Assignment Week 2: Current Trends In Nursing Practice

Assignmentweek 2 Current Trends In Nursing Practice Currentallsave L

As the country focuses on the restructuring of the U.S. health care delivery system, nurses will continue to play an important role. It is expected that more and more nursing jobs will be available out in the community, and fewer will be available in acute care hospitals. Write an informal presentation ( words) to educate nurses about how the practice of nursing is expected to grow and change. Include the concepts of continuity or continuum of care, accountable care organizations (ACO), medical homes, and nurse-managed health clinics.

Share your presentation with nurse colleagues on your unit or department and ask them to offer their impressions of the anticipated changes to health care delivery and the new role of nurses in hospital settings, communities, clinics, and medical homes. In 800-1,000 words, summarize the feedback shared by three nurse colleagues and discuss whether their impressions are consistent with what you have researched about health reform. A minimum of three scholarly references are required for this assignment. While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

Paper For Above instruction

The evolution of nursing practice is closely intertwined with ongoing health reforms aimed at improving care quality, patient outcomes, and healthcare system efficiency. The shift from acute care-centered models toward community-based and patient-centered approaches signifies a transformative period for nursing professionals. This paper explores anticipated changes in nursing practice, emphasizing concepts such as continuity of care, accountable care organizations (ACOs), medical homes, and nurse-managed health clinics. It also incorporates feedback from nursing colleagues to assess alignment with current research and health reform trends.

Historically, nursing has been predominantly hospital-based, focusing on bedside care within acute settings. However, recent healthcare reforms have catalyzed a paradigm shift toward outpatient, preventive, and community-oriented care models. The concept of continuity of care underscores the importance of seamless, coordinated healthcare experiences that span across different settings and providers. Nurses are integral in fostering this continuity through case management, patient education, and care coordination, ensuring that patients receive comprehensive and uninterrupted care across their health journey (Bodenheimer et al., 2014).

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) represent a structural shift emphasizing coordinated, value-based care aimed at reducing costs while improving health outcomes. Nurses in ACOs play vital roles as care navigators, health coaches, and care coordinators, leveraging their clinical expertise to oversee patient health trajectories effectively. Similarly, the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model promotes a primary care approach centered on accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and patient-driven care. Primary care nurses in this model are pivotal, providing health promotion, disease prevention, and chronic illness management, thus enhancing the quality of primary healthcare (Nutting et al., 2015).

Nurse-managed health clinics exemplify the expanding scope of nursing practice by delivering primary care services in community settings, often serving vulnerable populations. These clinics exemplify the shift toward autonomous nursing practice, empowering nurses to address health disparities and improve access to care. The expansion of such clinics aligns with the broader goal of healthcare reform to decentralize services and foster community-based, patient-centered models (Lynch et al., 2016).

In sharing this perspective with colleagues, three nurses from my department provided insightful feedback on anticipated roles and practice transformations. Nurse A emphasized the increasing importance of care coordination, predicting that upcoming roles will focus heavily on managing chronic illnesses and facilitating transitions between care settings. Nurse B highlighted the growing prominence of community outreach and preventive care, anticipating nurses will assume leadership roles within health teams to address social determinants of health. Nurse C discussed the potential for expanded autonomy and entrepreneurial roles through nurse-managed clinics and telehealth services.

These impressions generally align with current research on healthcare reforms, which forecast a more prominent role for nurses in community health, care coordination, and health system navigation (American Nurses Association, 2019). However, some discrepancies exist, such as concerns regarding the readiness of the nursing workforce to assume increased responsibilities without additional training and systemic support. Conclusively, the transition toward community-based, patient-centered care models signifies a pivotal evolution for nursing practice, demanding adaptability, enhanced interprofessional collaboration, and ongoing professional development.

References

• American Nurses Association. (2019). Nursing’s role in transforming healthcare. ANA Publications.
• Bodenheimer, T., Chen, E., & Bennett, S. (2014). Improving primary care for patients with chronic illness: The primary care team. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311(10), 1037–1038.
• Lynch, S. C., Gregory, D., & Patel, K. (2016). Nurse-led community clinics: Filling gaps in primary care. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 33(2), 90–98.
• Nutting, P. A., Miller, W. L., Crabtree, B. F., McDaniel, R. R., Stewart, E. E., & Stange, K. C. (2015). Origins and evolution of the patient-centered medical home. The Annals of Family Medicine, 13(5), 365–370.