NUR 514 Topic 4 DQ 1 Explain how health care policy affects health care organizations, patient care, and cost-effective quality care. What measures can the nurse leader take as an advocate for patient care and addressing health care cost?

Replies to Rosette Caindoy

Healthcare policy is vital to healthcare organizations since it helps in the planning processes of healthcare organizations. The primary role of healthcare policies is to provide a leadership structure whereby an institution allocates adequate healthcare resources to patients. Healthcare policies also offer an environment whereby an organization ensures clinicians’ continued improvement of medical practices and skills.

Policies usually offer guidelines for healthcare professionals to work effectively, use medical knowledge to solve complex problems, and implement evidence-based practices when caring for patients (Mosadeghrad, 2014). Secondly, healthcare policies affect patient care by ensuring patients receive optimum care. It acts as a manual that dictates clinicians’ behaviors and actions and helps promote patients’ safety and well-being when accessing medical services.

Mosadeghrad (2014) contends that healthcare policies affect cost-effective quality care by championing affordable medical services for patients. Healthcare professionals use healthcare policies to influence changes in healthcare systems by making healthcare resources easily accessible and lowering the medical costs for patients.

Nurse leaders are active in how medical services are disseminated to patients. This is possible by a nurse leader examining some of the weaknesses facing medical centers and understanding some of the problems patients face when accessing medical services. Secondly, nurse leaders can take measures that enhance the safety of patients by reducing medical errors to prevent readmissions of patients and that patients do not use many resources when getting quality healthcare services (Androus, 2021). Androus (2016) further elicits that when addressing healthcare costs, a nurse leader looks at strategies to help hospitals offer quality medical services at low prices. Therefore, acting as strong pillars in advocating quality care of patients.

References

Androus, A. B. (2021, December 26). What Are Some Ways Nurses Can Influence Healthcare Organization Costs? https://www.registerednursing.org/articles/what-nurses-can-influence-healthcare-organization-costs/

Mosadeghrad, A. M. (2014). Factors influencing healthcare service quality. International journal of health policy and management, 3(2), 77.