Tag: Health care

Health and Safety in the Health and Social Care Workplace

Health and Safety
Health and Safety

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Health and Safety in the Health and Social Care Workplace

A Case Study of Silver Meadows 

Introduction

Health and safety is always a crucial aspect that poses a concern to everyone with regards to day-to-day affairs. In health and social care settings, especially care homes for the elderly health and safety remains a fundamental consideration for all law enforcement agencies as well as practitioners. This makes the importance of continuous monitoring in addition to reviewing of health as well as legislations and safety policies’ implementation for health as well as social care workplace undisputable and this has been succinctly discussed and explained in this assignment.

According to Graham & Steven (2008) this is attributable to the fact that, good health and safety of care home residents is the key to their happiness something which has made the management and staff of home care workplaces to be cautious enough in managing health and safety issues. As a result, health protective agencies have been emphasizing on the implementation of appropriate policies, systems, and procedures for health and safety in all health as well as social care settings to alleviate hazards.

The context of this assignment will provide a clear view of policies, systems, and practices and their effect in the promotion of safety in health and social care home in the perspective of Silver Meadows Care Home. From the perspective of health and social care home, employees, patients and their relatives or visitors ought to be protected from hazards. Therefore, in health and social care working environment, the management, staff as well as individual patients have the right to participate in implementing health and safety plans for the benefit of all those involved.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

This assignment intends to discuss and evaluate the necessary health and safety policies, systems, procedures, and practices in accordance with legislative requirements as well as possible solutions and the associated dilemmas based on the case study of Silver Meadows Care Home. Three major tasks are covered in this assignment.

Firstly, the implementation of policies, systems, procedures, and practices aimed to communicate health as well as safety information; responsibilities of health and social care home management and staff in managing health and safety; as well as an analysis of appropriate health and safety priorities of case study health and social care home.

Secondly, risk assessment and the importance of obtained information in health and social care planning; analysis of a particular aspect concerned with health and safety policy; as well as dilemmas that are encountered in implementing health as well as safety policies and systems in addition to potential effect of non-compliance with legislations concerned with health and safety. Finally, the process of how to monitor and review of health aa well as safety policies, systems, procedures, and practices and their effectiveness in promoting safe culture and a healthy workplace as well as evaluation of personal contribution. 

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

TASK 1

Health is without any doubt the most important concern for everyone, and safety is inseparable from health service. As a result, this has been the key reason why various policies and laws have been formulated concerning health and safety with regards to health and social care working environments. Discussion of the details is presented in the sections below:

Task 1: (a) Implementation of Policies Systems, Procedures, and Practices for Communicating Information on Health and Safety 

In conventional health care as well as safety settings communication usually involve various aspects, including information exchange among staff, management as well as patients and their relatives. However, due to technological advancement there has been continuous expansion of possibilities for storage, processing and retrieval of medical data.

According to Tripathi et al., (2009) varied types of information technologies and applications in the medical field have continued to enormously grow and evolve to ensure effective management and communication health as well as safety in both social and health care settings. From a perspective of social and health care workplace, there are several legislations that aim to support health and safety that are discussed below:

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

  • The 2008 Act on Health and Social Care

In this Act information technology and communication (ICT) in health products are considered critical in disseminating important information concerning welfare, health and safety. This is attributable to the fact that, ICT can be used to allow control or combination of various sources of information in order to gain efficiency and provide better care within a health and safe environment while making sure that staff and resources are freed up. As a result, implementation of communication policies, systems and procedures in the Silver Meadow Care Home in accordance with this legislation will lead to various benefits, including:

Patient Safety: This is because they will result to reduction of medical errors such as surgical errors, adverse drug related admissions, transfusion errors, as well as professional negligence.
Quality of care: Health information technology (HIT) reduces paperwork and provides more time to nurses which can be used to attend to their patients (Tripathi et al., 2009). As a result, Silver Meadows Care Home residents can get quality care from the physicians, nurses and the cares due to the saved time.

Patient access to care: Access to health and social care is improved using Health information technology (HIT) by ensuring that processes that are ineffective are streamlined resulting to increased staff productivity. The indicators of success in provision of care includes: time-out results analysis, time taken to respond to patients’ inquiries, as well as improved self-management of chronic diseases.

  • Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

This Act usually considers a variety of issues that are related to health, safety, as well as welfare of employees across various workplace sectors. With regards to requirements of health and safety, this Act delegate a general obligation to the management and staff of health and social care homes to cooperate and take care of others concerning issues pertaining health and safety.

  • Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992

The Act is a refinement of 1974 Act where it requires the management of health and social care homes to regularly conduct risk assessments and record findings prior to communicating them to employees and patients. This Act compels the management to arrange on implementation of health and safety measures for the purpose of improving emergency procedures as well as providing clear information and training to their staff and also work in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

  • Health and Safety Regulations 1981

In order to boost health and safety, this regulation compels the management of health and social care workplace to provide information to staff, patients and visitors on first-aid arrangement. In addition, they must also ensure that there is provision of first aid equipment as well as availability of trained first aiders.

This means that it is inevitable for the implementation of health information technology in Silver Meadows Care Home to step up health and safety in its settings, which has to be carried out in accordance with the entire raft of standard, legislation, as well as guidelines altogether referred to as “Information Governance” in UK. It has been operational for sometimes and cover issues of accessing and disclosing health information as well as confidentiality.

The 2008 Act on Health and Social Care establishes the National Information Governance Board for Heath and Social Care, (NIGB) which is mandated to carry out a statutory duty of supervising the governance of information (Tripathi et al., 2009).

Figure1: Implementation Model                                 (Source: Pall, 2012)

According to Stranks, (2005) Health Department is obliged to formulate policies regulating provision of services related to health and social care to people across UK. Even though implementation of these policies and procedure may be compromised by non-compliance, rectification can be achieved through regular monitoring by supervisory agencies shown in the above figure which ensure home cares oblige to specific health and safety policies at all levels.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Task 1: (b) Responsibilities of Management and Staff in Managing Health and Safety

Management and staffs of Silver Meadows Care Home just like those in other home care settings have certain responsibilities that they are supposed to adhere to. Elderly people are without any doubt the most vulnerable age group of the population implying that special consideration must be taken towards their safety, care, and security (Fisher, 2005).

According to Sowers & Catherine (2008) all the staff of elderly home care must be able to readily access up to date policies for nursing care and medication guidelines. On the other hand, the British National Formulary must also be readily accessible to nurses working at Silver Meadows Care Home.

In the UK, planning of health and safety in health as well as social care workplaces is conducted by both non-government institutions as well as government institutions. There exists a public health and health care system in the government of UK. In this system, there is distribution of responsibilities from the department of health down to the local authorities. As a result, the system includes health and social care providers and takers,

NHS commissioning board, clinical commissioning board, monitoring system as well as public and local health (Pall, 2012). There is an integration of this system where responsibilities are delegated to all organisational bodies based on health and safety which ought to be provided by social and health care homes.

Management is the other crucial aspect of safety and health with regards to organisational structure, particularly in relation to the management and staff responsibilities at health and social care home.  In the management of health and safety responsibilities of management as well as staff include: systemic utilisation of standardised techniques which are important in the identification and removal of impeding hazards; and controlling potential risks by influencing behaviours as well as encouraging attitudes during techniques (Pall, 2012). 

As a result, the responsibilities of management and staff in relation to health as well as safety management at Silver Meadows Care Home can be assessed in the context of care and support plan for a physically disabled individual because palliative care is offered.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

For example: A Care and Support Plan for a Physically Disabled Individual

Based on the care and support for the physically disabled individual, the plan includes taking the person to a restaurant once per week to take dinner since he/she is unable to this individually. However, the person wants to eat a burger at the restaurant every time when taken out, but the carers or support workers are of the opinion that burgers are not healthy and the person should not eat them that often.

Here the management and staff of Silver Meadows Care Home through their responsibilities with regards to management of health and safety can devise individualised mental capacity for making a better decision. But within the responsibilities of management and staff is it a good decision to hinder such a person to take fatty foods? From this perspective, the answer is yes; however, they should ensure that they use in supporting and encouraging tone of voice so that they feel as though they are being bullied.

They should also concern them in taking responsibility when they eat foods that are unhealthy. This implies that responsibilities and management of health and safety are related to individuals as well as the organisation. Furthermore, the example of care and support plan provided shows how the management of health and safety can be comprised and the appropriate steps that can be used to rectify it also discussed.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Task 1: (c) Analysis of Health and Safety Priorities

Care homes should be maintained in a manner that portrays a home in order to be pleasant to live in by providing safe and healthy environment. Hence, the management and staffs of care homes should prioritise the most important issues with regards to maintaining high quality health and social care for the residents.

In the context of Silver Meadows Care Home, which offers dementia care, palliative care, nursing care, and residential care for the elderly people, it is clear that there should be some appropriate health and safety priorities. For instance, since Silver Meadows is taking care of elderly people whose movement is limited there is need to prioritise the safety of entry and exit in the workplace to allow easier movement in case of an emergency (Moonie, 2000; Sprenger, 2003).

Also considering that elderly people are not stable and vulnerable to fallings, the floors should always be maintained in good state and not wet or slippery through better housekeeping practices (Sprenger, 2003). In health and social care settings, infection is the main risk and its prevention should be prioritised since elderly people often have compromised immune systems meaning new infections or cross infections may pose a significant danger to them.

This can be controlled by limiting the number of visitors or employees to an area considered risky; using measures of hygiene which reduces or prevents transferring of infectious agent through regular hand washing and ensuring that the work environment is maintained in a hygienic condition. Reducing the risk of sharp injuries should also be prioritised at care home through engineering controls and elimination of risks as well as safe usage and disposal of sharp objects (Sprenger, 2003).   

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Task 2

In order to understand the impact of requirements of health as well as safety on practitioners and customers of health and social care homes, there is need to carry out risk assessment, as well as impacts of policy on customer and care practice, care planning, encountered dilemmas, as well as effects of non-compliance. Details of these aspects are discussed in the contents that follow:

Task 2: (a) Risk Assessments’ Information and Care Planning for Residents

Information on the services offered by health and social care home constitutes an important element of ensuring services are provided and taken in the context of health and safety in care planning. This can either be in the context of organisational decision making as well as individual care planning.

Risk assessment is the most appropriate method to collect this information because it involves identification of impending hazards, possible severity of harm likely to result from of the identified hazards, calculating the extent of risk, monitoring as well as reappraisal of the risk (Grinnell & Yvonne, 2008). Hence, there is need for regular risk assessments in order to assess the risks associated with health and safety of individual care planning.

In most instances, the nature of risk assessments tend to be simple and can be done through direct observation/examination, but some are more complex and requires lengthy procedures to ascertain. The process of risk assessment involves several steps which have to be executed as follows:

(1) significant hazards are identified through observations or interviews;

(2) making a decision on who is likely to be harmed by the hazards;

(3) evaluating the risks and deciding on the effectiveness of existing precautionary measures followed by implementation of proper measures if the existing ones are ineffective;

(4) recording the findings and communing them to the staffs; and

(5) reviewing the risk assessment and if necessary revisiting it (Lishman, 2007). The model of risk assessment in health as well as safety management is illustrated in the figure below:

  Figure 2: Model for managing health and safety in work place, (Source: Dowding & Barr, 1999)

The information obtained from risk assessments plays a critical role in informing care planning for residents and organisational decision making concerning policies and procedures because its inherent features which include: it is recognised as a risk control, its implementation is done in accordance with modern procedures to manage risk, the risk assessment needs to be reviewed and revisited or amended if necessary, it ensures that there is control of all hazards, and it results in mitigation of any residual risk to be reasonably practicable.

According to Carr (2010) getting information from risk assessments can be of considerable benefits; for example, at individual care planning they include: knowing different care services offered by various health and social care facilities, knowing better providers of health and social care, knowing the rights of getting the services of health and social care homes, appraising services offered by health and social care homes, as well as helping to make decisions on services to be sought.

In addition, in the context of organisational decision making benefits include: an organisation gets to be aware of different procedures policies that concern social and health care, an organisation can get to be aware of new procedures and policies concerning health as well as safety management at care homes, it helps an organisation to decide on the services to give to a client and how to give, and also the information helps organisations to be conscious with regards to their right, client right as well as obligations (Carr, 2010).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Task 2: (b) Analysis of a Particular Aspect of Health and Safety Policy

In UK, various health and safety policies do exist with regards to regulation of different aspects of health and social care settings. There are both positive and negative impacts of these policies. One of safety and health policy is the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992. This regulation is the basis of the policy made against aggression and violence in care homes and has varied impacts care home service users and the care providers (OSHA, 2012).

This is because aggression or violence expressed by some service users is a source of distress and injury to care providers at work. This policy helps in reducing aggression and violence which positively impact the care providers. Alternatively, it may hinder health care provision to service users with aggressive or violent behaviours, especially those seeking dementia care due to their limited cognitive ability. The policy also causes financial burden to care providers since they have to continuously train their staff on how to effectively handle patients who are potentially aggressive or violent.

 Another policy is Health and Safety Regulations 1981 which compels the management of health and social care workplace to provide information to staff, patients and visitors on first-aid arrangement as well as ensuring that there is provision of first-aid equipment and presence of trained first aiders (AHS, 2010).

This policy helps care providers or other patients to immediately get first when injured by violent patients or from any other accidents. However, it increases cost of running care home in purchasing first aid equipment and recruiting first aiders. Both policies seem to have both positive and negative impacts, but it is also clear that their overall impact is good to care providers and patients even though they may hinder service provision (Balarajan et al., 2011).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Task 2: (c) Addressing Dilemmas Encountered Implementing Systems and Policies for Health, Safety and Security

Silver Meadows Care Home is faced with dilemmas in ensuring that every legislation is adhered to because of their budgetary implications as well as quality care improvement or staff performance and also security measures. Popple & Leslie (2008) asserted that based on required expectations and stakeholder needs implementation of necessary systems is needed with emphasis on government requirements. Dilemmas are the concerns the facility face to ensure security and safety of patients is guaranteed (Popple & Leslie, 2008).

Thus, the specific dilemmas include the need to ensure security and safety of patients always since it is the responsibility of the facility to guarantee the well-being of patients within a secure environment. In addition, budgetary requirements to implement the appropriate systems for assured security and safety of patients is another dilemma because the facility is faced by financial constraints and needs to outsource for the required capital.

Considering Silver Meadows Care Home is considerably large, there is need to maintain high security levels as well as safety processes. Through implementation of new technology for operating systems and departments, it is possible to effectively manage time and increase the quality of care. However, these dilemmas can be addressed by liaising with management through which services of consultants can be used to monitor the activities through which the performance of employees can be improved.

In order to increase the quality level of health and social care, continuous training programs need to be provided for the staff in order to ensure standards are developed. Finally, the dilemma with security can be addressed by implementing security camera system to increase safety at home care. According to Mizrahi & Larry (2008) implementation of a process of performance evaluation can maintain standards of employees with regards to Health and Safety Act 1981.

Stringent adherence to policies, legislations and codes or standards of practice is also essential in achieving this goal as well as reducing risk irrespective of investments required since through cost benefit analysis should obviously give more benefits than costs.

Task 2: (d) Effects of Non-Compliance with Health and Safety Legislation

In case, health and social care home is non-compliance with a legislation or regulation which govern health as well as safety, its performance becomes ineffective and clients are dissatisfied. This means that when standards are not maintained in a home care, clients become unhappy and often seek health care services from other providers.

According to Mathis & Jackson (2010) failure of a home care to provide the necessary training programs to their employees on existing legislation, regulations and standards often results to non-compliance subsequently hindering performance and quality service which eventually reduces the profits.

According to Rosenfeld & Russell (2012) non-compliance to legislation may result to legal actions, especially when patients’ rights are violated as a result of failure of home care to maintain the legislation or the standards. The legal actions may also incur the home care a significant financial burden in terms of compensations and legal fees.

Also, the home care may be banned to operate by the government due to gross violation of patients’ rights arising from non-compliance to legislation. Furthermore, when a home care is non-compliance with existing legislation the overall impacts may be increased risk, customer dissatisfaction, poor performance, poor levels of productivity, and a possibility of a ban from the government.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

TASK 3

Understanding of the process of monitoring and review of health as well as social care workplace policies, systems, procedures, and practices is central to success in health and safety implementation. This section covers the monitoring and review of safety and health policies, systems and practices as well as their effectiveness in the promotion of safe culture and healthy workplace as well as evaluation of personal contribution. Details of these aspects of health and safety have been discussed in the following contents:

Task 3: (a) Monitoring and Review of Health and Safety Systems, Policies, Procedure as well as Practices

Health as well as safety systems, policies, procedures, and practices monitoring plays a fundamental role in managing safety and health in home cares. However, writing and launching of health and safety policy does not mean that is the end of responsibilities. In fact, it is the initial step in implementing a safety and health policy, which is vital in ensuring the required standards and codes or procedures are outlined alongside the need to ensure that they are always adhered to by everyone.

Since there is a continuous change in safety and health management, the monitoring of the policies’ effectiveness needs to be done proactively for the purpose of regular evaluation of the progress and timely identification of deviations. Hence, monitoring and review of social and health care is required due to legal, morale as well as cost reasons. However, two general ways of monitoring as well as reviewing health and safety policies exist such as: proactive and reactive monitoring.

Proactive monitoring which involves taking precautionary actions prior to a hazard constitutes the checking of implemented standards as well as control of management needs through regular inspections in addition to safety audits. This plays an imperative role in ensuring that preventative or protective measures and interventions are developed and implemented.

As a result, this leads to significant reduction of risks as well as considerable gains in terms of costs reduction through minimised damages. Alternatively, reactive monitoring involves examination of events upon their occurrence and constitutes learned lessons from previous mistakes. Regular inspections of health and safety policy are an appropriate method of reviewing the progress of implementation.

This approach is important in ensuring that risks or damages are mitigated in a timely manner for the purpose of abating their negative effects, which if left unaddressed would result to significant liability or taint the reputation of the facility. Thus, the need for devising the correct interventions is very important for long-term impact to be felt.

     Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here          

Task 3: (b) Effectiveness of Safety and Health Policies, Systems, Procedures, and Practices in the Promotion of a Positive, Healthy and Safe Culture

Health as well as safety systems, policies, procedures, and practices’ effectiveness is depended on social and health care promotion by focusing on several factors such as: the promotion of non-occupational factors and healthy lifestyles, as well as the organisational environment. Non-occupational factors are: home and community conditions as well as family welfare. On this aspect, emphasis should be directed to improving home and community conditions mainly by devising an appropriate approach through which collaboration between all the concerned parties can be achieved.

Healthy lifestyles can be achieved through heightened awareness creation programs across all groups as well as encouraging change of lifestyles by highlighting the envisaged benefits. In addition, organisational environment is achievable through implementation of the necessary occupational safety and health standards as well as developing and implementing appropriate workplace designs and organisation. WHO proposed an effective model presented in the figure below: 

 

Figure 3: Effectiveness Model of Health and Safety      (Source: WHO, 2013)

The policies discussed previously such as the Management of Health and Safety at work Regulation 1992 puts more emphasis on risk assessments and reporting of findings, while Health and Safety Regulation 1981 compels home cares to provide first aid. These two policies play a critical role in promoting healthy workplaces as well as safe culture.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is safe to state that health and safety implementation in home care, an integrated policy is required through which everyone will get surety to equity in health and social care. For the development of competence of health service providers, there is need for an integrated training since without such policy individuals will be taking their health risk responsibility.        

References   

AHS (2010). Strategic Plan for Workplace Health and Safety. Available at: https://:www.albertahealthservices.ca/org/ahs-org-whs-strategic-plan.pdf [Accessed 12th November 2015].

Balarajan, Y., Selvaraj, S., & Subramanian, S. V. (2011). Health care and equity in UK. London: Prentice Hall.

Cambridge Training and Development (2000). Advanced Health and Social Care, (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chu, C., Breucker, G., Harris, N., Stitzel, A., Gan, X., Gu, X., & Dwyer, S. (2000). Health-promoting workplaces: International settings development. Health Promotion International, 15(2), 155-167.

CIS-Assessment (2010). Health and Safety in an Adult Social Care Setting. Available at: https://:www.cis-assessment.co.uk/docs/pdf [Accessed 12th November 2015].

Dean, K. (1996). Using theory to guide policy relevant health promotion research. Health Promotion International, 11(1), 19-26.

Dowding, L., & Barr, J. (1999). Managing in Health Care: A Guide for Nurses, Midwives & Health Visitors, (5th ed.). New York, NY: Prentice Hall.

Fisher, A. (2005). Health and Social Care. Oxford: Heinemann.

Garcarz, W., & Wilcock, E. (2005). Statutory and Mandatory Training in Health and Social Care: A Toolkit for Good Practice. Oxon, OX: Radcliffe Publishing.

Graham, B., & Steven, P., (2008). Your Foundation in Health and Social Care: A Guide for Foundation Degree Students. London: SAGE.

Grinnell, R. M., & Yvonne, A. U. (2008). Social Work Research and Evaluation: Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice (8th ed.). Oxford, UK; New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Grol, R., et al., (2007). Planning and Studying Improvement in Health Care: The Use of Theoretical Perspective. The Milbank Quarterly, 85(1), 93-138.

Holland, K., & Hogg, C. (2001). Cultural Awareness in Nursing and Health Care: An Introductory Text. London: Hodder Arnold.

HSE – Health and Care Services (2013). Health and Care Services, [online]. Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/index.htm [Accessed 12th November 2015].

HSE – Monitor Health and Safety (2014). Monitor Health and Safety [online]. Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/monitor.htm [Accessed 12 November 2015].

HSE – Review Health and Safety Legislation (2014). Health and Safety Legislation – laws in the workplace [online]. Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/ [Accessed 12th November 2015].

HSG (2000). Managing Health and Safety on Work Experience: A Guide for Organisers.

Lishman, J. (2007). Handbook for practice learning in social work and social care: knowledge and theory. London: Jessica Kingsley.

Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human Resource Management. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.

Moonie, N. (2000). Advanced Health and Social Care. Oxford: Heinemann.

Morath, J. M., & Turnbull, J. E. (2004). To Do No Harm Ensuring Patient Safety in health Care Organizations. Sainsbury, NJ: Jossey Bass Wiley.

NHS (2013). NHS choices, [online]. Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/aboutNHSChoices/Pages/NHSChoicesintroduction.aspx [Accessed 12th November 2015].

Nolan, Y. (2005). Health and Social Care (Adults). Oxford: Heinemann.

Occupational Health and Safety Act (2012). Occupational Health and Safety Act [online]. Available at: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90o01_e.htm [Accessed 12th November 2015].

Pall, N. (2012). Primary healthcare needs top priority. Mumbai: India Health Progress.

Pamela, M., & David, W., (2009). First Health and Social Care, (1st ed.). London: Reflect Press.

Payne, M. (2011). Humanistic Social Work: Core Principles in Practice. Chicago: Lyceum, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Popple, P. R., & Leslie, L. (2008). The Policy-Based Profession: An Introduction to Social Welfare Policy Analysis for Social Workers (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Reamer, F. G. (2006). Ethical Standards in Social Work: A Review of the NASW Code of Ethics, (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: NASW Press.

Rosati, R. J. (2009). Home healthcare quality. Journal of Healthcare Quality, 31(2), 3-4.

Rosenfeld, P., Pyc, L., Rosati, R. J., & Marren, J. M. (2012). Developing a Competency Tool for Home Health Care Nurse Managers. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 24(1), 5-12.

Rosenfeld, P., & Russell, D. (2012). A Review of Factors Influencing Utilization of Home and Community Based Long-Term Care: Trends and Implications to the Nursing Workforce. Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, 13(2), 72-80.

Sowers, K. M., & Catherine, N. D. (2008).Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work and Social Welfare. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Sprenger, R. (2003). Health and Safety for Management. London: Highfield.

Stranks, J. (2005). Health and Safety Law, (5th ed.). London: Prentice Hall.

Trachtenberg, M., & Ryvicker, M. (2011). Research on transitional care: from hospital to home. Home Healthcare Nurse, 29(10), 645-651.

Tripathi, M., Delano, D., Lund, B., & Rudolph, L. (2009). Engaging patients for health information exchange. Health Affairs, 28(2), 435-443.

Webb, R., & Tossell, D. (1998). Social Issues for Carers: Towards Positive Practice, (2nd ed.). London:Hodder Arnold.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Alzheimer’s disease Research Paper

Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Alzheimer’s disease

Since patient wandering and confusion are common for the patient with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease, what would the RN teach the family about maintaining a safe environment? Provide three examples.

The RN should teach the family that patients diagnosed with Alzheimer can comfortably live in their homes, provided the safety measures are put in place. The family members must be educated on ways Alzheimer disease causes changes in the patient’s brain and body functions. This affects the patient reasoning, judgement, physical ability, behaviour, cognitive functions and sense of time (Bridenbaugh, Monsch & Kressig, 2012).

The family should be taught on ways to identify the possible dangers.  The hazardous areas should be locked.  Drugs and other chemical substances should be stored out of reach, in lockable cupboards.  The family must be ready for emergencies. This implies that they should keep emergency phone numbers such as fire departments and local police helplines. The family members should ensure that the safety devices are   working.

These include smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers.  Walkways should be well lit to prevent falls. All weapons such as guns or other types of weapons must be removed. Basically, the home must be well lit, ventilated and free from hazards. The home should not be too restrictive, but one that encourage social interaction and independence (Schneider, 2011).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

To prevent the patient from wandering, the patient’s relatives and care givers should be taught the following strategies. To start with, they should create a daily activity plan. This helps identify the times of the day that wandering occurred. The patient must be reassured whenever they feel lost, disoriented or abandoned.  The care giver must refrain from using correcting the patient using harsh voice.

All patients’ basic need must be met. They should not allow the patient to go places that trigger confusion and disorientation such as grocery stalls, malls or other venues that are busy.  The doors must remain locked, and keys including car keys put out of sight. The patient must never be left alone i.e. they should always be under supervision. If the main issue is night wandering, devices that signal motions should be used (Lacey, Jones, Trigg & Niecko, 2012).


How would the RN adjust the teaching based on the family’s educational level, socioeconomic status or culture? Provide two examples

 Despite the increase emphasis on patient centred care, when it comes to coping strategies for Alzheimer, the healthcare provider should focus on family centred care. In this case, the RN must conduct a family assessment   to understand patient structure as well as style. This helps RN formulate effective teaching plan (Skoog, 2011).

To begin with, the RN should evaluate the barriers that would hinder the family ability to deliver health care.  This includes the ages, sex and health status of the family member. The family socioeconomic status influences the teaching strategy. People from high socioeconomic status are most likely to be educated, thus basic healthcare can be used during the teaching process.

However, those from low income households tend to have low level of education which determines people’s attitudes and perceptions of care. Additionally, some family members lack basic knowledge of the disease. Cultural backgrounds could make some patients to believe in folk medicine. These factors must be addressed when teaching the patient’s family members (Trigg, Jones, Lacey & Niecko, 2012).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here


What are common symptoms of caregiver role strain?

 The demands of giving care to Alzheimer patients are very taxing which can lead to care givers strain and burnout. These are manifested through stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and sleep disturbances. Other common symptoms of care giver role strains include changes in appetite, depression, withdrawal and mood swings (Trigg, Jones, Lacey & Niecko, 2012).

Provide one nursing diagnosis statement (statement must include an actual nursing diagnosis, related factor and as evidenced by) that may be appropriate for a patient with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease.

Anxiety related to stress and situational crisis as evidenced by insomnia, restlessness, memory loss, and cognitive functions deficits.

References

Bridenbaugh, S., Monsch, A., & Kressig, R. (2012). How does gait change as cognitive decline progresses in the elderly?. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 8(4), P131-P132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2012.05.349

Lacey, L., Jones, R., Trigg, R., & Niecko, T. (2012). Caregiver burden as illness progresses in Alzheimer’s disease (AD): Association with patient dependence on others and other factors—Results from the Dependence in Alzheimer’s Disease in England (DADE) study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 8(4), P248-P249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2012.05.660

Schneider, L. (2011). Agitation and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 7(4), S92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2011.05.223

Skoog, I. (2011). Vascular Disease Risk Factors and Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 7(4), S284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2011.05.822

Trigg, R., Jones, R., Lacey, L., & Niecko, T. (2012). Relationship between patient self-assessed and proxy-assessed quality of life (QoL) and patient dependence on others as illness progresses in Alzheimer’s disease: Results from the Dependence in Alzheimer’s Disease in England (DADE) study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 8(4), P250-P251. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2012.05.667

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Banner Health Care Organization

Banner Health Care Organization
Banner Health Care Organization

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Case Study: Banner Health care

            Banner Health organization is among the biggest non-profit organization in the USA. Its headquarters is at Phoenix, Arizona. It oversees about twenty nine healthcare facilities including home care programs, family health clinics, and long-term healthcare facilities. Banner Health care delivers its services to nine States in the Western and Mid-Western States (Banner Health, 2015).

This organization was established in 1999 through the merging of Samaritan Health Systems and Lutheran Health systems. Currently, the organization has employed about 47,000 people who deliver services to about 300,000 service users (Berlyl Institute, n.d.).  This healthcare organization caters for patient’s basic medical costs and emergency healthcare costs.

Additionally, the organization covers for specialized healthcare services such as heart transplants, bone marrow transplants, and psychosocial rehabilitative services. This non-profit organization also covers for life threatening healthcare complications such as spinal injuries and Alzheimer disease. It is approximated that the total worth of the organization as 3.1 billion dollars, with an annual return of 2.6 billion dollar (Kuhn and Chuck, 2015).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Banner healthcare has focused its resources into delivery of safety and quality of care. This entails establishing stringent measures that detect mistakes such as patient identification errors, which impede delivery of quality services. The coordinated service improves the organization performance and maintains organization’s integrity as well as improving patient satisfaction (Banner Health, 2015).

This has enabled the organization to identify functional areas, which require improvement in order to sustain its performance. This has led to the creation of cross-facility employees, whose role is to deliberate on ideas that ensure new knowledge on organization is gathered and integrated within the organization standards (Armbrister, 2012). 

For example, for a very long time Banner health institution overlooked the relationship between organization cultures and its leadership, and ways they influenced the organization performances.  The Banner Health organizations works together with other multiple healthcare facilities across the Nation, which makes it challenging to identify a standard policy that would ensure effective delivery of services in each of the healthcare facilities across the miles (Armbrister, 2012).   

This is attributable to the fact that each of the healthcare facility are in different geographical location, thus, the sociocultural factors differs from one healthcare facility to another. Thus, applying a common method would lead into more challenges.  For this reason, the organization has adopted the integration of culture driven policies that would help sustain the organizations success.  The organization culture plays an integral role in shaping the organizations performances (Berlyl Institute, n.d.). This includes identification of management themes that put the interests of the service users as the priority.

            The above diagram illustrates the model used at this organization to run its day –to- day practices. The model comprises of four main themes;

a) effective communication of the organization vision,

b) measurable accountability,

c) developing effective leadership and

d) sustaining the success.

The first theme addresses the role of effective communication, which is one of the main hindrances of success in most of the institution. This model ensures that there is effective communication between the employees and their leaders; thus, the employees work to achieve the organization vision, mission and goals (Kuhn and Chuck, 2015).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

 The second theme discusses the issue of employee’s responsibility and accountability.  The leader’s roles are to ensure that the employee’s accountability is aligned within the organization’s framework. This implies that the leaders acts as role models, and are expected to exemplify the true measure of accountability within their organizations (Armbrister, 2012).   

Banner Health has established solid metrics (patient’s satisfaction and experiences) systems, which evaluates the accountability and success each healthcare facility.  The applications of score  cards ensure that each employee is held accountable of their services. The leaders are expected to guide and provide all the resources needed, and to motivate the employees.  This is to ensure that Bander’s health mission and vision are articulated effectively (Berlyl Institute, n.d.).

 The third theme involves recruitment process and staffing ratios. The banner health has adopted the habit of recruiting leaders who are proactive and are likely to steer success.  This is because active leaders ensure that their employee’s skills are improved through refresher courses and internal programs.

This ensures that employees’ specific skills and talents are improved, and new skills are developed through continuous learning. The organization promotes teamwork. It is through the teamwork that cultural competencies are developed which ensures that the employees respect each other’s values and beliefs which reduces the incidences of office bickering (Kuhn and Chuck, 2015).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

The last strategies used by the organization are by establishing measures that ensures that there are sustainable developments.  This ischallenging as the healthcare industry is dynamic. Therefore, the organization has recruited research employees whose work is to identify the changes in market demands so that the organization can change its strategies to align with the market demands.

This increases their competitive advantages as the organization manages to make changes according to the market demands. This ensures that the organization explores new areas and discovers other opportunities that have not been realized by their competitors. These processes sustain its development effectively (Berlyl Institute, n.d.).

From this discussion, it is evident that these strategic measures are only effective if articulated simultaneously. For example, integrating effective communication within the organization ensures that each employee understands the organization’s visions and missions. This also ensures that the employees understand their responsibilities within the organization (Armbrister, 2012).

Working with competent leaders ensures that the team members are committed to achieving the organizations goals. The motivation is transmitted from the top management to employees. The clarity of the organizations directives establishes a foundation that ensures that the employees are held accountable of their actions (Banner Health, 2015).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

            In summation, Banner Health has sustained their successes by improving the delivery of services. The Banner Health performances have exceeded the internal targets and are reported in the past years to have achieved stretch targets. The organizations financial capacity has been improved such that it can survive any healthcare dynamic trend. Thus, Banner Health is an established and efficient network concerned with improving the community wellbeing (Armbrister, 2012). 

References

Armbrister, M. (2012).  Just what is Banner Health planning? Northern Colorado Business Report 18(4) p2B-8B

 Banner Health (2015). Banner Health Medtrack company profile. Database Business complete.  Retrieved from https://www.medtrack.com

Berlyl Institute (n.d.). Banner Health: Best practices in leadership an exceptional patient experience. Retrieved from http://www.theberylinstitute.org/?page=CASE122010

 Kuhn, B., and Chuck, L. (2015). Value-based reimbursement: The Banner Health Network Experience. Winter, Vol 32, 2, p17-31

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Tonsillopharyngitis Diagnosis Essay

Tonsillopharyngitis Diagnosis
Tonsillopharyngitis Diagnosis

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Tonsillopharyngitis Diagnosis

Patients presenting with sore throat and fever such as the one in question are primarily suspected for tonsillopharyngitis, whose primary cause is Group A Beta Hemolytic Streptococcus. Therefore, the diagnosis of acute tonsillopharyngitis relies on various tests such as white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), rapid antigen detecting test, and throat culture, a combination of which is called Center-Scoring or Clinical Scoring (Alper, 2013, p148).

This method can be well utilized in low income sections to prevent unnecessary use of antibiotics, which might lead to antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, Alper et al. (2013) give empirical data to support the reliability of this diagnosis procedure that is recommended in developed countries for being quick but efficient (p148).

Rapid antigen detection tests (RADT), as differential tests between viral and GAS tonsillopharyngitis, according to Toepfner et al. (2013) have gained a wide application in active diagnosis of group A streptococcal (GAS) tonsillopharyngitis. These include Rapid Agglutination Test or LAT and Lateral-Flow Immunoassay (p. 609). These tests have proved to be effective, this being the reason for the above state wide use in various countries, but they are sensitive and require prerequisite knowledge on how to conduct them accurately.

This is because according to a research done, comparing physicians and technicians, there is supported evidence that physicians may lack adequate technical knowhow when handling the tests. Often they might require an additional training before the results they deliver for the tests become reliable for any conclusions to be made in terms of whether Group A Beta Hemolytic Streptococcus tonsillopharyngitis infection is present or not. Technical errors, plus lack of experience and expertise have adverse consequences on accuracy of RADT (Toepfner, 2013, p609).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

An important aspect that comes out from the research done by Salatino et al. (2016) is that Rapid Streptococcus Test is the standard test, which is used by most physicians and Ear-Nose-Throat Specialists (p29). This method equivalently was found to allow for most diagnosis made per year, compared to other methods used for the same reasons. An important development is that there is common avoidance of antibiotic use in management of acute tonsillopharyngitis and other infections in the upper respiratory tract, due to the development of antibiotic resistance as earlier expounded on (Salatino, 2016, p29).

Alternatively, natural remedies which include homeopathy remedies are currently being used in complementary therapy. Tasar et al. (2015) note that an in depth examination of previously diagnosed cases of acute tonsillopharyngitis in children between the age of five to fifteen years, there is significant infections due to Group C and G streptococcus, though the most common presumption is that this infection is primarily caused by Group A streptococcus (p. 15).  Therefore, it is always necessary to conduct differential diagnosis tests on throat cultures, when it comes to tonsillopharyngitis infections, in order to clearly put to record the type of streptococcus causing the infection. 

Patient Care

Patient care for patients with acute tonsillopharyngitis encompasses to the various management approaches undertaken on both inpatients and outpatients. Al Alawi et al. (2015) state that, Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy, or OPAT with ceftriaxone, is normally applied for treatment of acute tonsillopharyngitis (p279). This is applied on patients with infections that require medicines to be administered through the parenteral route and are adequately stable not to be admitted as inpatients (Al Alawi, 2015, p. 279).

This method according to this research is not only cost effective, but also saves bed spaces required for patient care and is found to reduce cases of acute tonsillopharyngitis infections by nearly half (Al Alawi, 2015, p279). Customer satisfaction is also recorded, with the administration of the drug being done at a minimum of three days in the clinic. This is an example of outpatient care and a reliable therapy that can be recommended for treatment of the acute condition in question, especially for if caused by streptococcal infections.

The OPAT treatment method began in USA around 1974 and has become a common mainstream practice (Al Alawi, 2015, p279). The treatment therapy is combined with the following aspects of patient care. Patients in the OPAT clinic are accorded close surveillance by officials who may be a family physician alongside a properly trained nurse (Al Alawi, 2015, p. 279).

Pharyngeal sterilization is also done using oral penicillin in the patient care before administration of IV ceftriaxone by the above named practitioners, who closely observe patient progress as the OPAT is undertaken. The patient is required before being put under the OPAT clinic care to be in safe social circumstances, such as have a telephone and means of transport in order to be able to rush quickly to the clinic in the event the illness becomes worse.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Furthermore, patient safety is ensured in the care process by ensuring a close adherence to OPAT guidelines, as well as having a multidisciplinary team conducting the same which includes an infectious disease consultant, family physician, and a well-trained nurse (Al Alawi, 2015, p. 279).  Proper interventions are initiated when any adverse effects or emanating complications are noted in the patients during their antibiotic intake.

Moreover, they are advised to report to the emergency and accident department at the clinic if any such effects are observed. During this period, fever recovery, sore throat period and number of returns to the clinic are assessed as the main markers of efficacy (Al Alawi, 2015, p. 279).

In patient care involves admission of patients who are dehydrated, have venous deficiencies or electrolyte imbalances. These are offered beds in the hospital, from where normal saline, dextrose, painkillers and antibiotics are administered intravenously. Oral penicillin is also given before ceftriaxone administration.

A similar assessment of efficacy is done in terms of dosage of drugs used versus fever recovery, sore throat relief period and time taken for the patient to gain stability. Once stable, the patients can be discharged with take home medicine to complete the relevant doses. This next step is normally follow up as discussed below.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Follow Up

Vrca Botica et al. (2013) explain that there have been many reported cases of unnecessary prescriptions of antibiotics in diagnosis and treatment of acute tonsillopharyngitis (p440). In this regard, it is necessary to conduct follow up visits to ensure that there are no recurrent episodes of the infection, which might indicate improper prescription of the antibiotics maybe due to incorrect center scoring. Patient contacts should be kept in records of health in order to aid in communicating with the patient on the any follow up requirement by the physician.

Also, follow up notes should be taken and kept for future consultation plus decision making. These are important to elicit recurrence of the condition, which might dictate the type of prescription to be made in the future or even note some key details concerning the patient that were not covered during the earlier assessment. Significantly, follow up data collected can be used by a physician to assess the efficiency of a procedure applied in order to dictate using empirical evidence use or cessation such.

Another important element is the formulation of a follow up schedule for a patient post care assessment, which does not only keep the patient in the know about clinical follow up dates, but also enables a physician to arrange his or her schedule in a manner as to meet all follow up requirements. Gupta et al. (2015) report of a monthly follow up on a patient who had tonsillopharyngitis caused by EBV. Therefore, it is important for the physician involved to decide wisely on the time period that he or she will conduct the follow up, more conveniently with specific objectives in mind though flexibility will be best if embraced.

 Sometimes it might require follow up in terms of throat culture RADT to ensure no recurrence of GAS related tonsillopharyngitis infection is recorded. Progress during the follow up in terms of the rapid test results can be tabulated, graphically analyzed and interpreted to give the management therapy a deeper insight into effectiveness of methodologies applied.

A secondary center scoring can also be done and the results manipulated in a similar fashion to obtain specific desired outcomes. This implies that follow up is outcome based, should be planned for appropriately with holistic patient involvement, and records on the same should be well documented or kept together with other health records for future consultations.

Patient Education

Tonsillopharyngitis is a condition that can be managed easily. Patients should be sensitized on the primary symptoms of tonsillopharyngitis so that they can seek medical attention at the right time before the condition progresses and becomes difficult to manage. Some of these symptoms include runny nose, fever, cough, and watery eyes.

Moreover, patients should be educated on how the condition is acquired so that they can refrain from exposing themselves in environments that put them at risk of acquiring tonsillopharyngitis infection as well as how they can stop the spread of this condition to their family members and friends. By so doing, the prevalence of tonsillopharyngitis will decrease considerably. 

References

Al Alawi, S., Abdulkarim, S., Elhennawy, H., Al-Mansoor, A., & Al Ansari, A. (2015). Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy with ceftriaxone for acute tonsillopharyngitis: efficacy, patient satisfaction, cost effectiveness, and safety. Infection and drug resistance, 8, 279.

Alper, Z., Uncu, Y., Akalin, H., Ercan, I., Sinirtas, M., & Bilgel, N. G. (2013). Diagnosis of acute tonsillopharyngitis in primary care: a new approach for low-resource settings. Journal of Chemotherapy, 25(3), 148-155.

Bélard, S., Toepfner, N., Arnold, B., Alabi, A. S., & Berner, R. (2015). β-hemolytic streptococcal throat carriage and tonsillopharyngitis: a cross-sectional prevalence study in Gabon, Central Africa. Infection, 43(2), 177-183.

Gupta, R., Gupta, R., Sethi, S., & Khanal, M. (2015). Isolated Unilateral Soft Palate Palsy Following Tonsillopharyngitis Caused by Epstein-Barr Virus Infection. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal.

Salatino, S., & Gray, A. (2016). Integrative management of pediatric tonsillopharyngitis: An international survey. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 22, 29-32.

Tasar, M. A., Bostanci, I., Karakoc, A. E., Selver, B., Demirbilek, M., & Dallar, Y. (2015). Prevalence of group C and G streptococcus in pediatric acute tonsilopharyngitis in Turkey. Group, 14, 15.

Toepfner, N., Henneke, P., Berner, R., & Hufnagel, M. (2013). Impact of technical training on rapid antigen detection tests (RADT) in group A streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis. European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases, 32(5), 609-611.

Vrca Botica, M., Botica, I., Stamenić, V., Tambić Andrašević, A., Kern, J., & Stojanović Špehar, S. (2013). Antibiotic prescription rate for upper respiratory tract infections and risks for unnecessary prescription in Croatia. Collegium antropologicum, 37(2), 449-454.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm

Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm
Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm

            Healing hospitals are composed of three key components including a culture concerning radical loving care, the integration of technology and work design and a healing physical milieu. Spirituality, on the other hand, is a person’s identified experience or religion in relation to their realism. The philosophy of the healing hospital, therefore, integrates the physical body with the spirit of the person and the spiritual mind in order to provide the best health care possible.

            A physical healing environment provides health care to the spirit, body and mind. This starts with an appropriate culture where the related professionals need to contain a servant’s attitude, action, recognition and the key beliefs of empathy for the patient in meeting the patient’s spiritual and emotional needs (Chapman, 2010). Technology plays an important role in the provision of care as it facilitates better access to tutelage to the patients and increased time availability in order to address the spiritual and mutual needs of the patients as well as better interventional treatments and diagnostic to treat both the body and the mind (Chapman, 2010). 

Furthermore, the design of the facility takes into consideration the three core components of an individual. The design needs to allow protection and privacy, promote the complete wellness of a person and to offer easier access for the patients. These components are significant in facilitating the treatment of the body, mind and the spirit.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

            The key challenge affecting healing environments is to bring the entire medical unit under the thorough concept of healing within hospitals. Healing environments within hospitals are also challenged by spirituality and cynicism, leadership, bureaucracy, business and economics. The notion of incorporating spiritual causes a form of conflict from what health care professionals think and reason. Cynicism affects the healing environments since some people do not believe in the significance of improving the conditions of health care systems or that they do not assist in promoting quality health care services (Chapman, 2010).

In the past, the society was made to believe and taught that spirituality, which is also defined under religion, was to be separated entirely from the workplace. Furthermore, the health care system has transformed within the American economy by occupying a rather large portion of the national gross domestic product. The government and health care businesses need to focus on the profitability and cost to keep the shareholders contented as well as the access to health care viable.

The effectiveness of this perspective is that it would lead to quicker discharges, improved patient to nurse ratio and tight hospital budgets (Chapman, 2010). Patients end up spending huge amounts of cash in accessing care, which influences the healing process of patients. Therefore, health care facilities and hospitals are sometimes faced with huge budget constraints that may lead them to choose between equipment and treatment that offer emotional care and spiritual care (Chapman, 2010).

The Biblical perspective also supports the philosophy of healing hospitals. Such can be identified in the book of Jeremiah chapter 33 verses 6. This specific passage involves the health and healing of individuals by enabling them to be happy and enjoy abundant security and peace in their lives (American Bible Society, 2010).

Therefore, it is evident that the healing hospital concept is supported by this passage. Care givers are responsible for facilitating the healing process through the patient’s spiritual, emotional and physical aspects, which provides them with a sense of peace and security (American Bible Society, 2010).

In conclusion, the success of a healing hospital can only be actualized through the incorporation of the three components and by overcoming the plausible challenges and barriers. Healing hospitals focus on the needs of the patient and the provision of environments that promote the healing process.

This philosopher not only centers on the healing process of the patient and the related holistic aspects but also the general well-being of their family. Henceforth, all hospitals need to put the integration of the healing hospital philosophy into consideration since it promotes excellent provision of services and compassionate care to patients.

References

American Bible Society. (2010). The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, translated out of the original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared & revised, King James Version.

Chapman, E. (2010). Radical loving care: Building the healing hospital in America. Nashville, Tenn: Erie Chapman Foundation

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Myocardial Infarction: Case Study

Myocardial Infarction
Myocardial Infarction

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Myocardial Infarction: Case Study

Causes, Incidence, and Risk Factors for Myocardial Infarction

Myocardial infarction (MI) is an impairment of heart functioning characterized by diminished blood supply to cardiac muscles following myocardial ischemia (Wong et al., 2012). Myocardial cells are destroyed but not repaired as the rate of their degeneration exceeds the capacity of repair mechanisms, which are usually slowed by poor blood supply. The causes of MI include myocardial ischemia that results when metabolic needs of the heart are too high and exceeding a certain threshold or ischemia that results after the coronary circulation is inefficient and affecting oxygen and nutrient delivery to heart muscles (Wong et al., 2012). In some cases, the two causes may co-occur and eventually result in MI. 

The prevalence of MI in Australia is significantly high with data indicating a correlation between disease occurrence, age and sex (Wong et al., 2013). Statistics indicate higher prevalence among older persons, with more than 3,800 cases of male patients 85 years and above having been reported in 2011.  On the other hand, about 11 cases of female patients of ages between 25 and 34 were recorded on the same year. Nevertheless, MI prevalence in Australia was reported to have been decreasing between the years 2007 and 2011 (Heart Foundation, 2014).

Studies indicate that risk factors for MI are those that also increase people’s susceptibility to atherosclerosis. These include tobacco use, being of the male gender, a positive family history for the condition, and pre-occurring conditions such as diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, and hyperlipidemia (Gehani et al., 2015).  The risk of MI is highest in persons with multiple predisposing factors.

In the case of Mr. Savea, several factors could have predisposed him to MI. These include his history of tobacco use, being clinically obese, having high blood pressure, being at a considerably advanced age, and of course being a male. Research links components of tobacco to damage of blood vessels hence increasing the risk of atherosclerosis and MI. Obesity is also linked to diabetes and hyperlipidemia, both which are risk factors for MI (Gehani et al., 2015). Age and gender are unavoidable risk factors for MI.  

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

5 Common Signs and Symptoms of MI

Signs and symptoms of MIUnderlying pathophysiology
Chest pain likened to a sensation of squeezing caused by application of pressure at the mid-thorax (Haasenritter et al., 2012)Caused by hypoxia and ischemia result in MI. Impaired cardiac function also contributes to pain as muscles in other body parts do not get sufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients, hence becoming weak and unable to contract and relax normally.  Reduced cardiac output also contributes to dyspnea hence causing the squeezed sensation.
Loss of consciousness (Heart Foundation, 2015a)Patients of MI may become unconscious due to poor blood supply to the brain as manifested in the disease. The occurrence results from cardiogenic shock whereby the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently since cardiac muscles are damaged.
Tachycardia and hypertension (McSweeney et al., 2010)Patients with MI often present with tachycardia and hypertension. The phenomena are linked to anxiety and pain that patient experience when they get other symptoms of the disease. The anxiety and pain stimulates the sympathetic system hence causing cardiac activation and vascular constriction. As a result, patients develop hypertension and tachycardia as secondary manifestations.
Shortness of breath and dyspnea (Heart Foundation, 2015a)The symptom is associated with the damage and impairment of heart muscles that occur in MI. The functioning of the left ventricle is affected hence reducing its pumping ability. Consequently, ventricular failure precedes pulmonary edema. Accumulation of fluid in the lungs in turn reduces the pulmonary volume, and hence causes difficulties in breathing.
Increased perspiration (Heart Foundation, 2015a)Diaphoresis that characterizes MI is due to the activation of the sympathetic pathway. Usually, the pathway is activated as a counter mechanism for the maintenance of arterial pressure which is usually high in patients with MI. The activation of the pathway is a compensatory mechanism effected via baroreceptor response following decreased cardiac output.

Pharmacological Treatment of MI

Several classes of drugs have been approved for the treatment of MI in Australia. These include beta-blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs). Drugs in the same class often work in the same mechanism in MI treatment.

ACEIs

The pharmacodynamics of these drugs in treating MI includes causing vascular dilation, hence reducing the myocardial afterload (Clauss et al., 2015). So as to attain optimal effectiveness, treatment is initiated with a low dose of an ACEI that has a short half-life (Song et al., 2015). The dose is then titrated upwards until a stable maintenance dose is achieved within 24 to 48 hours. The short-acting agent may then be continued at the maintenance dose or replaced with a longer-acting agent.

Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) may be co-administered with ACEIs if the patient is intolerant to the latter (Gadzhanova et al., 2016).  ACEIs are recommended for diabetic and hypertensive patients while contraindicated for those with low blood pressure or patients of kidney failure (Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration, 2014). Some of the commonest ACEIs used in the management of MI include captopril, lisinopril, and ramipril (Monroy et al., 2014).  Patient data collected in Mr. Savea’s case suggest high applicability of ACEIs.

Beta Blockers

The physiological effects of beta blockers include decreasing the force and rate of myocardial contraction and subsequent reduction of oxygen demand in cardiac muscles (Atrial Fibrillation Association Australia, 2014). The medication should be administered the earliest possible after the onset of symptoms, preferably within the first 12 hours of diagnosis (Scot, 2010). Early treatment with beta-blockers does not only reduce the incidence of re-infarction, recurrent ischemia, and ventricular arrhythmias, but it also decreases the size of the infarct and so the chances of short-term death (Scot, 2010).

The medications are particularly essential when the disease condition is characterized by poor oxygen supply owing to the drugs’ effects on reducing oxygen demand in the myocardia. Common beta-blockers used in MI management include carvedilol, atenolol, and metoprolol (Martin et al., 2014). The drugs are also associated with hypotensive effects, and therefore, their use is safe in the case of Mr. Savea.

Post-Admission Nursing Care Strategies for Mr. Savea

Nursing care for the presented patient should prioritize on patient comfort and safety (Martin et al., 2014). Measures that should be taken to ensure safety for the patient include facilitating the accessibility of intravenous drug therapy services. Safety should also be promoted by ensuring that the patient has the access of resuscitation facilities, and he can be easily monitored and supervised. On the other hand, measures to increase the comfort of the patient include early administration of oxygen therapy, pain relievers, vasodilators, and anti-emetic medications.

Oxygen Therapy

The registered nurse should ensure that Mr. Savea receives oxygen therapy so as to avert arterial hypoxaemia that could occur within 24 hours of admission (Martin et al., 2014). The strategy would also facilitate the use of medications such as opioid analgesics whose use could cause hypoxia. Research also indicates that administration of oxygen to patients of MI would counter the development of infarcts hence reducing the possibility of short-term mortality, and subsequently increasing survival chances for the victims (Burgess, 2012).  

Pain and Emesis Management

Mr. Savea presents with severe chest and abdominal pain, and therefore, the registered nurse should prioritize on relieving the pain. Opioids such as diamorphine would be applicable in analgesia as they are considerably highly potent. However, such drugs could induce emesis and it would be necessary to counter the side effect using anti-emetic agents. Such drugs include metoclopramide and cyclizine (Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). The hypoxaemic effects of opioid analgesics should be countered by the use of oxygen therapy.

Vasodilation

The nurse should prioritize on increasing blood flow to the heart by using vasodilators. Nitrates would be an applicable class of drugs as they would reduce myocardial oxygen demand by decreasing both the preload as well as the afterload (Branson & Johannigman, 2013). By promoting cardiac blood flow, the drugs would also help in reducing pain associated with ischemia (National Prescribing Service, 2010).

Administration of Anti-Clotting Agents

After stabilizing the patient, the nurse should proceed with long-term measures to protect the victim’s myocardia. The approach involves re-canalizing the affected blood vessels so as to promote cardiac function (National Prescribing Service, 2010). Drugs that may be used for this case include aspirin. The patient may take the drug at a low dose on a daily basis if he can tolerate it. Thrombolytic agents may also be used for the protection of the myocardium. Streptokinase is an example of an intervention that is thrombolytic and applicable in the management of MI (Heart Foundation, 2015b). 

References

Atrial Fibrillation Association Australia. (2014). Beta blockers. Retrieved from http://www.atrialfibrillation-au.org/files/file/Publications/AFA%20Australia%20Beta%20Blockers%20FACT%20sheet%281%29.pdf

Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration. (2014). Effects of blood pressure lowering on cardiovascular risk according to baseline body-mass index: a meta-analysis of randomised trials. The Lancet, 385(9571), 867-874.

Branson, R. D., & Johannigman, J. A. (2013). Pre-hospital oxygen therapy. Respiratory Care, 58(1), 86-97.

Burgess, S. (2012). Oxygen therapy for myocardial infarction. Australian Journal of Paramedicine, 8(2), 1-3.

Clauss, F., Charloux, A., Piquard, F., Doutreleau, S., Talha, S., Zoll, J., & Geny, B. (2015). Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition prevents myocardial infarction-induced increase in renal cortical cGMP and cAMP phosphodiesterase activities. Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology, 29(4), 322-361.

Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). About medicines of nausea and vomiting. Retrieved from http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/36950/Nousea_and_Vomiting_Mediciation_130509.pdf

Gadzhanova, S., Roughead, S., & Bartlett, L. (2016). Long-term persistence to mono and combination therapies with angiotensin converting enzymes and angiotensin II receptor blockers in Australia. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2016(1), 1-7.

Gehani, A., Hinai, A, Zubaid, M., Almahmeed, W., Hasani, M., Yusufali, A., & … Yusuf, S. (2015). Association of risk factors with acute myocardial infarction in Middle Eastern countries: the INTERHEART Middle East study. Preventive Cardiology, 21(4), 400-410.

Haasenritter, J., Stanze, D., Widera, G., Wilimzig, C., Abu Hani, M., Sönnichsen, A. C., & Donner-Banzhoff, N. (2012). Does the patient with chest pain have a coronary heart disease? Diagnostic value of single symptoms and signs – a meta-analysis. Croatian Medical Journal, 53(5), 432–441.

Heart Foundation. (2014). Australian Heart Disease Statistics. Retrieved from https://heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/publications/HeartStats_2014_web.pdf

Heart Foundation. (2015). Australian acute coronary syndromes capability. Retrieved from http://heartfoundation.org.au/for-professionals/clinical-information/acute-coronary-syndromes

Heart Foundation. (2015a). Will you recognize your heart attack? Retrieved from http://heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/main/Your_heart/Heart_attack_warning_signs_fact_sheet.pdf

Martin, L., Murphy, M., Scanlon, A., Naismith, C., Clark, D., & Faraoukwe, O. (2014). Timely treatment for acute myocardial infarction and health outcomes: An integrative review of the literature. Australian Critical Care, 27(3), 111-118.

McSweeney, J. C., Cleves, M. A., Zhao, W., Lefler, L. L., & Yang, S. (2010). Cluster Analysis of Women’s Prodromal and Acute Myocardial Infarction Symptoms by Race and Other Characteristics. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 25(4), 311–322.

Monroy, F., Ferrario, C. M., Hernandez, C., & Martinez, L. (2014). Comparative Effects of a Novel Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor versus Captopril on Plasma Angiotensins after Myocardial Infarction. Pharmacology, 94(2), 21-28.

National Prescribing Service. (2010). Ischemic heart disease. Retrieved from http://www.nps.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/16969/ppr31.pdf

Scot, I. (2010). Up the dose of beta blockers after MI. Medical Journal of Australia, 2010(160), 435-442.

Song, P. S., Seol, S., Seo, G., Kim, D., Kim, K., Yang, J. & Kim, D. (2015). Comparative study of angiotensin 2 receptor blockers. Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs, 12(4), 43-54.

Wong, C. X., Sun, M. T., Lau, D. H., Brooks, A. G., Sulivan, T., Worthley, I. M., & Sanders, P. (2013). Nationwide Trends in the Incidence of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Australia, 1993–2010. AJC, 112(2), 169-173.

Wong, C., Brooks, A., Leong, D., Thompson, K., & Sanders, P. (2012). The Increasing Burden of Atrial Fibrillation Compared With Heart Failure and Myocardial Infarction: A 15-Year Study of All Hospitalizations in Australia. Arch Intern Med, 172(9), 739-742.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Obesity Awareness Organizations

Obesity
Obesity

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Obesity Awareness Organizations

Obesity -connected conditions such as stroke, heart attack, type 2 diabetes to mention but few are known to be epidemic and is growing rapidly and directly impacts the lives of approximately thirty four point nine percent (34.9 or 78.6 million) of adults in the USA, (CDC, 2015). Although there has been increased and misinformation and facts about the disease, thus, the establishment of Save the Children and Healthy Kids as well as Healthy community were established to increase public awareness on obesity.

Symbolic interaction theory address this sociological problem by addressing the subjective meanings imposed to people. This theory suggests that people behave according to what the society believes and what is not objectively true.  The fundamental aspects of the obesity such as race and gender are better understood   using symbolic interactionist lens. These two organizations are working to increase awareness on health risks that are associated with the disease, while providing aid to the morbidly obese individuals and also provide information and resources on exercise, nutrition and counselling on how to seek medical recommendation associated obesity disorders (Jator, 2014).

Functionalist theory is mainly concerned with stability order in the society. For instance, Healthy Kids, Healthy communities is an organization established by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which aims at preventing child hood obesity. The organization was launched in December 2007. This organization is helping approximately 49 communities in the USA. It helps eliminate the issue of eating disorders and obesity in the USA by advocating for changes to local policies; with the aim of establishing a safe environment, one that fosters healthy lifestyle.

This organization has established programs that lay special emphasis to communities who are at higher risk of developing obesity due to their ethnic group and geographical location of socio-economic impacts in the society (Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, 2015).

Since its establishment, the organizations have supported more than 85 policy changes that target the environment to support healthy living. Some of the efforts have mainly focused on encouraging healthy eating and physical activeness. For instance, in Jafferson County, Ala, the organization advocated for changes to promote healthy eating and physical activity in 360 child care centres that were previously been exempted from these regulations by the local government because they were faith based organization (Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, 2015).

Conflict theory focuses mainly on the causes and consequences of obesity. This theory’s social constructs function based on what people perceive as true about what certain people look like. These constructs are used by these agencies to decide whom they should help and how to do so. According to this perspective, establishing a social structure will help eradicate obesity in America. Looking at the existing social arrangements, they tend to evaluate on what functions it performs to the society (Leon-Guerrero, 2011).

In silver City, N.M., the organization advocated for policy change to new policy that would allow community garden in each land-use zone. The changes also included the complete street policies which aimed at directing officials to design and maintain environments that are safe and accessible by bicyclists, walkers, and the transit users.

Other solutions that have been advocated for by this organization includes partnering with the local government to establish policies that improves access to healthy food, advocate for employee wellness and construction of safe environment that promote physical activeness in both adults and children (Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, 2015).

Critical theory critiques the society aspects with the aim of understanding and explaining the aspects of obesity. It digs beneath the surface of the social life so as to unveil the assumptions and misconceptions of obesity in the society. Social interactionist mainly focuses in micro-sociological interactions between the small groups in the society. The latent function in this case is to investigate the relationship between poverty, women empowerment, and obesity (Leon-Guerrero, 2011).

For instance, Save the Children organization was established in 1919 which aimed at fighting for children rights in order to save these children live and to give hope for better future. This program invests in childhood with the aim of giving them a healthy start across the world. The organization believes that by giving the children a healthy start; they provide them with an opportunity to learn, which offers a prospect to transform their course in the future.

One in five kids in the America lives in poverty. This organization have education and health programs to ensure that these children can access simple things that are critical including things such as books, pre-school educative programs, and healthy places where they can exercise and play. These simple things are crucial in order to help the kids thrive in mind and body (Save the Children, 2015).

The feminist perspective to tackle the obesogenic environments is inspired by the interest to help the poor minority, especially women and children from these communities (Leon-Guerrero, 2011). Save the Children program has established a program to fight obesity based on the feminist perspectives. The organization program is dubbed as “Hunger in America” is ironical. How can an advanced country be malnourished and obese at the same time?

When children live in poverty, they live in society and families that are struggling between making a healthy choice (implying no food at all) and putting cheaper but unhealthy food on the table. Consequently, more than half of these kids living in poverty stricken areas end up becoming obese or overweight. According to this organization’s report, 59% of the children are not able to access fresh healthy foods and in some areas, the statistics is as high as 98% (Save the Children, 2015).

Evidently, it is every person’s right to have a healthy live, and that each child deserves an opportunity to have a healthy start. Functionalist theory focuses more in the consequences than the intent. This is challenging as sometimes latent functions consequences are not usually so obvious. Therefore, it is imported for the Nation to get concerned on how the social arrangements benefits get distributed

(Conflict theory). This includes focusing on who benefits, wins or loses from specific social arrangement. This is important in that the society is constantly changing and conflict of these dynamic social arrangements are the main source of change. It is important to expose children and adults to healthier ways of living by promoting nutrition lessons and support to ensure that the balanced food choices are available to each member in the community, and to ensure that the community members remain physically active (Leon-Guerrero, 2011)

References

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities. (2015). Nutrition and Health. Retrieved from http://www.healthykidshealthycommunities.org/category/topic/nutrition-and-health

 Jator, E. (2014). Predicting Obesity among Adolescents in the United States Using Modified Logistic Model. AJPHR, 2(3), 86-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.12691/ajphr-2-3-4

Leon-Guerrero, A. (2011). Social problems: community, policy and social action (Third ed). Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.

Obesity is common, serious and costly, (CDC. 2015). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html Save the Children. (2015). Help Fight Hunger in America ? Support our Healthy Choices Program. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8193017/k.8ECA/Healthy_Choices.htm

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Health care Priority Policy Essay Paper

priority policy
priority policy

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Health care Priority Policy

The health care priority policy that I feel is the most important among the six is that of ensuring that each person and family takes part as partners of their delivery. This priority policy perceives individuals using health services as equal partners when it comes to planning, implementation, and development of care.

It is not just about providing patients with whatever they want but it is tailored towards meeting the patients’ desires, family situations, values, lifestyle, and social solutions. Through this priority policy, the physicians are expected to be compassionate and think about the patient’s point of view. It is exercised through sharing important clinical decisions with patients and their families as well as helping them in managing their health.

Saleh et al., (2014) report that in the past patients were required to fit with the practices and routines that health care providers felt were most appropriate. However, through prioritization of patients and their families in care delivery services become more flexible and meet the patient’s needs.  The practitioners work with patients and families to determine the most effective way of providing care. A one-on-one basis is put into play whereby patients and their families are allowed to engage make important decisions regarding their health.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

I believe that with the increasing demand for health services with limited resources, prioritization of patients and their families can be the best solution of improving patients’ health and minimize the burden of health care services. It is this fact that has led to implementation of health care policies that drift away from paternalistic model where practitioners ‘do things to’ patients. Moreover, the priority policy can encourage patients to lead a healthier lifestyle through eating a balanced diet or exercising since they have been educated about risk factors and etiology of chronic diseases.

This priority policy can also be used in prisons whereby lawyers engage in-mates and their families in court cases and obtain feedback from the in-mates about their desires and how they would like the court process to progress.

Reference

Saleh, S. S., Alameddine, M. S., & Natafgi, N. M. (2014). Beyond accreditation: a multi-track quality-enhancing strategy for primary health care in low-and middle-income countries. International Journal of Health Services, 44(2), 355-372.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Facilitating change in health and social care

health and social care
health and social care

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Facilitating change in health and social care

Introduction

This paper evaluates the aspect of change in health and social care setting. Economic factors, operational framework, policy setting, and knowledge are highlighted as the core drivers of this change. Moreover, the paper evaluates not just the challenges brought about by this change but also its impact, and suitable service response mechanism. When it comes to essential principles of change management, PowerPoint presentation is employed.   Furthermore, planning of changes, monitoring process, the plan for determining current transformations, social care policy and benchmarks for measuring change are discussed.

1.1Main factors that lead to change

Change refers to the transformation from the current state to a preferred future state. The cycle of change is never ending in our organization. Some welcome and enjoy uncertainties it comes with it; others fear change because they think that something valuable will be lost, and they feel that change will bring unnecessary stress (Brown & Jones 2012). In health care and social services, care is about those who provide the service and those who need the service. People are receptive to impacts of change such as managers have to establish how changes will deliver intended care within the organization.

The main reason why change is always constant is because stimuli of change, as well as other factors that drive change, are economic factors, social factors, operational factors, change in policy, and technological developments. 

Economic factors

The cost of health services has been on an upward trend in spite of, the increased financing in the sector. For this reason, there is a need to reduce expenditures of the current services while looking for cost-efficient ways of delivering the services in the future. Of concern is to ensure that the skills of the existing workforce are up-to-date and specialization has to be enhanced.

Besides, cost reduction has to be maximized through the use of private and nonprofit, supplies (Hayes 2014). The rising user expectation also has to be addressed. This is because as roles develop, information becomes readily available meaning that a large group people will be able to quickly access the available information leading to more informed citizens on the services available.

Availability of information leads to a more informed choice. In other words, people will be in a position to analyze the risks involved, the value of treatment provided, and learn the long-term effects of the treatment method that they have chosen. This affects the demand for certain services and institutions depending on how people view them.

In a social point of view, consumers are encouraged to be active and choose how their needs will be met. This has been made possible through the provision of means for people to directly purchase services, meaning that intermediary parties have been eliminated. This option is boosted by the increasing number of individuals who understand their rights and what they are entitled to.

There is also an increase in the roles of women, and globalization of the medical sector has led to a changed workforce. These changes mean maintaining existing working patterns will be difficult to maintain. It also means that new ways of working will be created based on different career structures and patterns of recruitment. The mixed economy will also contribute to social care change.

This is further enhanced by the shift of authorities towards direct service provision. This method has enabled a shift towards efficiency and economy. Furthermore, it has led to the emergence of improved regulation due to improved knowledge, skills and training leading to long term changes.

Knowledge

With expanded knowledge, improved medications and new ways of doing things, expansion and improvement of services have been achieved. In areas such as drugs, the rate of change is slowing, while new discoveries are increasing. However, given the rising costs of healthcare, the expectation is that with the new developments and technological advancements, it will create new demand on available resources.

Innovations will strengthen or improve existing institutions. Expansion of clinical know-how boosts changes in health care. This is because increased specializations lead to improved healthcare and expands the range of roles leading to the development of new working opportunities.

Development of information technology has allowed professionals to search and present advice without the need for face-to-face consultation. Social care service provision widens staff groups which are providing specialized knowledge and skills. This leads to expansion of expectations, responsibilities, and requirements for new competencies and training.

Improved technology has led to new methods for storing and delivering information. The emergence of the internet has enabled people to do certain tasks online; thus, reducing the need for involvement of specialized staff. This gives them more time to concentrate on more complex care and management duties. Also, this has led to the increased number of individuals responsible for their care.

Operational Framework

Operating environment is also starting to change. For instance, the patient’s choice of where to be treated may undermine the financial position of health care provision centers. Likewise, the introduction of the private sector will, in the long run, affect the existing trusts and provide new opportunities for service delivery.

Policy Environment

Given the new regulations by the government aimed at improving performance, new ways of working and delivering care are evolving. Roles are changing as well as management and organizational structures. The need for improved performance occasioned by financial constraints is also bringing about change (Brown & Jones 2012). This is due to increased innovations in service delivery meaning that there is a continual change in professional roles. Policy changes are also reducing demarcation lines between different professional boundaries, making it much easier to effect changes. Increasing emphasis on interdependence has led to improvement in joint performance through joint monitoring and evaluation.

1.2Challenges and main factors of change

Inadequate capital affects final project outcomes owing to the costs related to the provision of social care service such as hiring new staff, acquiring new equipment, training, and staffing costs are significant challenges for health care provision. Staff resistance or difficulty in adapting to changes is difficult since workers are accustomed to certain ways of operating (Payne 2014). Switching to the new system could be very challenging to them. Political pressure can also compel the institution to achieve set targets.

The changing nature of healthcare comes with challenges and prospects. Staff training and the need for continued professional development are some of the challenges. Furthermore, maintaining quality health care and ensuring the safety of patients, requires extended care and meeting demands for integrated services. To reduce these challenges, there is need to increase the workforce, proper planning, and proper governance to enhance collaboration between administrators and medical providers 

Several opportunities will also come along health care transformation. The increase in skills depths provides advantages and serves to make use of skill mix and expertise in the team. This method also ensures proper staff utilization through identification of specialized knowledge and skills leading to proper utilization of resources (Kadushin & Harkness 2014). Better patient outcomes and more focused patient services, opportunities for development, and job satisfaction will be realized.

2.1Strategy and principles for assessing current changes

Making transformations in an organization involves the determination of the changes that worked and those that never worked; thus, leading to improvements. Therefore, it is expected that one collects data before, during and after the implementation to help measure the progress based on the set goals (Cameron & Green 2015).

Recognize the variables to be estimated and the data required. This relates to the kind of information to be analyzed such as staff attitudes, perceptions et cetera. Secondly, decide the best tools for data collection and develop the best ways to collect them. Thereafter, choose the best tools depending on information required such as the need to know staff attitudes by analyzing members of staff through individual interviews or groups.

Training the personnel is important in developing methods to allow for valid, reliable and accurate data collection.  The information gathered should be organized not just in a systematic way, but by considering the purpose, and technique for efficient data collection.  The data is then analyzed to understand the scale, nature, and the cause of a problem.

2.2. The impact of recent changes

Owing to improved health care standards, and increase population in will be experienced leading to congestion. This change will occasion improvement of transport systems due to the changing demands. The increase in the number of young people requiring social and health care will exert pressure on the providers of social amenities (Brown & Jones 2012)

Owing to the improved standards of living, higher wages are demanded to provide for the increased cost of living. This also means an additional charge for personal care. Improved health care means improved well-being and improvement of the quality of life. This is associated with delivery of high-quality primary care, better access to medical services, improved patient participation through tailored services, and continuity of attention.

Moreover, this will also lead to improved skills while making services available within the community. Collaborative working means provisions of full range services while utilizing available resources, getting access to a larger population leading to improved income generation;  hence; increased profitability.

2.3. The effects of current change in health and social care

Organizational transformations can lead to improved efficiency. This can be achieved by meeting set goals. All agencies should strive to be more efficient following modifications. This is connected to the utilization of available resources to attain the desired output. It also refers to resources utilized by a firm to generate the desired productivity.  Efficiency in organizations maximizes resources during production without wastage (Bourke et al. 2016)

Reduction in cost benefit is geared towards overall cost reduction. Benefits or outcomes should be more than costs incurred to achieve that end. Whether the organization aims to make profits or not, the total cost should be balanced with the outcome of the service so as to be viable. 

Referral in health care refers to the process of transferring patients from a low cadre hospital to a high cadre hospital for further treatment. This referral rates can be used to measure the effectiveness of a hospital based on the number of referrals done to a  high cadre hospital vs. the number of cured patients (Kadushin & Harkness 2014).                                                

This is often done through restructuring and training to improve their skills and technical know-how. The time the patient waits to be attended to is a significant method to evaluate impacts of changes in a health facility. Minimal waiting time indicates speedy patient care administration and by extension faster service delivery and timely intervention.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

2.4. Suitable Responses to recent changes

There should be improved employee participation through the creation of employment opportunities. The management should conduct proper staff training on different technologies. There should also be a change in the structure of the Directorate; new employees should be hired to handle the increased work occasioned by improvements and introduction of new facilities.

There should also be a change of equipment to handle new developments meaning new manpower should be hired to manage or train staff on how to handle new equipment (Cameron &Green, 2015). There should also be a change in service delivery and communication owing to improved facilities.

Local authorities should ensure that people are advised correctly to make good decisions about care and support and the range of available support providers. They should also promote caregivers, children, and families.

3.1. Fundamental principles of change management using Power Point Presentation

3.1.1 Address the “human side” systematically.

Any transformation creates issues touching people. New jobs will be set up new skill and capabilities will be required. Dealing with such changes requires the involvement of leadership, engagement of key stakeholders and leaders.  

3.1.2 Start at the Top.

CEO is seen as the main point as everybody looks to him for strength, support, and direction. Leaders should, therefore, embrace new challenges so as to motivate the rest of the institution. The executives should work together to get the best success.

3.1.3 Involve Every Layer.

Changes affect all sections in the organization and as such training must align individuals to the mission and vision of the organization with the bid of make change happen.

3.1.4 Make the Formal Case.

Legal case allows for creation and alignment of leadership. This is achieved through confronting reality, developing a faith that the company has a healthy future, and provides a clear roadmap that will guide behavior and decision-making.

3.1.5 Create Ownership.

Leaders should accept responsibility in all areas under their control. This achieved through involving people in all the processes and reinforcing by use of incentives and rewards.

3.1.6 Communicate the message.

Communication provides employees with the right information at the right time, and they get their feedback through various channels.

3.1.7 Assess the cultural landscape.

Effects of cultural change should be identified early and addressed to avoid backlash at later stages.

3.1.8    Prepare for the unexpected.

This is achieved through continual assessment of impacts and the willingness to adapt to transformation

3.1.9.    Speak to the individual.

This is intended to educate employees on the intended effects of change constituted, how it will be measured and what success or failures will be expected. By so doing, it will make people aware of the coming changes, and they feel involved in the change process.

3.2. Planning changes in health and social care

Planning for change in health and social care is necessary for continuity of the organization. Any projected effect should be expected. Detailed plan including support after implementation should be documented to ensure that the project is implemented successfully. There is also the need to think of possible mishaps that can occur after implementation. Possible mitigation strategies should be developed to counter the mishaps.

During planning, the goals of the organization are identified, goals are set, tasks are outlined, and schedules of how to accomplish those tasks are developed. It also involves deciding what to do, how, and who will do the tasks. This stage assists in determining the direction of the project (Bourke et al. 2016).  Planning also includes defining the  health tribulations within the society, identifying needs that have not been met, analyzing the resources to meet them, setting goals, and setting action plans for the accomplishment of those programs. Planning also involves establishing policies, programs, objectives, schedules, and budget.

When planning, the following factors, and methods can be considered: stakeholders, staff, management styles, consultation, and communication. All these factors should be aimed at improving health outcomes to reduce inequalities in health and produce effective approaches of care. The change has to be clinically-based; hence, each proposal should then meet the local status. Therefore, the senior management should be at the forefront of the design and development, and patients and members of the public should also be engaged. Local authorities are relevant stakeholders and they can be integrated when planning.

3.3. Monitoring recent changes

To evaluate changes, it is crucial to start with weighing the evidence against each other as this is the best way for determining change.  Several changes exist such as transformational, incremental; episodic, planned, and continuous changes. These changes may be considered by evaluating research, surveys, and sample assessments (Valentin, Schepman & Brinjzeels 2013).  Data collection may be based on people’s opinions regarding on what they view to be the truth, beliefs in what people know, preferences in what they choose, behaviors in what they do, and attitudes in terms of what they need.

Basic questions can be asked that are based on opening response, closed response through different scales that are agreeable, and ranking scales. When reviewing change through the survey, rewards and costs have to be taken into account; People should be more willing to help in evaluating the impact if there is a reward. Reliability and validity should be considered when reviewing the change.

Sampling technique is another method that can be used to monitor and evaluate the change.  This approach provides sample statistics for classifying the targeted people through obtaining controllable objects of study and quantitative representation of resident’s distinctiveness.

Group forums can also act as a basis for reviewing changes in social care services. This platform ensures discussion is carried out either online or through gatherings. Through this avenue, messages are posted and people can hold conversations regarding different topics. Through group feedback, it makes it easy to learn and assess the effect of health services.

Monitoring also ensures the improvement of essential functions in the implementation of health services. It enables one to determine if the service is meeting the set objectives, identify program challenges and benefits, and areas to be revised. This is achieved through analysis of program domains.

Conclusion

The paper has sought to assess the current transformations in health and social care settings. Economic factors, operational framework, policy environment, and knowledge were seen as the underlying factors that drive healthcare and social change. While the challenges and impacts of the change process were evaluated, effective service response mechanisms were proposed.

Essential principles of change management were presented through Microsoft PowerPoint application. In the end, the paper highlighted planning, monitoring, strategy for quantifying change, social care policy, and tools for measuring change.

References

Brown, K., & Osborne, S. P. 2012. Managing change and innovation in public service organizations. Abingdon: Routledge.

Bourke, A. et al 2016. Evidence generation from healthcare databases recommendations for managing change. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

Epstein, M.J. and Buhovac, A.R., 2014. Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Hayes, J., 2014. The theory and practice of change management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Swayne, L.E., Duncan, W.J. and Ginter, P.M., 2012. Strategic management of health care organizations. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Payne, M., 2014. Modern social work theory. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Thompson, N., 2015. Understanding social work: preparing for practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kadushin, A. and Harkness, D., 2014. Supervision in social work. New York: Columbia University Press.

Huber, D., 2013. Leadership and nursing care management. London: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Valentijn, P.P. et al 2013. Understanding integrated care: a comprehensive conceptual framework based on the integrative functions of primary care. International Journal of Integrated Care, 13(1).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here