NURS FPX 4900 Assessment 2 Assessing the Problem Quality Safety and Cost Considerations

Patient safety is another paramount factor that is impacted by diabetes. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to hyperglycemia, which causes peripheral neuropathy, blindness, and life-threatening conditions such as ketoacidosis (ADA, n.d.). Hence, poorly managed diabetes impacts patient safety. In the case of my mother, her safety is at stake as her unhealthy lifestyle and poor control of blood glucose levels can lead to these complications. Similarly, patients suffering from diabetes may bear direct medical costs, including medications and medical supplies for monitoring blood glucose levels.

Furthermore, a healthcare organization can incur indirect costs due to the need for specialized care for diabetes emergency room visits and increased hospitalization visits. About $237 billion is spent on direct medical costs annually, and a further $90 billion is incurred by the US nation due to reduced productivity (CDC, 2020). This shows the financial burden of diabetes on healthcare organizations and patients cumulatively. My mother is suffering from considerable costs due to medications, monitoring devices, and purchasing healthy food. This is leading to financial constraints, requiring monetary assistance for managing healthcare expenditures.

State Board Nursing Practice Standards and/or Organizational/ Governmental Policies and Their Impact on Care Quality, Patient Safety, and Costs

The California Board of Registered Nursing has provided standard guidelines in the Nursing Practice Act Section 2725, guiding nurses in improving quality of care and patient safety. The standard guidelines state that registered nurses must collaborate with healthcare providers to care for patients with chronic diseases like diabetes. Furthermore, they must monitor the patient’s health records for outcome evaluation and further treatments. This will enable them to monitor diabetics’ consistent fluctuations of blood glucose levels that can be regulated accordingly, improving the quality of care provided (California Board of Registered Nursing, n.d.).

The American Diabetes Association also provides guidelines on diabetes, such as measuring blood glucose levels through A1C tests and estimating their status of standard, pre-diabetes, and diabetes. These guidelines help nurses evaluate the current diabetes condition in patients based on regularly monitored blood glucose levels (ADA, n.d.). Furthermore, it provides resources on diabetes education, which nurses can avail to provide education and support to patients for diabetes self-management. These guidelines help improve the quality of care and enhance patient safety as patients strictly adhere to treatment plans and control their diabetes (Alshammari et al., 2021). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) helps patients manage their financial burden due to diabetes as it has policy provisions on providing health insurance coverage to low-income people through Medicaid and Medicare expansion.