NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Sample Answer for NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design Included After Question
When politics and medical science intersect, there can be much debate. Sometimes anecdotes or hearsay are misused as evidence to support a particular point. Despite these and other challenges, however, evidence-based approaches are increasingly used to inform health policy decision-making regarding causes of disease, intervention strategies, and issues impacting society. One example is the introduction of childhood vaccinations and the use of evidence-based arguments surrounding their safety.
In this Discussion, you will identify a recently proposed health policy and share your analysis of the evidence in support of this policy.
To Prepare:
- Review the Congress website provided in the Resources and identify one recent (within the past 5 years) proposed health policy.
- Review the health policy you identified and reflect on the background and development of this health policy.
By Day 3 of Week 7
Post a description of the health policy you selected and a brief background for the problem or issue being addressed. Explain whether you believe there is an evidence base to support the proposed policy and explain why. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 7
Respond to at least two of your colleagues* on two different days by either supporting or respectfully challenging their explanation on whether there is an evidence base to support the proposed health policy they described.
*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.
A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Title: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
The H. RES. 590 recognizes the month of August as the “National Healthcare Awareness Month” that was introduced to the Congress on August 21st of this year. It is an essential policy, especially this time of the pandemic. People globally have become more health-conscious since the pandemic comes. Health care is not a priority in most of the countries around the globe before the pandemic. However, due to the pandemic, people recognize the importance of eating healthy and staying fit thru exercise.
Although the United States has a better healthcare system than other nations, Americans are still considered unhealthy. According to a new study, few Americans have a lifestyle that is deemed to be healthy. According to new research published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, less than 3 percent of Americans meet the measurable characteristics that reduce a person’s risks for heart disease (Krans, 2016). Researchers found that only 2.7 percent of the 4,745 participants ages 20 to 85 met all four criteria to be considered for living a healthy lifestyle. Those included: not smoking, eating a diet that aligns with nutritional guidelines, exercising at least 150 minutes a week, or 30 minutes five times a week, keeping a BMI below 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women (Krans, 2016).
Health literacy is defined as “the capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and service, and the competence to use such information and services in ways that enhance health” (Vermont, n.d.).The lack of health awareness is a key component to declining health care. People are unaware of the use of their health insurance in the prevention of illnesses. Furthermore, mental health issues are avoided, and people refuse to acknowledge them.
In evidence-based practice, health education interventions effectively affect culturally and linguistically diverse populations, particularly at improving objective, distal outcomes. These interventions may be equally effective in enhancing proximal patient-reported outcomes (Elsevier, 2021).
If the H. RES. 590 will be passed, it will be a massive help for the government to improve health promotion. Some of the essential highlights from the policy are: to educate Americans on ways health care affects the national community and individual life, to be more cognizant due to covid 19 pandemic, inform the Americans on the work of their elected representatives in protecting and expanding healthcare and every person should have access to education around health care literacy, be empowered to advocate for health care, and use their voice to make a difference (Congress, n.d.). These are only a few of the advocacy of the said policy.
References
Congress.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.congress.gov/
Krans, B. (2016). Less Than 3 Percent of Americans Have Healthy Lifestyle. Healthline. Retrived from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/less-than-three-percent-of-americans-have-healthy-lifestyle
Elsevier. (2021). Patient Education and Counseling. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738399121000501
Vermont. (n.d.). Health Education. Retrieved from https://www.education.vermont.gov/student-learning/content-areas/health-education
A Sample Answer 2 For the Assignment: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Title: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Hello everyone, For this discussion post I chose a subject that I’m sure we are all passionate about, staffing ratios. It seems to be a problem everywhere due to high demands and not enough nurses to meet those demands. I selected the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2021 (117th Congress, 2021). This bill was introduced to the house in May this year, was reviewed and then sent to the committee of Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means. I personally think that setting ratios levels across the nation is a great idea if implemented well. Setting ratios can decrease burnout and increase patient safety and care for the individual.
Research has shown that setting patient to nurse ratios at certain levels individual to departments can improve patient safety and is cost efficient (Rosenberg, 2021, 57). The Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2021 will set ratios for nurses based on the acuity of the patients that they are caring for. For example work on medical units and the proposed bill states “Four patients in medical-surgical units, intermediate care nursery units, acute care psychiatric units, and other specialty care units” (117th Congress, 2021). These restrictions on patient care ratios are because of the unsafe measures and the burnout factor among nurses. This quality care act ensures that hospitals are required to have safe staffing ratios depending on the acuity of the patients and the level of medical care happening. Hospitals must keep staffing records and if an incident happens, they are required to prove safe staffing ratios. Under this act it also restricts the hospital by saying that they can not enact mandatory overtime to meet patient to nurse ratios. This leaves the issue of understaffing and often results in the hospital having incentives for nurses to work overtime voluntarily. Rural areas have a different set of guidelines as far as ratios but I believe that this act is there to protect nurses and patients from the safety issues that come from having too high ratios.
There is research showing that staffing ratios improve patient safety, reduce costs, improve profit and improve employee satisfaction (Rosenberg, 2021, #). Despite this there are still strong opponents to mandated ratios, mainly hospital associations (NursingLicensure.org, 2020). The opponents state that one size fits all approach, the costs of employing nurses, and lack of research are reasons to oppose. I believe that there is obviously bias towards the subject that probably limits research, however there is enough already completed for an evidence based practice approach. As an RN and future provider I hope that this bill continues to build momentum. I think that it protects the nurses and the patients by having more restrictions.
References
NursingLicensure.org. (2020). Health experts debate the merits of nurse-staffing ratio law. NursingLicensure.org. https://www.nursinglicensure.org/articles/nurse-staffing-ratios/
117th Congress. (2021, May 12). H.R.3165 – Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2021. Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3165?s=1&r=7
Rosenberg, K. (2021, September). Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratios Improve Staffing, Patient Outcomes. American Journal of Nursing, 9(121), 57. Ovid. 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000790644.96356.96.
A Sample Answer 3 For the Assignment: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Title: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
The United States is an outlier in maternal medicine. We are one of the wealthiest countries and yet we have one of the worst maternal mortality rates, and it keeps rising. One of the reasons for this high statistic is the lack in maternal medicine equality in the U.S. “Differences in health insurance coverage and access to care play a role in driving worse maternal and infant health outcomes for people of color” (Hill et al., 2022). We as a nation do not provide adequate maternal care to all citizens. Impoverished and minority groups often have the worst maternal outcomes. “Pregnancy-related mortality rates among Black and ASIAN women are over three and two times higher, respectively, compared to the rate for White women” (Hill et al., 2022). This comes back to the lack of health insurance and access to care. Minorities in AMerica tend to seek less pregnancy care and when sought it is usually toward the end of a pregnancy.
Fetal Maternal medicine is a topic that is talked about often, but the disparities are often left behind. Many states look to change this by instituting review committees however their review process for causes is not consistent as seen in the fact that “49 states have formal maternal mortality review committees (MMRC) to investigate pregnancy-associated deaths, only nine states, Washington, D.C., and New York City consider racial disparities and equity in their assessments” (Tu, 2023). This is an issue as majority of maternal deaths are in the minority communities. Also, there are no regulations on these committees having to report their finding as noted that, “reviews are not consistently delivered by all committees. For instance, MMRCs in only 36 states reported their findings to the CDC between 2017 and 2019” (Tu, 2023). The means that 13 committees chose to not report their findings. This is a concern of great magnitude. How can we seek to fix the issue if we cannot see the disparities or the reviews of cases from committees who look into them across the United States.
This is where H.R. 4605 Healthy Moms and Babies Act proposal comes in. This act seeks to narrow the gap in healthcare disparities and provide new ways of access and guidance in the maternal health arena. They seek to establish programs and require maternal health services to those on Medicaid and enrolled in the CHIP program. They seek to expand access to telehealth services for prenatal and postpartum women on Medicaid. The act will establish an advisement group on the birthing process for healthcare professionals, requiring study on Medicaid coverage of doula services as well. In addition, one of the biggest things they are seeking through this Act is to require the Conters for Medicare and Medicaid services to develop guidance on ways to address social determinants of health for pregnancy and postpartum women to reduce maternal mortality for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries.
The Healthy Moms and Babies Act seeks to address one of the biggest reasons for the high rate of maternal fetal deaths in this Country. Medicaid deals with some of the most impoverished communities and if we can, through legislation, guarantee that we are providing access to care and narrowing the gap of inequality in healthcare then we as a nation must work to do so. It is a travesty that we as a country can be one of the wealthiest in the world, but we cannot protect our mothers and babies because we have not made the cause of mortality rate a priority.
References
Congress.gov | library of Congress. (2023). Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/
Hill, L., Artiga, S., & Ranji, U. (2022, November 1). Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Efforts to Address Them. Kaiser Family Foundation. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-efforts-to-address-them/
Tu, L. (2023, July 25). Why Maternal Mortality Rates Are Getting Worse Across the U.S. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-maternal-mortality-rates-are-getting-worse-across-the-u-s/
A Sample Answer 4 For the Assignment: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Title: NURS 6051 Week 7 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
Good day! Jen. I read an article regarding the maternal mortality rate. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maternal deaths is defined by World Health Organization as “the death while being pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.” In 2021, the mortality rate for non-Hispanic black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times rate for non-Hispanic White women. Black women have a higher rate than White and Hispanic women.
According to the White house, the majority cause of maternal mortality is preventable. Most of it is caused by complications of pregnancy such as heart issues, need for blood transfusions, eclampsia, and infections. The President Biden and Harris released a plan on how to address the maternal crisis such as the mortality and morbidity. These crises are more prominent on Black women, Native women, and women in rural areas than in White women. Addressing the disparities, improving the maternal healthcare services, expanding the insurance coverage will reduce the mortality and morbidity rate. The white house released a blueprint that consists of five priorities as written below:
- Enhancing advancing data collection, standardization, harmonization, transparency, and research
- Expanding and diversifying the perinatal workforce
- Strengthening economic and social support for people before, during, and after pregnancy.
- Ensuring women giving birth are heard and are decisionmakers in accountable systems of care.
- Increasing access to and coverage of comprehensive high-quality maternal health services, including behavioral health services.
It’s so nice to know when our government has its own vision and mission in addressing the maternal crisis. Maintaining equity to all women who are pregnant, postpartum, and planning of getting impregnate regardless of the race and ethnic. By joining forces with the state, local, tribal governments, private sector, and civil society.
Reference
Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2021. (2023, March 16). Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2021/maternal-mortality-rates-2021.htm#:~:text=Rates%20increased%20with%20maternal%20age.%20Rates%20in%202021
The White House. (2022, June 24). FACT SHEET: President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s Maternal Health Blueprint Delivers for Women, Mothers, and Families. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/24/fact-sheet-president-bidens-maternal-health-blueprint-delivers-for-women-mothers-and-families/