Nurses’ Role in Effective Management of Patient Care within an Evolving Health Care System

Nurses can act as agents of change within the evolving healthcare systems to better population outcomes (Rafferty, 2018). Nurses are directly and actively involved in patient care more than other healthcare providers. Therefore, they are and can be key contributors to providing information and education to healthcare workers and populations. Their direct communication with patients makes it easy for them to facilitate substantial changes to adapt to the evolving healthcare systems. In addition, nurses also act as coordinators between patients, physicians, and other healthcare service providers, such as health insurers. They can act as the link between these parties to communicate changes on either side. They can also utilize their connection with service providers and patients to identify health needs, training needs, and workforce needs, reduce medical errors, and help improve the quality of care, reducing healthcare workforce shortages. Through these roles, nurses efficiently contribute to the effective management of patient care within an evolving healthcare system.

References

Ludin, S. M. (2018). Does good critical thinking equal effective decision-making among critical care nurses? A cross-sectional survey. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 44, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ICCN.2017.06.002