Category: Healthcare

Healthcare is only a disease care system that focuses on soothing the pain instead of changing an individuals habits. Chronic pain is an epidemic that is ravaging society because people have become dependent on health practitioners to make them feel better, instead of seeking knowledge and support on how to resolve their issues. According to research, pain involves both the body and the mind, thus body-mind therapies may help in pain alleviation through changing an individuals perception of pain (Lambert 94). Several factors including emotions, lifestyle, and personality influence how people feel pain. For instance, an individual who has been in pain for long may have their brain wired to perceive pain signals even when they are not being sent. The best way to relieve pain, stress, and anxiety is through learning a combination of techniques, like deep breathing, meditation, yoga exercises, and positive thinking. Drugs get rid of the pain but may have unpleasant and serious side effects but, relaxation techniques keep the body and mind healthy.

I agree with Thomas Aquinas natural law theory where he views God as the giver of natural law and that humans should receive the law from Him. From this perspective, the natural law contains values and principles that judge human action as reasonable or unreasonable. Human beings have the natural drive to eat, sleep and work, thus these actions align with the natural law. An individual cannot function while in pain and have the right to seek means of relieving the pain. Therefore, actions that support eating, sleeping, and working are morally good, while those that do not are bad (McCluskey 53). The relaxation techniques like yoga exercise should be considered morally right because they enable a person to eat, drink, sleep and work. If Aquinas was to analyze the above scenario, he would have advocated for rationality in dealing with pain. This is because God, who is the lawgiver, created us as rational beings to follow the rules and freely act on them. It was Gods choice to create human beings who can act freely and apply the principles of reason as law.

References

Lambert, G. How Did I Not Know About This?: Becoming Pain-Free Through Posture Therapy. 2021. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.

McCluskey, C. Thomas Aquinas on moral wrongdoing. Cambridge University Press, 2016.

The right to the maximum achievable standard of health as a vital right of every human being is envisioned in the World Health Organization constitution, a requirement for all UN member nations. This essay seeks to assess the level of attainment of this goal in the United States and globally. The paper outlines the required standard and quality of health standards that should be availed to everyone and provides a commentary on whether this is doable while offering recommendations on what the primary focus should be.

Right to Health and the State

The provision of healthcare to citizens of a particular nation is the legal obligation of the state. The state must provide all the requirements that enable its people to achieve timely and appropriate healthcare. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) requires that a state provides the maximum available resources towards its health service to progressively attain this goal. Healthcare must also prioritize the wants of people most disadvantaged to ensure that they achieve equity. This freedom cannot be affected by such variations as race, age, background, or any other status. This right must be guaranteed to all despite their differences.

Efforts that ensure such differences do not hamper the provision of health to citizens by the state should be geared towards addressing those differences individually (WHO, 2017). The government must address fundamental concerns of discrimination in race and age to ensure that the citizens are not affected by these issues.

The provision of health to citizens by a state must ensure accountability, equality and non-discrimination, and participation. The government must bear the responsibility of errors within its provision of healthcare services and ensure that it involves the citizens in their healthcare (WHO, 2017). Participation in setting targets and deciding on resource allocation is a duty of the state in ensuring that citizens have a stake in their healthcare. All these standards are a requirement for every member state of the UN. A government must ensure the obtainability, convenience, appropriateness, and quality of the healthcare services it provides to its citizens.

Challenges to the Right to Health

The attainment of the right to healthcare has had many challenges over the years. These challenges include access to healthcare services due to poor economic development in some countries (Bloom et al., 2018). It includes some developing nations that do not have adequate infrastructural developments to enable the citizens to access health. Inadequate funds for the construction of healthcare centers and purchasing drugs are also challenges for these nations.

Poor transport services to the existing healthcare centers are also an issue for these countries. Congestion in healthcare centers is also a challenge for developing nations as the centers are inadequate to cater to their large populations (Bloom et al., 2018). In such developed countries as the United States, one of the major challenges to the achievement of this right is high healthcare costs. The massive technological and scientific development means that healthcare is highly advanced. Citizens incur high costs in ensuring that they can access quality healthcare in the form of health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

Attainment of the Right to Health

Such issues as racism, ethnicity, and age also affect healthcare in developed nations. In the United States, race plays a major role as African Americans cannot access the same level of healthcare as White citizens (Dickman et al., 2017). This is due to inadequate healthcare facilities in African American neighborhoods and their general inability to afford healthcare in those areas. These issues demonstrate that the realization of this right is a concern that each nation should tackle independently. Developing states, in this regard, must tackle essential issues that grossly affect healthcare from all angles as they are the most affected.

These nations have the responsibility of ensuring that infrastructural development occurs to adequately cater to healthcare development. Developed states also have unique responsibilities in the provision of healthcare to their citizens. These responsibilities include ensuring that race, age, and ethnicity do not interfere with healthcare to their citizens. The primary focus of healthcare providers must be on all possible aspects of prevention, treatment, and follow-up services to ensure that healthcare is holistic.

Conclusion

In conclusion, healthcare is core to world development and the provision of the highest standard of living in all nations. There is a need for each nation to focus on ensuring that their citizens are accorded the best possible healthcare within the confines of the WHO requirements. From the illustrations above, this right has not been adequately attained for all people. The attainment of this right varies with different nations having varying problems in their efforts.

Although the right to healthcare is universal, the steps needed to ensure that this right is attained are not collective. Each nation must consider its situation and come up with measures that address the individual problems it faces. The guiding principles of this right are, however, similar. It includes ensuring that healthcare is accessible, available, acceptable, and of the best quality. Public participation is also a requirement in the setting of healthcare standards and priorities. People must have a stake in deciding their most urgent needs. Equity is also crucial to ensure that all people are served.

References

Bloom, D. E., Khoury, A., & Subbaraman, R. (2018). The promise and peril of universal health care. Science, 361(6404), eaat9644. 

Dickman, S. L., Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2017). Inequality and the health-care system in the USA. The Lancet, 389(10077), 14311441. 

World Health Organization. (2017). Human rights and health. WHO. 

There is a positive correlation between nursing education and patient outcomes established by numerous studies. They claim that the efficiency of evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare is significantly dependent on ones qualification (Melnyk et al., 2018). The link between these two notions is frequently considered as a combination of intertwined elements, which affect the overall results of treatment. They include 24 EBP competencies, and their mastery indicates the improved efficiency of nursing personnel (Melnyk et al., 2018). From this perspective, the need for enhancing the skills of staff in facilities is explained by the increasing quality of care they provide and the correspondence with essential standards of the field.

In turn, advanced degrees in nursing contribute to patient safety outcomes as per the recent research. The examination of nurseled clinics and their practices in the care of people with cancer showed that their effectiveness was conditional upon the models of rendering services, which are adopted by qualified specialists (Molassiotis et al., 2021). They resulted in various improvements related to distress levels, satisfaction, quality of life, depressive symptoms, concerns, and vomiting and allowed conclusions on the feasibility of increasing the number of advanced nurses in the facilities (Molassiotis et al., 2021). Hence, the results of the treatment were enhanced through the emphasis on this aspect of the matter.

My real-life experience and observations confirm the findings of the studies presented above and add to the need to hire nursing personnel with higher degrees in medicine. Indeed, their active participation helps promote safety and the overall well-being of patients in hospitals. It can be explicitly seen in the emergencies which they face in the workplace and their faster reaction and suitability of the implemented measures to each situation.

References

Melnyk, B. M., GallagherFord, L., Zellefrow, C., Tucker, S., Thomas, B., Sinnott, L. T., & Tan, A. (2018). The first US study on nurses evidencebased practice competencies indicates major deficits that threaten healthcare quality, safety, and patient outcomes. Worldviews on EvidenceBased Nursing, 15(1), 16-25. Web.

Molassiotis, A., Liu, X. L., & Kwok, S. W. (2021). Impact of advanced nursing practice through nurseled clinics in the care of cancer patients: A scoping review. European Journal of Cancer Care, 30(1), e13358. Web.

Implementation Plan for Proposed Initiative

The new initiative proposed for implementation at Memorial Hermann Health System (MHHS) community is to improve community healthcare through broader use of telehealth services in the Greater Houston area. MHHS community efforts in this area are extensively focused on serving the needs of diverse and underserved populations, which were reported as being times more vulnerable in terms of death during the first year of life compared to affluent neighborhoods (Kever, 2018). Since time to travel remains costly for neighborhood residents and time-consuming for service providers, the use of a mobile application that allows fast remote connection is a feasible solution for both parties. To justify the choice of the initiative, further considerations related to the 5-year budget, implementation plan, organizational impact analysis, and the effects on environmental change are discussed.

Budget Planning

The budget for the proposed telehealth initiative shows projected revenues and expenses for HMMS from a five-year perspective. It is assumed that the project will be initiated at the beginning of 2021 following the arrangements required for equipment purchasing and additional staff recruitment. The main assumptions for the budget planning are further outlined based on the initial proposal feedback and additional research, while the complete budget breakdown is provided in Appendix. Overall, it is considered that the initiative will be successful upon its completion in 2025.

The annual revenue from patient service receipts has been estimated by multiplying the number of patients receiving telehealth consultancy by the cost per visit. According to Rehm (2016), telehealth services are estimated at a cost per visit, which varies from $40 to $50 across the country, which is much lower than the country average of $176 per in-person care. Furthermore, it is assumed that, during the first year, the number of telehealth conferences will be limited to 15 patients per nurse and 8 patients per physician daily, while this figure will progressively increase after the first year and will require additional adjustments of the staff schedule. As the program will keep rolling out inviting new participants for remote healthcare, as well as the price of services will continuously increase, it is expected that annual revenues from services will increase 1.6 times annually (Rehm, 2016; ReportLinker, 2020). Hence, it is expected that, during the first year, the initiative will bring approximately $804,000 of revenues from operating receipts.

The operating costs for the initiative include staffing costs, costs for equipment and supplies, insurance costs, and other costs assumed as reserve funding. Staffing costs are based on recruiting 3 nursing practitioners, 2 physicians, and 1 medical assistant. The annual salaries considered for the staff are $119,920 for the nursing practitioner, $230,060 for a physician, and $39,190 for a medical assistant (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). It is assumed that these roles will be fixed for the whole period of the initial rollout, while, since year 2, some internal staff will be reassigned to telehealth roles given that the number of in-house visits will decrease, and the number of teleconferences will increase. Salary estimations are made based on the assumption that the growth target for nominal wages will be annually increasing by 3.5-4% (Economic Policy Institute, 2020). Hence, staffing costs will incur the major part of operating costs for the initiative.

For equipment and services, such as web services costs, software and network updates, as well as equipment repairs, the fixed cost of $60,000 for the first year and an annual increase of 5% is assumed, while the cost of insurance is expected to remain stable during the first three years with a gradual increase by $5,000 annually since year 4 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). Based on the amortized loan principle, for the loan term of $100,000 during 5 years at an interest rate of 7% compounded annually, the yearly payment will be equal to approximately $24,400. Based on the above estimations, it is assumed that the initiative will bring losses during the first two years, while the overall cash surplus during the five years is estimated at $3,624,082.14, which confirms the financial feasibility of telehealth project implementation in HMMS.

Implementation Plan

The first step of the implementation plan is to begin preparatory activities for the initiative before it goes live in public healthcare. It is assumed that the main activities within this stage are developing a project proposal for HMMS management team, approving the project, recruiting team members, approving bank loans, and purchasing equipment and software required for providing high-quality telehealth services. The second step of the implementation plan is to actively promote the initiative among both internal and external stakeholders to receive their support and engagement with the telehealth services. Internally, it assumes training and communication with HMMS staff regarding the importance and benefits of telehealth as a cost-efficient solution for delivering remote quality care to a diverse population. Externally, it assumes partnership with volunteers, community support, and sheltering organizations in a Greater Houston area that can assist with matching patients to services, specifically, underserved populations or low-income individuals. The external partnership will require considering ethical and cultural restrictions in communicating program purposes, particularly referring to possible racial prejudices. Hence, all partners will be supplied with ethical checklists and asked to report on community recruiting progress every week.

Organizational Impact

Once implemented, it is expected that the initiative might have both positive and negative impacts on other organizational aspects. The positive impact manifests in the ability to provide healthcare services to broader communities with fewer costs and efforts incurred, which expects to increase the popularity of MHHS in the Greater Houston area and attract more patients annually. Furthermore, telehealth is advantageous in terms of familiarizing internal staff with new technologies for providing remote healthcare, which allows transforming the perception of how to deliver quality care for vulnerable populations. However, the main negative aspect is that the initial stages of the initial deployment might be associated with increased working hours required for functionality testing, as well as close communication with service providers to ensure that patients can seamlessly communicate with nurses and physicians. Moreover, some of the staff members might consider that the focus on telemedicine assumes a future staff shortage since the number of in-house visits is expected to be reduced where possible. It could be mitigated through personal interviews that explain the importance of separating telehealth services and in-house care for special cases which could not be resolved otherwise.

Mitigation Strategies and Environment

The main environmental risks identified for the proposed initiative are the lack of community awareness about telehealth services and internal resistance to participating in the project rollout. For the first case, the initiative remains viable since it brings the advantage of accessing healthcare services immediately and at a lower cost as an alternative to spending time booking time, travel, and registration. For the second case, it is a matter of organizational dynamics and internal communication, which is expected to be comprehended after the first year of initiative deployment. Hence, the strategies required to keep the program viability are proactive community education and communication, which shows the progress of the initiative in terms of patients successfully participating in the initiative, as well as feedback collection that shows the dynamics of patient growth. However, strong stakeholder engagement remains critical to ensure that strategies meet the overall program objectives.

Relevance and Significance of Research Evidence

The proposed implementation plan is based on economic, financial, and scholarly evidence, such as industry reports, employment, and wages analytics, as well as financial forecasting. The evidence is relevant for the chosen organization because of its strategic focus on providing support to diverse populations through remote care, as well as feasible for the proposed initiative to estimate required operational costs based on the labor trends. Furthermore, as summarized by Rehm (2016), the evidence shows past trends and forecasts for the market dynamics change in telehealth services based on reports, which allows comparing the past stance of the telehealth market against current perceptions of patients. Hence, it provides an opportunity to make future projections regarding job and scope of service changes to ensure that stakeholder needs are perfectly met.

Conclusion

Overall, the budget estimations confirm that the telehealth initiative in MHHS is feasible from a 5-year perspective. However, it requires the active engagement of stakeholders to ensure a dynamically increasing number of patients interested in remote healthcare services to cover elevating operational costs. The initiative also bears several organizational and external risks of non-acceptance, which requires significant efforts in education and training, as well as sensing patients regarding the quality of received services. Hence, it is important to ensure patient-centric delivery of telehealth services, as well as proactive communication, to ensure the initiatives success.

References

Economic Policy Institute. (2020). Nominal wage tracker. 

Kever, J. (2018). Health disparities. University of Houston. Web.

Rehm, J. (2016). Telemedicine: The cost-effective future of healthcare. AJMC.

ReportLinker. (2020). The telehealth market by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 28% during the period 2019-2025. GlobeNewswire.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019). Occupational employment statistics.

Appendix

A 5-Year Budget for Proposed Initiative

America has a large population of children with special healthcare needs. According to the census of 2009, nearly 14% of all children in the USA aged between 3 to 17 have some sort of disability (Statistics of children, 2013). Since the medical system in the country is largely insurance-based, it is paramount for these children to have full-time coverage in order to address their healthcare needs, whenever they arise. Despite numerous programs being in place to subsidize children with special healthcare needs, USA healthcare remains notoriously inefficient. Insurance companies are reluctant to provide children with autism, Aspergers syndrome, depression, and other healthcare disabilities with insurance, as it is not profitable to them. Nevertheless, it is important to seek out new ways of providing the children with whatever healthcare they need to ensure their survival and functioning in our society. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of insurance in healthcare for children with special healthcare needs and provide suggestions for organized dentistry to ensure that the children are given the required dental care.

According to Jeffrey and Newacheck (2006), children with special healthcare needs are a particularly vulnerable subpopulation of children. Medical insurance is important to them, as the expenditures on out-of-pocket medical payments for the uninsured are much bigger than those of the insured patients (Jeffrey & Newacheck, 2006). At the same time, many children cannot get healthcare coverage due to the demands for medical insurance being too steep. According to another study performed in 2009, around 40% of children with special healthcare needs remain uninsured during certain periods of the year or have inadequate coverage (Newacheck et al., 2009). It presents a danger to this vulnerable population group, as they would be forced to pay the medical bills out of their pockets, which is not always possible due to the limitations of the family budget. Raising a child with autism or Aspergers syndrome is expensive, as they have special needs in many aspects of their lives, not just healthcare.

Dentistry is one of the most expensive medical fields in the USA. The ever-growing prices are the reason why only 36% of all Americans in need of dental care actually visit the dentist (Potter, 2014). Less than a half of Americans have dental care included in their insurance list. These costs become even higher if the person in question has no insurance and has to pay out of pocket. Since the topic of concern is dental care for uninsured children with special healthcare needs, there are several ways to improve the situation.

The first thing that could be done is to reduce the price of dental care for these special groups of patients. The dental industry is grossly overpaid compared to other healthcare providers, with dentists earning from 180,000 to 350,000 USD a year, while not providing any life-saving healthcare services (Potter, 2014). The tradition of paying this much for dental services is not economically justified, but rather a deleterious habit that takes roots in the dental crisis of the 1950s (Potter, 2014). Another thing that dentists could do to provide dental care to children with special needs is to push for increased coverage for this vulnerable population group. If insurances become more affordable to vulnerable populations, more children will be able to receive affordable dental care.

References

Jeffrey, A.E., & Newacheck, P.W. (2006). Role of insurance for children with special health care needs: A synthesis of the evidence. Pediatrics, 118(4), 1027-1038. Web.

Newacheck, P.W., Houtrow, A.J., Romm, D.L., Kuhlthau, K.A., Bloom, S.R., Van Cleave, J.M., & Perrin, J.M. (2009). The future of health insurance for children with special health care needs. Pediatrics, 123(5), 940-947. Web.

Potter, W. (2014). Why a trip to the dentist costs so much now  and what we can do about it. The Huffington Post. Web.

Statistics of children with special needs. (2013). Web.

Ethical Considerations and Protection of Human Rights

Since the study involves an extended number of participants, it is essential to pay increased attention to the consideration of ethics. Even though the purpose of this research is exceptionally well-intentioned, there is always a possibility that interaction and communication with participants chosen for the study can result in inadvertent harm. Therefore, it is crucial to make sure that ethics is considered and the human rights of the participants are protected.

When conducting this research, ethical considerations will be the following. Everyone involved in the study will behave in accordance with current and appropriate ethical rules and standards. Neither of the participants will be involved in a situation with inappropriate behavior. Further, any possible ways that the research may have negative effects on participants will be excluded, considering the fact that different people may perceive ethical norms differently (Resnik, 2020).

As for the protection of human rights, several steps will be taken to ensure that before, during, and after the study. First of all, it is recommended that participation in the survey is entirely voluntary; potential participants will be informed of the necessity of this research, but the final decision will be theirs to make. Their right to anonymity and confidentiality will also be respected, and no personal information will be provided to anyone not involved in the research. Additionally, all participants will be fully informed of what is expected from them and what potential negative effects may be. This information will allow them to consider taking part in the research and relieve us of this responsibility.

Limitation of Proposed Study

Despite the fact that this study is thought through and the selected research method is perfectly suitable for the mentioned goals, there are still some potential limitations. To begin with, some participants may learn the objective and purpose of this study and become biased, which will have an adverse effect on the results. Since there will be little chance of finding out that this happened, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to eliminate the consequences, this is a severe limitation.

Another one is that the results gained after conducting the interviews can be biased as well. In other words, it is likely that the results received from each participant and the whole sample do not necessarily mean that they are actual and accurate to the broader population. Finally, there is a possibility of being limited by time and finances, which will require quick and probably wrong decisions and may again result in biased results.

Implications for Practice

It is possible to suggest that the implications of this research will be incredibly essential for practice. As mentioned above, healthcare disparities exist at every healthcare system level, causing minority groups to have reduced access to insurance services for health promotion and medical workers not knowing how to manage patients from these communities (Brown et al., 2019). The findings of this research will make it possible to determine whether the proposed and explored solution may address the issue.

Overall, scientists and researchers working in this field will receive valuable material for further studies. At the same time, healthcare providers will get an effective and practical tool to reduce the continued health gap. It will be possible to improve the situation in the nearest future by implementing physician training and increasing their awareness of the necessity of providing patient-centered care and recognizing their different needs.

References

Brown, A. F., Ma, G. X., Miranda, J., Eng, E., Castille, D., Brockie, T., Jones, P., Airhihenbuwa, C. O., Farhat, T., Zhu, L., & Trinh-Shevrin, C. (2019). Structural interventions to reduce and eliminate health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 109(S1), S72-S78. Web.

Resnik, D. B. (2020). What is ethics in research & why is it important? National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Web.

Introduction

America is one of the worlds leading economies, with the highest Medicaid spending per capita. At the same time, the country cannot afford to give all of its citizens universal coverage. The governmental reform, stuck somewhere in transition between capitalist and socialist healthcare models, remains rather inefficient. Although there was a decrease in the number of uninsured American citizens since the introduction of Obamacare, at least 28.5 million citizens remain without coverage (Key facts, 2016). The majority of these citizens come from low-income families, with at least 1 full-time-employed family member. Meanwhile, the debates between the supporters of universal and free-market healthcare models continue both on the left and the right wings of the political spectrum. Nurses too must take a stand in this issue, as they are the primary healthcare providers for the majority of the population, and are the largest and most represented stratum in the medical hierarchy.

Who are Affected?

According to Kaiser Family Foundation (2016), around 28.5 million people remain without medical coverage. The key reason for not having any is due to the fact that Medicare health insurance is too expensive for them to have. On average, a family of 4 needs to spend around 22,000 USD per year on healthcare insurance. More than a half of this cost is typically paid for by the employer (around 12,000 USD), while the rest is paid for by the worker (Average cost, 2016). The situation is much worse for the self-employed, as they do not get the benefit from the employer paying for them. In addition, the government offers deductions for healthcare for families and individuals with low income. While this managed to alleviate the situation for some low-income families, the resulting increases in healthcare costs made insurance undesirable for the families that were just a little above being considered low-income, and who did not receive the deductions associated with it. In 2015, 20% out of uninsured adults went without medical help despite needing it, due to the fact they could not afford it (Key facts, 2016).

Public Opinion on Universal Healthcare

Public opinion on universal healthcare is divided, depending on the publics view of the government duties and obligations as well as attitudes towards healthcare. Those in the lower wages segment, who do not possess the ability to purchase quality healthcare, advocate for universal healthcare. This stance is supported by many within the medical and religious communities, as well as political figures. Bernie Sanders, a US senator, had expressed his stance on the subject, claiming that healthcare is a right and not a privilege, therefore it must be available for every man, woman, and child (Should all Americans, 2017). Those on the right, on the other hand, state that universal healthcare advocates slavery, as it entitles people to healthcare without needing to reward the efforts of healthcare providers. This opinion was expressed by Rand Paul, a senator for the Republican Party (Should all Americans, 2017).

Public Opinion on Free-Market Healthcare

The alternative to the Universal healthcare model is the Free-market model, which is highly-endorsed by the supporters of the right political spectrum. It is based on the idea that competition between healthcare providers would decrease the prices for the end user and thus produce affordable healthcare. Another argument offered by the supporters of the free-market healthcare model is that it does not infringe anyones rights and does not force the people and the government to pay for someone else. Michael F. Cannon, the director of Health Policy Studies and Cato institute points out that a free-market model is beneficial for healthcare, as universal healthcare raises important questions of where does the need for healthcare for a person ends (Should all Americans, 2017). The critics of a free-market healthcare system point out that free-market is not applicable to medicine due to it lacking any vital features of the market (El-Sayed, 2012).

Nursing Philosophy and Moral Obligations

Ever since the appearance of medicine, it was treated like something more than just yet another service offered to the populace. Doctors were always held to the higher moral standard, as their craft is meant to save lives. All nursing philosophical theories frameworks, starting with Nightingales theory and ending with Jean Watson state that the primary role of a doctor or a nurse is to promote healthcare and prevent illnesses from spreading (Lyons, 2015). This paradigm is all-inclusive, and does not make any differences between age, gender, race, or the ability to pay. This naturally aligns the majority of medical workers who actually believe in the causes and tenets of modern medicine, with the supporters of Universal Care. The Free-Market approach, on the other hand, is in conflict with the majority of nursing theories and codes of conduct, as they suggest refusing healthcare to patients if they are unwilling or unable to pay for it.

Nursing and Christianity

Nursing and Christianity are intertwined, as the practice of taking care of the sick and injured stems directly from Christian traditions and teachings. The word hospital comes from the Order of Hospitallers of Saint John of God (Lyons, 2015). It was a knightly order, which had a purpose of helping out and nursing the sick and injured on their way to the holy land. They operated a number of hospitals in Jerusalem, Acre, and other cities under the control of the crusader states. The practice of offering medical assistance free of charge traces back to the teachings of Jesus Christ, who offered his aid without wanting anything in return, even to the people who admonished him for it.

The Concept of Christian Healthcare

Tenets of Christian faith are aligned with nursing work, thus are very easy to integrate into standard practices on clinical, practical, educational, and research levels. Many notable nurse theorists were Christian, so the majority of modern nursing philosophies already carry Christian teachings, since those were used as an ethical framework, upon which the philosophy was built up. Nurses can provide both physical and spiritual care. Since medicine is considered a holistic practice, it is important to promote health of mind, body, and spirit at the same time, in order to ensure wellness and well-being of the patient (Lyons, 2015).

Christianity and Healthcare systems

Christianity was always a natural proponent of universal healthcare, as selfless assistance to those in need is one of the core principles of the faith. In the past, monasteries provided refuge and medical care to those in need, free of charge. Naturally, the poor and the sick flocked to churches, in their need of help. As Christian monasteries provided education as well, the majority of medical practitioners of the past came from within their walls. Nowadays, Christianity remains firmly in favor of universal healthcare. According to Pope Francis, Health is not a consumer good, but rather a universal right, and therefore access to health care services cannot be a privilege (Lyons, 2015).

Personal Opinion  Economic views on Healthcare

Personally, I stand in favor of universal healthcare over the free-market model and the current insurance model currently present in the USA. I believe that medicine should be excerpt from the standard economic views that other spheres and businesses are subjugated to. Medicine can never be free-market due to unpredictability and high-emergency nature of medicine itself. In the majority of the cases, the patient is in no position to bargain and look for alternatives, when his or her condition is acute. The current insurance model is ineffective and contradicts the free-market theory as well, since it places the interests of the patients in the hands of companies that may not necessary have the best interests of the patients in mind. Free-market healthcare system essentially denies healthcare to those who need it the most  the poor. In the case with direct transactions, they do not often have the possibility to pay up, and in the case with insurance  they cannot afford it either.

Personal Opinion  Philosophical Views on Healthcare

The other reasons why I support universal healthcare over free-market healthcare is because of the holistic and Christian principles behind my profession as a nurse. My personal beliefs, my religion, and my training all suggest that I must provide healthcare to those in need, regardless of whether they can afford to pay it or not. At the same time, if I work for free, I will not be able to sustain myself. However, if the government pays for the nursing work that I do, then both the needs of the patients and the medical workers would be equally satisfied. The government already provides funding for such crucial areas of our lives such as infrastructure maintenance, emergency response units, the army, and law enforcement. Medical care is as crucial to the society as the areas mentioned above.

Personal Opinion  Universal Healthcare and the Target Group

The group I reviewed earlier in this presentation includes low-income families with at least 1 full-time worker. This shows that some people, even though they are honest and hardworking, cannot afford healthcare under the current insurance model, and the switch to free-market model will only make things worse, as medicine operating under free-market laws will quickly lose its human face and turn into a for-profit industry with no regard for health promotion and human life. Universal healthcare, on the other hand, would solve the target groups need for healthcare and will greatly improve the healthiness of our nation.

Conclusions

Universal healthcare is what the USA needs the most. In order to promote health for everyone and prevent diseases, healthcare should be fully funded from the federal budget. Tenets of universal care align with the needs of the many, with Christian values, and with the philosophical pillars upon which all nursing theory is built. The USA is famous for spending the most on medical care, yet at the same time its system remains notoriously inefficient. Fully committing to universal care while leaving private contractors for those who desire paid medical care would help cut down costs on bureaucracy and promote cheaper and more quality healthcare.

References

Average cost of health insurance. (2016). Web.

El-Sayed, A. (2012). Five reasons free markets dont work in healthcare. Web.

Key facts about the uninsured population. (2016). Web.

Lyons, K. (2015). The role of Christianity in nursing. Web.

Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care? (2017). Web.

Introduction

As the defining global health crisis of our time, Covid-19 has had a considerable impact on different aspects of life in the whole world. Since the first case of coronavirus that was identified in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, over 130 million individuals have been infected with this respiratory disease. In light of the rapidly evolving Covid-19 challenge, the American healthcare system has faced numerous issues, such as shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the medical staff, inadequate safety precautions, as well as the lack of ICU beds. To address these problems and ensure that the highest quality services are provided to patients, health institutions were required to take appropriate measures, such as the adoption of telehealth, increase in the hospital bed capacity, and conducting training sessions for the medical staff to improve their diagnostic skills.

To minimize the negative influence of Covid-19 on the healthcare industry, a variety of additional strategies should be implemented in the future. For instance, it would be essential to support the provider workforce by cross-training, creating contingency staffing models, and increasing ancillary support for frontline workers. Even though numerous coronavirus vaccines have been approved and deployed lately, healthcare institutions still need to change their usual workflow to satisfy the needs of patients.

Overview of the Problem

Coronavirus can be defined as a respiratory disease that is characterized by numerous symptoms ranging from cough, fever, and chills to difficulty breathing and pneumonia. At the same time, there are cases when getting infected by Covid-19 can result in death. For example, approximately four percent of reported COVID-19 cases are fatal, whereas seasonal flu generally kills less than one percent of infected individuals (Lotfi et al.). Thus, healthcare providers consider coronavirus a dangerous disease that should be treated under the provision of doctors in the majority of cases. A huge amount of attention should be paid to patients suffering from chronic diseases, as these individuals are at high risk of facing severe symptoms of the disease. Moreover, taking into consideration that elderly population groups usually experience severe symptoms of the disease due to physiological changes that come with aging, they require the best patient care.

The American healthcare system has been developing for several decades to provide high-quality services and meet the expectations of the local population. Simultaneously, nobody could expect that Covid-10 would spread the world so fast, which is the reason why the USA was not prepared to handle the challenges and issues associated with this pandemic. At the beginning of 2020, a vast number of American health institutions started developing strategic plans based on the idea to facilitate the process of delivering medical care to patients. On the one hand, some recommendations were taken into account. For example, hospital bed capacity has increased by thirty-forty percent in the majority of hospitals (Lotfi et al.). Also, medical staff received coronavirus-specific training to ensure patients are treated appropriately. On the other hand, healthcare providers still struggle with intensified capacity, supply, and workforce challenges.

Adoption of Telehealth

One of the main changes that various healthcare facilities implemented was the adoption of telehealth. Even though this technology is not new in the area of healthcare, it was not widely used before Covid-19. Patients mainly used this technology when they were not able to get to the hospital on time. Nowadays, the use of digital information and communication technologies is extremely popular, as it helps to minimize the impact of patient surges on facilities. Furthermore, the use of telehealth is an incredibly useful intervention to reduce potential infectious exposures. The number of telehealth visits has increased by nearly twenty percent since the beginning of 2020 (Monaghesh, and Hajizadeh). As the months went on, the used technologies were improved, so both health providers and patients would be satisfied with the quality of services. Today, telehealth can be used for screenings, providing coaching, and delivering advance care planning.

Adoption of this technology into the field of healthcare during the pandemic is dependent on the concept of access to healthcare. In other words, to achieve the best health outcomes in the period of unpredictable spread of Covid-19, people should have the opportunity to stay in touch with doctors. It can be done with the help of phone-only and video visits. Access to care consists of four essential elements, such as coverage, services, timeliness, and workforce. Although telehealth does not have a significant impact on coverage, it does affect the rest of the elements of this concept. The use of telecommunication technologies guarantees that medical services are provided by qualified and culturally competent workers timelessly. It is predicted that the number of people using telehealth will be increasing after a pandemic, as the quality of services is equal to the quality of services received in clinical settings.

Changes in Supply Chain

When it comes to the influence of coronavirus on the supply chain, it is important to take into consideration personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as cleaning and disinfecting materials. The main issues related to the supply chain arose when Covid-19 started spreading throughout the world. Around fifty percent of masks were produced in China before the first cases of coronavirus were identified (Howard et al.). Once this country realized the magnitude of the problem, it immediately cut back on exports of masks to other parts of the world. Therefore, other countries, including the USA, were required to increase the number of masks on their own. As a result, American manufacturers like 3M and Honeywell took appropriate measures to increase their production of N95 masks (Howard et al.). Consequently, healthcare facilities were supplied with needed personal protective equipment.

Once this problem was addressed, the problem of adverse skin events arose. Based on the information from the research study conducted by Lan et al. in China, nearly 97% of health workers report skin damage related to prevention measures. Washing hands ten times per day and wearing face masks for over six hours inevitably results in adverse skin events. Despite these effects, healthcare workers are still required to wear personal protective equipment and follow workplace hygiene procedures. Therefore, the concept of professionalism takes place in this case. Nowadays, the medical staff uses recommendations provided by the World Health Organization in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served. Accordingly, changes in the supply chain have affected the way medical care is delivered in healthcare settings; however, additional recommendations regarding skin adverse effects caused by PPE are required.

Hiring Healthcare Professionals from Other Countries

Such a considerable spread of Covid-19 throughout the whole world has caused staff shortages in numerous countries, including the USA. On the one hand, this problem existed before the first cases of Covid-19 were identified. On the other hand, a vast spread of this respiratory disease has contributed to a higher number of healthcare workers who quit their job. First, it can be explained by health concerns, as medical staff should be in constant contact with patients infected with the coronavirus. Second, some individuals quit their jobs in healthcare facilities due to overworking and inappropriate working conditions. Nowadays, it is predicted that the US will need to hire over two million new healthcare workers by 2025 to satisfy the needs of patients effectively (Kavilanz). Therefore, numerous healthcare facilities have decided to hire new healthcare workers from other countries.

To become a healthcare worker in one of the American hospitals, a person should correspond to several appropriate requirements. For instance, it is essential to pass both the USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 CK, as well as obtain appropriate practical skills at least (Witter et al.). Even though it is difficult to take the job position of a physician or nurse in the US, it is associated with a variety of benefits for the person. For example, job stability, fast-paced workday, opportunities for growth, and great pay belong to the list of the main benefits of working in the American healthcare industry. In turn, if a certain hospital has well-qualified personnel, it can create objectives and set goals for where the organization sees itself in the long term. In other words, the concept of strategic planning can be used to succeed in the area of healthcare.

Finances

Another considerable issue faced by the majority of American healthcare institutions is associated with finances. Covid-19 is strongly interrelated with the financial crisis in different parts of the business, including healthcare. Hospitals that prepared for the pandemic with the help of telehealth and substantial money on hand were not affected by the coronavirus significantly. In turn, the rest of the hospitals are predicted to lose an average of $2,800 per COVID-19 patient case (King). To address this problem in the best way, the American Hospital Association is focused on getting more money for the CARES Act provider relief fund. Additionally, this organization is asking for full forgiveness on more than eighty-five billion dollars in advance Medicare payment loans to hospitals (Haseman). In case these requests are not reviewed, the American healthcare industry will face the biggest crisis in the history of this field. In turn, it can result in delivering poor-quality care.

Also, it is predicted that a global vacation will be the only way for healthcare institutions to emerge from the pandemic without considerable financial losses. The majority of healthcare costs are dedicated to the resolution of this problem at the moment. Therefore, once the pandemic is over, hospitals would get the opportunity to invest money in the further development of their activity. As of April 2021, approximately eighteen percent of all Americans are fully vaccinated (Haseman). It is difficult to predict when humanity will reach herd immunity, although Biden suggests that this goal can be achieved by the end of the year (Haseman). If the pandemic lasts for more than one year, the global healthcare industry will face unavoidable consequences. As a result, the quality of provided services can be significantly lower, thereby affecting the health status of various population groups.

Conclusion

Nowadays, the whole world is required to adapt to new conditions of living and taking care of personal well-being. When it comes to the healthcare industry, numerous changes happened in this area. For instance, the majority of hospitals faced financial issues, changes in the supply chain, shortage of medical personnel, and issues with direct communication with patients. Despite such a high number of problems, the American healthcare industry takes appropriate measures to adapt to the pandemic and provide patients with the best medical care. The adoption of telehealth has helped medical workers to reduce potential infectious exposures and serve patients promptly. Simultaneously, the strategy of hiring new healthcare professionals from other countries is expected to help hospitals address the problem of staff shortage.

It is essential to note that there is a variety of concepts that can be applied to the strategies discussed above. For instance, the concepts of professionalism, access to care, and strategic planning are strongly associated with the changes that occurred in the past year within the healthcare industry. To address these problems, healthcare providers should take into consideration a mix of different concepts, such as ethics, stewardship, and effective leadership. If they are applied correctly, the consequences of a pandemic can be minimized. As of April 2021, the American government and healthcare industry should take into account vaccination and dedicate all the appropriate resources to this procedure. Once the majority of American citizens are vaccinated, the healthcare industry will start the process of recovery.

Works Cited

Haseman, Janie. When Will Everyone Be Vaccinated for COVID-19? Heres How the Vaccine Rollout Is Going. USA Today, 2021, Web.

Kavilanz, Parija. The US Cant Keep Up with Demand for Health Aides, Nurses and Doctors. Cnnmoney, 2018, Web.

King, Robert. Analysis: Large Majority of Hospitals Could Lose $2,800 for Treating Each COVID-19 Patient. Fiercehealthcare, 2020, Web.

Lan, Jiajia et al. Skin Damage Among Health Care Workers Managing Coronavirus Disease-2019. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology vol. 82,5 (2020): 1215-1216.

Lotfi, Melika et al. COVID-19: Transmission, Prevention, and Potential Therapeutic Opportunities. Clinica Chimica Acta, vol 508, no. 2, 2020, pp. 254-266. Elsevier BV.

Monaghesh, Elham, and Alireza Hajizadeh. The Role of Telehealth During COVID-19 Outbreak: A Systematic Review Based on Current Evidence. BMC Public Health, vol 20, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-20. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.

Witter, Sophie et al. Why Do People Become Health Workers? Analysis from Life Histories in 4 PostConflict and PostCrisis Countries. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, vol 33, no. 2, 2018, pp. 449-459. Wiley.

Introduction and Identification of the Underlying Issue

The United States was founded in a place where immigrants can come and practice freedom of religion, speech and find safe harbor. However, there has always existed a prejudice against minority groups in the US for many reasons, which explains why many modern leaders harvest racism and xenophobia. An example of how these issues affect the US occurred in 2014 when Dr. Phil Gingrey (2014) wrote a letter to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the immigration crisis. This person insisted that illegal immigrants, especially children, were responsible for bringing swine flu, Ebola virus, and others to the United States. Simultaneously, journalist Linda Poon (2014) relies on credible sources in her article The Immigrant Kids Have Health Issues  But Not the Ones Youd Think to refute Dr. Gingreys argument. This article demonstrates that Dr. Gingrey gives false information that can cause fear because he has some hidden agendas. The discussion between the two people focuses on xenophobia in the US healthcare industry, and this paper will explain how conservatism and liberalism, two polarizing ideologies, address this underlying issue.

Examining Immigration Policy from the Lens of Conservatives and Liberals

As has been mentioned above, conservatism and liberalism are two polarizing ideologies that are prevalent in the United States. The difference between the two is found in the fact that conservatism promotes traditional social values and institutions, while liberalism typically advocates for personal freedom, liberty, and equality. These ideologies are present in many life spheres and can guide peoples thoughts and decisions. The study by Hasson et al. (2018) reveals that the difference is that liberals are more sympathetic and willing to help others compared to conservatives. Consequently, it is possible to suppose that the two ideologies have conflicting opinions regarding immigration policies, and the following paragraph will introduce a specific example to comment on it.

There is an opinion that crime is closely associated with immigration, and the rationale is that many people come to the US, where they face numerous challenges. As a result, it is believed that many newcomers can engage in criminal behaviors to make their living (Bernat, 2019). That is why it is reasonable to consider how the two ideologies address this suggestion. Wright et al. (2017) use a national dataset and stipulate that liberals self-report more criminal conduct than do conservatives (p. 236). Simultaneously, evidence from other credible sources is necessary to identify how liberals and conservatives identify a connection between immigration and crime. Bernat (2019) offers the results of a national random telephone survey to reveal that conservatives are more likely to believe that undocumented migrants are a criminal threat. Simultaneously, there was found a robust relationship between the conservative ideology and the support of immigration enforcement law (Bernat, 2019). The evidence above allows for stating that conservatives oppose immigration since they consider it a source of crime, while liberals welcome this phenomenon since they do not note this connection.

Nursing Position

Since the information above has demonstrated that there are different attitudes toward immigration and related crime rates, it is reasonable to explain my personal position on the topic. I share the liberal values as I believe that persons race and ethnicity are not the primary predictors of whether people will be involved in criminal behavior. A mixture of multiple features, including education, income level, mental health status, and others, can make an individual a criminal. That is why I am sure that it is not reasonable to impose stricter immigration restrictions. The United States has always welcomed freedom, equality, and justice. Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that discriminatory attitudes toward minorities will not create barriers to achieving these values, and my position contributes to this fact.

Furthermore, it is rational to comment on what effect the underlying issue can have on nursing professional practice. Xenophobia is adverse in all its manifestations, and the healthcare industry is not an exception. For example, Le et al. (2020) clarify that Asian Americans often face health disparities, and this situation has become worse against the COVID-19 pandemics background. The researchers claim that these migrants may be most adversely affected in the current climate (Le et al., 2020, p. 1371). Simultaneously, Suleman et al. (2018) admit that this adverse phenomenon can result in negative consequences for individuals and whole communities. Findings from these two studies reveal that xenophobia can adversely affect professional nursing practice. It can occur if healthcare professionals do not provide adequate care to patients based on their ethnicities.

It is also possible to rely on ethical principles from The Nursing Code of Ethics to support my chosen position. Firstly, Provision 1.1 Respect for Human Dignity implies that the right to health care is universal, transcending all individual differences (American Nurses Association, 2014, p. 11). Secondly, it is mentioned in Provision 1.2 Relationships with Patients that nurses should provide care to all patients without any bias or prejudice (American Nurses Association, 2014). These principles reveal that xenophobia should not be present in the healthcare industry.

Nurses can actualize ethics, advocacy, and policy development in many ways, and my professional practice supports this claim. I have worked in many hospitals and multiple operating rooms, and this experience has made me familiar with possible discriminatory issues. As a rule, the working environment was free of any prejudice, but some exceptions occurred. For example, it happened when some of the team members expressed racist attitudes toward immigrant patients. In such cases, I followed the recommendation by Fitzgerald et al. (2016), who state that nurses should not be guilty bystanders and remain silent in such cases. It denotes that the course has taught me to defend the correct point of view. Consequently, one can suppose that encouraging nurses involvement in ethical and political issues is an efficient action.

Summary and Call to Action

The paper has demonstrated that immigration is a significant phenomenon in the United States, and xenophobia is one of its underlying issues. Since it essentially affects society, various ideologies, namely conservatism and liberalism, address it differently. For example, conservatism focuses on traditional rules and states that stricter immigration restrictions are needed. Simultaneously, liberalism emphasizes personal freedoms and highlights that no people should face racism, discrimination, and xenophobia. This theoretical information reveals that I share liberal values since my professional practice is free from any prejudice, and I also try not to be a guilty bystander when witnessing injustice.

In conclusion, the specific Call to Action should be proposed to make the nursing profession more ethical, and an efficient step is to teach nurses not to be guilty bystanders. It is of significance to ensure that healthcare professionals have sufficient mental resources to defend their points of view and eliminate prejudice from practice. If achieved, this step will result in the fact that the medical industry will be better, ethical, and equal for everyone irrespective of their individual peculiarities.

References

American Nurses Association. (2014). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Web.

Bernat, F. (2019). Immigration and crime. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Web.

Fitzgerald, E. M., Myers, J. G.,& Clark, P. (2016). Nurses need not be guilty bystanders: Caring for vulnerable immigrant populations. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 22(1).

Gingrey, J. P. (2014). Letter to Thomas R. Frieden, Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.

Hassan, Y., Tamir, M., Brahms, K. S., Cohrs, J. C., & Halperin, E. (2018). Are liberals and conservatives equally motivated to feel empathy toward others? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(10), 1449-1469. Web.

Le, T. K., Cha, L., Han, H.-R., & Tseng, W. (2020). Anti-Asian xenophobia and Asian American COVID-19 disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1371-1373.

Poon, L. (2014). The immigrant kids have health issues: But not the ones youd think. National Public Radio.

Suleman, S., Garber, K. D., & Rutkow, L. (2018). Xenophobia as a determinant of health: An integrative review. Journal of Public Health Policy, 39, 407-423. Web.

Wright, J. P., Beaver, K. M., Morgan, M. A., & Connolly, E. J. (2017). Political ideology predicts involvement in crime. Personality and Individual Differences, 106, 236-241. Web.

Healthcare management is a complicated, complex, and multi-level process based on an open, dynamic system. In other words, it is a science that studies directing, regulation, and control of financial, labor, and material resources of healthcare. Therefore, a peculiarity of this area is a responsibility of decisions on which life and health of people depend, as well as the consequences of these orders (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2016). Healthcare managers are professionals with special knowledge, skills, and talent in organizational leadership. The main competencies of health administrators include managing the processes of planning, arranging, motivation, and control, which are necessary to achieve the organizations goals. In addition, authentic leaders in this area use forecasts when planning and fulfilling the purposes of a long-term strategy.

Additionally, developing interpersonal skills is essential for practical work with colleagues and clients. Communicating with people and finding a common language with them help lead projects and teamwork, exchange important and valuable information to solve problems, and achieve goals and objectives. Moreover, the study of biblical principles might significantly influence those skills and decisions. Due to them, people listen to the wisdom of those they trust, make the right, conscious choices and serious decisions. For instance, proverbs 19:20 teach one to listen to the opinions of others and refrain from unwavering confidence.

Primarily, healthcare managers are leaders, and their role is to influence people and lead them, using the entire arsenal of management methods. They know and understand their coworkers and provide a positive socio-psychological climate in the team. The managers achieve the best result of their professional activity with high competence, insistence, and fairness (Forrestal & Cellucci, 2016). Moreover, health administrators are open-minded, erudite, creative, and inventive individuals. They can correctly and effectively prioritize and solve essential tasks in the healthcare system.

References

Buchbinder, S. B., & Shanks, N. H. (2016). Introduction to health care management (3^rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Forrestal, E. J., & Cellucci, L. W. (2016). Ethics and professionalism for healthcare managers. Health Administration Press (HAP).