As you continue to consider the various roles of the master’s prepared nurse, you also need to consider how healthcare is changing and the effect that it has on your role as a nurse. Keeping in mind the American Nurses Association (ANA) standards and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the future of nursing, your role as a nurse is becoming even more essential as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be implemented. How does the master’s prepared nurse fill gaps or needs in healthcare with the implementation of the ACA?
Complete the following for this assignment:
Consider the specific role that you are currently in or are anticipating being in, and describe how this role will specifically fill the needs to implement the ACA.
Discuss 2 specific aspects of the ACA and how those aspects affect nursing and the master’s prepared nurse.
What role do regulating agencies (e.g., ANA, state boards of nursing, and so on) have in implementing healthcare in your area or community?
How does the IOM report support the ACA?
Use at least 4 scholarly articles to support your paper.
Unit 4 Individual Project: Advanced Nursing Practice
As nurses strive to obtain advanced levels of education, they need to understand how they will utilize their new skills to solve issues that they anticipate encountering in their future roles. Rapid changes that are taking place in healthcare will have an impact on the future roles of nurses (DeNisco, 2015). The future roles of nurses will further be influenced by the regulations set by relevant bodies such as the American Nurses Association (ANA) and organizations such as the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The roles of advanced practice nurses are becoming even more essential as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be implemented (Cleveland et al., 2019). The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the roles of a masters-prepared nurse in filling gaps or needs in healthcare with the implementation of the ACA.
Graduate nurses possess unique competencies that they can utilize to support the implementation of healthcare policies. I am currently an operating room nurse. I am pursuing my master’s in nursing leadership and management. The specific role that I anticipate being in is a Peri-operative Director of the operating room. As a Peri-operative Director with a master’s degree in nursing leadership and management, I will contribute significantly to ACA implementation by ensuring that both patients and operating room employees benefit from what the policy has to offer.
My future role as a Peri-operative Director will specifically fill the needs to implement the ACA by providing the leadership that is required to support the implementation of the policy in healthcare organizations and in the community. Additionally, I will serve as an advocate for patients and employees, utilize evidence-based practice to inform decisions, and enhance interprofessional collaboration to improve both patient and population health outcomes. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) developed essential competencies that graduate nurses are required to possess. The specific essentials applicable to a Peri-operative Director in relation to ACA implementation include “Essential II (Organizational and Systems Leadership), Essential IV (Translating and Integrating Scholarship into Practice), Essential VI (Health Policy and Advocacy), Essential VII (Interprofessional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes), and Essential VIII (Clinical Prevention and Population Health for Improving Health) (AACN, 2011, pp. 4-5).” As a Peri-operative Director with a master’s degree in nursing leadership and management, I will have the capacity to demonstrate these competencies as I drive ACA implementation in the operating room.
Effective leadership is critical to the implementation of the ACA which advocates for affordable healthcare access for populations. A Peri-operative Director must apply advocacy and leadership skills that are characterized by effective decision-making and ethical thinking. The knowledge and skills that will be acquired from the master’s program are in alignment with the ACA goal of increasing access to affordable healthcare and eliminating health disparities (Cleveland et al., 2019). For example, when serving as a Peri-operative Director, I will view the operating room as a system that provides healthcare to patients, ensures that patients can obtain care at affordable cost, and supports the community to obtain health insurance.
The successful implementation of the ACA depends on effective communication and collaboration among multidisciplinary teams. Additionally, the actions that are taken by stakeholders involved in ACA implementation must be informed by research evidence (Cleveland et al., 2019). In my future role as a Peri-operative Director, I will initiate and maintain strong working relationships, increased collaboration, and effective communication among interprofessional teams (AACN, 2011). Additionally, I will utilize research evidence to enroll patients and employees into relevant insurance plans and support initiatives that ensure that employees and surgical patients to receive the benefits that they deserve under the ACA for enhanced clinical prevention and improve population health (AACN, 2011). Generally, the specific needs to implement the ACA that my future role will fill are related to the provision of the required leadership, the utilization of research evidence to inform decisions, advocating for the needs of patients and populations, enhancing interprofessional collaboration and effective communication among stakeholders, and supporting clinical prevention for improved health outcomes for both patients and populations.
Aspects of the ACA and How They Affect Nursing and Masters Prepared Nurses
Nursing and master’s prepared nurses play a crucial role in advancing specific aspects of the ACA. The two specific aspects of the ACA that affect nursing and master’s prepared nurses are (1) ACA implementation and (2) tracking changes in health laws at both federal and state levels that might affect coverage (The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, n.d.). ACA implementation began when the policy was signed into law in 2010. Nurses play an important role in ACA implementation by participating in activities that are aimed at closing existing gaps in funding and insurance provision. They collaborate with healthcare administrators, policymakers, and legislators to address the concerns that surround healthcare financing in relation to the ACA. Nurses are best suited to contribute to ACA implementation because of their close proximity to patients and ability to utilize a team approach to address issues that are affecting patients and health outcomes. Besides, nurses adequately understand patient care at both the organizational and community levels (Cleveland et al., 2019). Master’s prepared nurses contribute to ACA implementation by providing the leadership required to support the effective management of health funds and expenditures to ensure that the primary aims of ACA are met. They offer proper directions to ensure the successful Medicaid expansion, preservation of both Medicare and employer-based coverage, and the promotion of state control of insurance markets (Cleveland et al., 2019). Master’s prepared nurses must collaborate with other nurses to ensure the successful implementation of the ACA.
Nurses and master’s prepared nurses help beneficiaries to track changes in health laws at both federal and state levels that might affect coverage. ACA implementation triggered numerous legal reforms at both the federal and state levels. These changes affect coverage under the ACA by either causing expansion or limitations (The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, n.d.). It is imperative that beneficiaries understand these reforms including their effects on coverage. Nurses and master’s prepared nurses track changes in healthcare laws related to the ACA and inform their patients about them. Additionally, these professionals ensure that healthcare reforms do not generate negative outcomes for patients and populations. Master’s prepared nurses, in their capacity as leaders, apply the changes within organizational systems to facilitate a reduction in healthcare expenditures, elevation of healthcare quality, and an increase of healthcare access for populations (Cleveland et al., 2019). Ideally, the ACA is a type of healthcare law whose aspects affect nursing and master’s prepared nurses in a number of ways.
The Role of Regulating Agencies
Healthcare regulating agencies such as the ANA and the state boards of nursing play an important role in implementing healthcare in healthcare organizations and the community. These agencies provide rules and guidelines that nurses must follow to implement healthcare policies and initiatives that have positive impacts on healthcare quality, patient safety, and patient outcomes. For example, state boards of nurses ensure that nurses who participate in implementing healthcare have obtained relevant education and have been licensed to practice in their respective specialty areas (Texas Board of Nursing, 2018). Additionally, the ANA has documented standards of professional performance that nurses must meet in order to successfully implement healthcare both at the organization and community levels (ANA, 2015). The primary focus of these regulatory agencies is on improving healthcare quality and ensuring patient safety both at the hospital and in the community.
How the IOM Report Supports the ACA
The IOM report supports the ACA by encouraging workforce development. In its report, the IOM envisions a healthcare system that is driven by quality and safe primary and preventive care. It recognizes that a reorganization of the nursing workforce is necessary in order to improve the nursing profession in America (American Hospital Association, 2022). The three primary goals of the ACA are to minimize healthcare expenditure, increase access to affordable healthcare for all Americans, and elevate healthcare quality (Cleveland et al., 2019). The IOM report supports the ACA by recommending an expansion of healthcare provider roles to create a workforce that can make care accessible to diverse populations, including those who reside in rural areas. The four specific issues from the IOM report that are applicable to ACA implementation include; granting nurses full practice authority, nurses to achieve a higher level of education, nurses to practice in partnership with physicians and other healthcare professionals to redesign healthcare, and utilizing data to inform workforce planning and policy (American Hospital Association, 2022). Obtaining a master’s degree as directed by the IOM report places a nurse in a good position to support ACA implementation.
Conclusion
Master’s prepared nurses should understand how advancing their education will affect their future professional roles. Nurses and master’s prepared nurses are best suited to contribute to ACA implementation because of their close proximity to patients and ability to utilize a team approach to address issues that are affecting patients and health outcomes. Regulating agencies and the IOM report support ACA implementation by setting safety and quality standards and emphasizing the expansion of healthcare provider roles respectively.