Nurses as Leaders in Healthcare Reform. Essay Example

The role of nurses is to provide services intended to achieve ideal recovery, promote health, and prevent illness to individuals, families, and communities. Today, nurses have expanded their roles in the health care setting to improve quality and access. Primarily, the health care reform seeks to cut costs and improve the quality of care at the same time. However, research in the area of reforms has its benefits and challenges. Nurses will continue to be key leaders in the implementation of healthcare reform.

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The benefits of research in healthcare reform are numerous. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2012) indicates that continued research will help nurses retain their clinical skills and abilities. On a large note, further research in health and care will improve patient outcomes in all care settings. Besides, Hess, Maclntyre, Mishoe, & Galvin (2011) assert that investigation will help to improve the usage of healthcare resources and provide adequate access. Ideally, the research will contribute to the eradication of barriers to practice and care as well as cut hospital costs.

On the other hand, global challenges exist in the healthcare reform. Wilson, Whitaker, & Whitford (2012) articulate that the workforce has few staff members to operate efficiently, lacks sufficient trained nurses, and that their deployment is weak. More so, the authors avow that nurses should be key stakeholders and be equal partners on health teams. Apparently, the health care reform lacks steady progress due to the challenges mentioned above. There ought to be adequate and trained staff to ensure the success of quality care. Again, the authors claim that the lack of research remains a challenge in the nurses workforce. On a broader perspective, with proper research, nurses will be able to pursue and visualize their leadership roles.

In summary, continued research in health care reform could strengthen the ability of nurses to lead in both individual organizations and as advocates in a manner that they will implement strategies that would improve health care. There is demand for research in the health reform area to improve the clinical outcomes. Moreover, continued research could strengthen the nurses ability to lead in a way that they will remain key stakeholders and build their skills, knowledge as well as abilities in the provision of care. In general, nurses should help to lead the changes in health care.

References

Hess, R., Maclntyre, N., Mishoe, S., & Galvin, W. (2011). Respiratory Care: Principles and Practice. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2012). The Future of Nursing: Transforming Health Care. The AARP International Journal. Retrieved from http://journal.aarpinternational.org/a/b/2012/02/The-Future-of-Nursing-Transforming-Health-Care

Wilson, A., Whitaker, N., & Whitford, D. (2012). Rising to the Challenge of Health Care Reform with Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Nursing Initiatives. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, vol. 17.