408 Final

NUR 408 Final ExamConstance MercedesLehman College1) Describe three salient points in the article.The articles three salient points were: The discussion of population health.Nurses are important to the field of population health. The overall health care of America’s residents is declining, and it needs to be addressed.I would like to address the above points in more detail.Population HealthThe article’s focus was population health. To get the best understanding of a topic, it must first be defined. Population health can be described as the collective efforts of health care workers to influence public health. Although it is not just doctors and nurses that bear the responsibility for public health, but the individuals themselves as well as policymakers, corporations and other stakeholders. Importance of NursesNurses are members of the largest healthcare profession in the United States. And because nurses routinely work in disparate locations as homes, places of worship, factories and offices, educational facilities, jails and prisons, nurses are in a good position to observe first hand issues related to the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities, identify clusters of health related issues (for example the measles outbreak in Williamsburg, Brooklyn), connect people to community based resources and develop interventions. America’s Overall HealthRecently, America’s life expectancy declined for the first time in decades. According to a 2017 study from the Rand Corporation, 59% of Americans have one chronic condition, 28% of Americans have two chronic conditions and 13% of Americans have five or more chronic conditions. These chronic conditions take up an ever-increasing amount of health care spending. 2) Based on the data provided, discuss two trends and issues in population health. What do you think are the forces driving the trends and what do you anticipate in the future?Two trends driving healthcare today are an aging population and nurse retirements. The median age in America has been rising according to Peter Borsella, a demographer for the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age has risen since the year 2000. It rose from 35.3 years on April 1, 2000 to 37.9 years on July 1, 2016. Baby boomers are responsible for this trend according to Mr. Borsella. According to Borsella (2017) “baby boomers began turning 65 in 2011 and will continue to do so for many years to come.”There is a projection of 1 million nurse retirements by 2030. Those retirements represent a third of the workforce. Those retirements, however, will allow a new group of nurses to be hired and join the workforce. This also provides retiring and older nurses an opportunity to mentor younger nurses.3) Describe challenges and opportunities for nurses and health care professionals to impact population health. What measures can be taken to improve the quality of nursing graduates entering the workforce as RNs and advanced practice nurses? To become competent in population health, nurses should focus on four population focused metrics:A holistic approach-taking into account all aspects of a situation, including physical, mental, social, and spiritual.Coordinating care-an example would be a primary care physician that practices out of the same building as a pharmacist and other specialties, thus creating an ease of access for the patient. Collaboration- this means involving professionals such as social workers and nurses in managing care of patients.Advocacy- nurses can advocate for patients and the community.Also ensure that nursing education focus on key points such as: care management, chronic disease management, and population data analysis. This can be accomplished by mandating that the NCLEX test population-focused knowledge, encouraging nursing students to become more active politically and become population-focused nursing leaders, developing strategies that promote lifelong population-focused learning strategies, adopting standardized population-focused nursing education curriculum.4) How can nurses best help our nation reverse course on the declining health of its citizens and promote the health of the U.S. population in the 21st century? Nurses can take such actions as advocating for population- focused nursing education and research and advocate to eliminate ineffective and outdated regulations that are not relevant to the field of nursing today. For example, in 27 states nurse practitioners are not allowed to practice to the full extent of their education. Those states have restrictions on what nurse practitioners can do regarding diagnosing conditions and prescribing medication. An effective way to do this would be to advocate for these changes at the local, state and national levels. 5) Considering what you have learned in class as well as the article, how does this issue relate to policy and politics? The article makes recommendations such as calling on businesses to provide nurses a seat at the table when issues of employee and population health are discussed and advises researchers to evaluate the impact of nursing-led initiatives to show the valuable contributions that nurses make to healthcare. But what I have learned from this class is that nurses cannot implore others to do things for them. It is up to nurses themselves to act and force change through mobilization. There are different ways to accomplish this such as running for public office, staging public demonstrations, joining a union or serving on a board. No matter the way, nurses must make their voices heard.Reference ListUS Census Bureau. (2018, April 10). The Nation’s Older Population Is Still Growing, Census Bureau Reports. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/cb17-100.htmlChronic Conditions in America: Price and Prevalence. (2017, July 12). Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/blog/rand-review/2017/07/chronic-conditions-in-america-price-and-prevalence.html