One of the most significant healthcare reforms in the United States of America is the Affordable care Act (2010). The act has since sparked heated debate between the democrats and republicans with many giving opinions for and against it. The act expanded Medicaid to the lowest paid people in USA, encouraged employees to take healthcare insurances, provides credit for insurance purchase for those not eligible for Medicaid, and improves ways of purchasing insurances by allowing health insurance exchange, increased consumer protection and transparency. It also protects against unfair increase of insurance rates, encourages preventive and the primary care, and requires as many Americans as possible to buy health insurances (“Federal Health care reform, n.d ) The ACA was challenged court and by June 28, 2012, almost all the provisions of the act were upheld by the USA Supreme Court.
The ACA shall affect nurse in various ways. The nurses alongside other healthcare professional have the duty to transform the healthcare systems as advocated in ACA (American Nursing Association, n.d). It is important to note that the ACA increase the number of Americans accessing the healthcare facilities than before. It is imperative therefore, that the nurses ought to cope with the large number of patients that shall be seeking healthcare under the provisions of insurance. Whereas that is important, the number of nurses has to be increased to make sure that the number of patients does not overwhelm them watering down the healthcare provisions. If the number of nurses is not raised to meet the ballooning number of people in the healthcare facilities, the initial goal of improving the health of the majority would be compromised greatly leading to worse situations than before.
As the ACA implementation takes shape, more nurses shall begin work outside the hospital. The holistic approach and establishment of the healthcare centres run by nurses as well as the focus on community shall see many nurses working outside the hospital. The chronically ill shall be taken care of at their home. As incurrence providers increases focus on outpatient, there shall be need for more ambulatory nurses.
In addition, the training of nurses ought to expand s as to be able to offer the best services as demand for better services shall increases. Under the ACA, the pay-for performance programs are critical since quality of healthcare has to be improved to meet the highest quality possible. It is common for people to demand for better services once they have the capacity to pay for them. In addition, as the healthcare changes, the changing healthcare system is going to create new nursing specialties (Jill Elaine Hughes, March 21, 2013). The ACA provides money for advancement in such studied. More aged patients shall be catered for by the geriatric nurses as more incentives are offered. Initially, the nurses used to stops taking care of the patients once they are beyond age 65.
The changing environment requires that the number of nurses be increased as soon as it is practical since the swelling number of people in the few facilities may cripple the whole program. Such can be done by enrolling many nurses students in to colleges as well as offering them the best services with specific specialization geared towards the implementation of the ACA.
References
Federal Health care reform in New York. Retrieved on November 30, 2014 from http://www.healthcarereform.ny.gov/summary/
American Nursing Association(nd). Retrieved on November 30, 2014 from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy- Advocacy/HealthSystemReform/AffordableCareAct.pdf
Jill Elaine Hughes, March 21, 2013. 5 ways the Affordable Care Act affects nursing. Accessed on December 1, 2014.
