can engage in policy formulation and compel those in leadership positions address emerging obstacles.
When nurses consider new trends in the field of healthcare, chances are high that they will achieve their goals much faster, improve their philosophies, and revolutionize the quality of medical services available to more American citizens.
Conclusion
The above discussion has identified the ACA as an important law that has improved the health outcomes of many patients in the United States. Nurses should consider the requirements of this policy and pursue specific skills, leadership changes, developments, and resources that resonate with the demands of the current population. This approach will improve the nature of the health care sector and support the delivery of high-quality, personalized, and sustainable medical care.
References
Edmonds, J. K., Campbell, L. A., & Gilder, R. E. (2016). Public health nursing practice in the Affordable Care Act era: A national survey. Public Health Nursing, 34(1), 50-58. Web.
Mensik, J. S., & Kennedy, J. (2016). Strategic design: Filling future nursing leadership gaps. Nurse Leader, 14(2), 130-133. Web.
Murray, T. A. (2019). The future of nursing 2020–2030: Educating the workforce. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(9), 499-500. Web.