Discuss one key challenge that you anticipate facing in advanced practice as a result of one of the provisions of your selected mandate.
The Affordable Care Act has various provisions that influence the health care system of the United States. The aspects of this mandate affect all types of medical professionals, including professional nurses. According to Lathrop and Hodnicki (2014), most of the provisions that impact nursing care specifically are focused on primary care and preventative health services. For example, some rules increase the availability of primary care providers by allocating additional funding for nursing education and providing grants for nurse practitioners (Lathrop & Hodnicki, 2014). Moreover, the Affordable Care Act provides financial help for nurse-managed health centers.
These provisions serve as effective incentives for nurses to receive a better education and continue pursuing this profession. Moreover, the retention rates for nurses working under these conditions should be higher because of the expected levels of job satisfaction. Furthermore, some provisions are directed towards patients having more access to evidence-based health care, which allows nurses to practice prevention programs more efficiently.
While these provisions grant some positive outcomes and improve health care affordability, they may also result in some challenges that nursing professionals can face. One of the key challenges that exist as a result of these provisions is the need for more primary care providers. It is possible that, upon getting more access to health care, patients may experience the lack of care from nursing professionals due to their small number.
The increasing availability of various check-ups and assessments may influence the workload of hospitals and other medical facilities. According to Lathrop and Hodnicki (2014), “most newly insured patients will access care through primary care clinics that are already experiencing a shortage of providers” (p. 11). Therefore, the provisions of the Affordable Care Act can affect the nurses’ abilities to administer the appropriate care to all patients.
Select the state where you plan to work as an advanced practice nurse (Florida) and investigate the state’s policies on access to contraception and abortion for women with insurance and those without. What are the state’s infant and maternal mortality rates? Discuss the possible relationship between these factors. Address how as an advanced practice nurse and nursing leader, one can influence a desired change in the current health policies. Be sure to identify one MSN Essential that most relate to this topic in your discussions.
I plan to work in Florida. This state’s policies allow access to FDA-approved types of contraception. According to the Florida Department of Health (2017a), the priority of providing people with services and preventative products goes to individuals from low-income families. The state’s policies outline abstinence counseling as one of the best ways to improve the rate of unintended pregnancies. Various health plans offer the ability to get an abortion under the Affordable Care Act, which gives women the right to have their abortion covered by insurance. Otherwise, individuals have to pay additional fees to get access to the operation.
For example, Medicaid of the State of Florida does not cover abortions (Florida Department of Health, 2017a). Furthermore, women without insurance cannot have access to public funding (Weitz et al., 2013). Thus, most women with and without insurance have limited access to contraception and abortion in Florida.
The state’s infant mortality rates for the year 2015 were 6.24 for 1000 births (Florida Department of Health, 2017b). Moreover, according to the Florida Department of Health (2017b), the actual rates of infant mortality in several counties of Florida were significantly higher than the expected ones. He, Akil, Aker, Hwang, and Ahmad (2015) state that there is a slow decline in the rates of infant mortality in Florida. However, the maternal mortality rates fluctuate continuously.
Florida Department of Health (2017b) estimates that 160 women died from pregnancy-associated causes in 2015 and 24 percent of these deaths were directly connected to pregnancy or childbirth. It is possible that the mortality rate of women can be lowered by giving women more access to contraception and related services. One can influence these rates by proposing and promoting policies connected to better access to contraception and better education about ways of prevention other than abstinence. One of the MSN essentials, namely Health Policy and Advocacy, states that a nurse should be able to implement necessary health policies and advocate for members of the community.
References
Florida Department of Health. (2017a). Family planning. Web.
Florida Department of Health. (2017b). Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (PAMR). Web.
He, X., Akil, L., Aker, W. G., Hwang, H. M., & Ahmad, H. A. (2015). Trends in infant mortality in the United States: A brief study of the southeastern States from 2005–2009. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(5), 4908-4920.
Lathrop, B., & Hodnicki, D. (2014). The Affordable Care Act: Primary care and the doctor of nursing practice nurse. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(2), 1-14.
Weitz, T. A., Taylor, D., Desai, S., Upadhyay, U. D., Waldman, J., Battistelli, M. F., & Drey, E. A. (2013). Safety of aspiration abortion performed by nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants under a California legal waiver. American Journal of Public Health, 103(3), 454-461.