Currently, there is a diversity of factors that converge radically to alter any kind of environment from the education sector, the military, transport sector and particularly the United States’ practice of Nursing. This paper will focus on the changes and growth within the practice of nursing in the United States. A number of significant changes within the designated responsibilities as well as functions that are placed upon nurses within the US have existed (Boomer & McCormack, 2010). In the modern day, nurses are expected and called upon to perform more roles within the healthcare system. With regards to this, there are increasing demands concerning their education and practice. More education and exposure are expected of them as the way they receive their teachings and curricular continue to transform every day (McCorkle et al., 2012).
Away from the education and transformation of curriculum, there have been increasing technological advancements happening in almost all facets of the structure of health care in the United States. Developments in the health care system have additionally been occasioned by more funding for the nursing education. This is a move or campaign aimed at encouraging more students to pursue a nursing career or to further their education in this field. Advancements in technology in this field have sparked a number of things. For instance, the methods with which treatment is offered have been transformed within the health care structure. This transformation has caused or induced the call for the promotion of continuity in the efforts to offer better treatment and in the development of improved methods of payment. This has been achieved through, for example, improvement of the ACOs (Accountable Care Organization). In the same light, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Patient Protection measures in the health care system will bring about a number of changes in the nursing practice in the US.
The restructuring of the practice of nursing and the entire health care sector refer to a complete sweep in terms of changes in ownership, regulation and organization of all providers of health care and mostly so the nurses. Presently, decision making and policies have moved outside the personal patient or doctor relationship, and traditional service delivery and staffing patterns have changed. The attention today is on the quality of care provided to the patients (Boomer & McCormack, 2010). Formulas have now been developed aimed at calculating the efficiency of treatment for particular services especially in the treatment. This is in response to pressure from various stakeholders in the industry to safeguard the quality of care. Organizations that manage care are in collaboration to find measures and objective means to attain quality of care. Still focusing on quality, a lot of studies are being conducted to check the adequacy of nurses in nursing homes and hospitals (Sullivan et al., 2006). For the foreseeable future, the current education mix may lack adequacy in meeting the future or even current demands within the ever changing health care structure. This is the case even with the aggregate number of nurses registered and otherwise, being adequate in meeting national needs. Notably, a number of issues were raised concerning the scarcity of registered and professional nurses working in nursing homes (McCorkle et al., 2012). Additionally, the possibility of these nurses being called to fill other roles that need exposure in judgment and managing complicated situations and more clinical autonomy is very high (Sullivan et al., 2006). To ensure that the growth and changes in the practice of nursing are beneficial to all, the structures must be reviewed to ensure improved conditions for the staff and the clients.
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