Ethical Legal and Regulatory Issues in Nursing
Healthy care policies
Healthy care policy can be described as the actions that a government state or local individuals take with an aim or intention to raise the standards or bring the public health to a higher level. To advance public health the healthy care policy; organize finance and deliver health care services. Some of the health care services include; health professional training overseeing the safety of medicines and medical devices public programs administering and regulating private health insurance. (Bartlette & Lawson2008)
Health care policies are developed after wisely shaping public and healthy policies. One should understand the impacts of political social and economic factors on health and well being of the public. Healthy policy is a cause of action that influences health care decisions i.e. the health of the society. Public policy is a policy generated by governmental agencies and enacted through legislation. It is influenced by factors such as economics social issues research and technology. (John 1998)
Healthy policy developed on an institutional level address issues of workplace such as the required number of patients a hospital can care forit shapes nursing practices by establishing standards of care or a cod of ethics and promotes healthy communities by improving air quality or implementing health screening processes. (Harrington 2004)
Development of healthy care policies
Being the largest group of health providers nurses are in a powerful position to influence the development of Healthy Care Policies. They start by taking a position on a certain issue or problem which the public is reacting to. The issue should be of negative impacts to both their profession and to the health of the public. Then the individual nurses agree to become actively involved in finding the best remedy to the issue.( Kovner Knickman & Jonas2011)
In the second stage or phase of health care policy development the individual nurses begin to establish their identity as a political voice. They organize and develop strategies to resolve the particular issue.
In the third stage the politically interested nurses find a way to influence policymakers and other health care stakeholders to inform them about the value and contributions of nursing to a specific public and healthy policy. It is in this stage where nurses testify before legislative committees on health matters and this helps them secure higher jobs when they get appointed to advisory boards and policy making bodies.
The next and the last stage mark the highest level of political involvement. Here the nurses are very involved insetting the agenda and initiating policy development which is enacted through the legislative process.
According to my philosophy the best way to develop health care policies is by employing mechanization technology and other modern inventions that are effective. Instead of waiting for issues to arise only competent nurses should be in the healthcare centers. They will be able to foresee and firmly speak out about what is good for the public health.
Nursing and healthcare organizations with lobbyists should take over to monitor bills and regularly testify. Use of Information systems or advanced technology will also boost the performance in hospitals.
Big spacious hospitals with enough qualified doctors nurses and the whole staff should be constructed to avoid congestion and delaying to offer medical services. Good salaries and promotions should be granted to all workers to avoid strikes and ensure that patients are treated well.
The government should support nursing and health care organization at all costs to ensure that they facilitate the projects to better the public health. It should also help by implementing and enacting health care policy development.
The development of healthy care policies has been of positive value to my professional role as a nurse. After testifying to the legislative committee on health matters last year I was appointed as a member of the advisory board. This has brought fame and I have been encouraged to work harder and even go for higher studies related to my career.