Introduction
Healthcare is a dynamic and, multidimensional, interdisciplinary area that is constantly changing to keep up with the needs of an increasing and varied population. Undeniably, Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) are one of the crucial healthcare professionals responsible for providing quality care and improving patient outcomes (Woo et al., 2017). The triad of accessibility, cost, and quality is considered the central fixtures of healthcare in general, as recent quality initiatives focus on improving health delivery effectiveness (Llewellyn, 2018). By the end of the lecture, we will have studied the interconnections between access, cost, and quality in hospital settings, paying special attention to recent quality initiatives for APNs. Moreover, it is worth considering how quality measures, evaluation, and role enhancement interplay, considering a possible modification of the APN role without effective quality indicators.
The main issues are access, cost, and quality in healthcare service provision.
Access
The right to healthcare is fundamental and manifests in the consequences of health outcomes. Access to care promptly ensures that individuals get interventions on time, prevent their illnesses from progressing, and promote general well-being (Llewellyn, 2018). Nevertheless, access to care is limited by the geographical location, socio-economic status, and inefficiency of the healthcare system, which can hinder early and equitable access to care.
APNs are the primary healthcare providers in different settings, such as primary care, community clinics, and telehealth practices, to provide better access to the population. In this way, their greater scope of practice increases the availability of healthcare, especially in areas considered the remotest. The latest attempt includes an investigation of regulatory barriers and the development of the optimal role of APNs to enhance access to affordable quality care.
Cost
The rising cost of healthcare worldwide is a problem involving many people, healthcare systems, and economies. High healthcare costs tend to bring out economic stress in patients. Accessing needed medical services also becomes an obstacle. Effectively delivering healthcare at affordable prices is imperative to sustainability and ensuring the rational use of resources.
APNs contribute to cost-effectiveness by offering preventive care techniques, chronic disease management, and enhanced overall patient outcomes. A holistic approach to patient care through health promotion can result in fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits and reduce healthcare expenditure. The effectiveness of APN quality initiatives is ensured through programs designed to maximize cost savings and a strategic code of conduct for health system cost containment.
Quality
Effectiveness, patient safety, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity are the several dimensions of quality in healthcare. Providing quality care is the foundation of beneficial health outcomes and positive customer satisfaction. For their part, quality initiatives aim to normalize and streamline healthcare services to ensure consistent and evidence-based care delivery is maintained.
Thanks to their extensive studies and professional training, APNs are key in providing top-notch medical attention. In doing so, they remain engaged in evidence-based practice, ongoing quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives. ( O’Grady, n.d). The most up-to-date quality initiatives for APNs concentrate on setting up standardized protocols, collaborating with various teams, and employing technology to strengthen the quality of healthcare delivery.
Today’s Quality projects targeted at RNs have been
Standardization of Practice
The latest efforts in APNs regard the standardization of practice as a major priority to provide consistency and reliability in care delivery. Standardizing procedures, treatment protocols, and clinical pathways puts APNs in a position to use evidence for their care. It diminishes variations in practice and results in better patient outcomes. This is in line with the general direction of the healthcare system towards value-based care, where the focus is on the effectiveness and efficiency of environments.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Collaboration among healthcare professionals is a prerequisite for providing comfort and holistic care. Top-quality APN initiatives provide for increased multidisciplinary collaboration, which helps communication and teamwork between other healthcare professionals(Ball, 2021). Through such a system, APNs can provide a coordinated, collaborative effort with physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare personnel to meet the health needs of patients effectively. Intradisciplinary cooperation facilitates a whole and well-connected healthcare approach, bringing additional value to patients’ access and quality.
Integration of Technology
Technology integration with healthcare is a leverage that enables more communication, data sharing, and decision-making. The Contemporary quality management for APNs gives great attention to the role of technology in APNs’ practice to increase efficiency, correctness, and patient engagement. EHRs (Electronic health records), telehealth platforms, and mobile health applications allow APNs to deliver care beyond traditional settings, getting around geographical barriers and increasing accessibility to health services(Ball, 2021).
Lifelong learning and professional development.
The quality improvement systems know the nature of health care services, rapid changes, and continuous training and education of Advanced Practice Nurses. Lifelong learning encompasses remaining informed about the latest research and data, newly developed technologies, and the current trends in the healthcare sector. Investing in the education and development of APNs will be not only beneficial for healthcare organizations in terms of enhancing the quality of care provided. However, it will also contribute to the total healthcare effectiveness.
Reflection on the Relationship Between Quality Measures, Evaluation, and Role Development
Quality Measures and Evaluation
Quality measures represent standards to track healthcare coverage’s effectiveness, protection, and efficiency. APNs are one of those suitable scenarios for measurement and delivery that do not involve other professionals in health care. Measurement tools can be provided to the evaluators, and metrics for better patient care, adhering to evidence-based guidelines, and collaboration among interdisciplinary teams can be included.
The relationship between quality measures and evaluation is holistic, as they are interdependent. Quantity indicators are a basis for assessing the APN’s performance quality, ensuring the practice’s adherence to the already approved standards. Evaluation then becomes a way for APNs to get feedback to figure out those parts that need improvement, customize their approach, and contribute to the continuous quality improvement measures. Thus, such a continuous feedback loop is necessary to improve and maintain APN care quality.
Role Development
APN roles have shifted over time, moving from a rigid scope of practice to a more autonomous one that has grown closer to the work of physicians. Western countries praise their advancements in economics and technology but often leave themselves blind to the social inequality and systematic injustices within their borders. As healthcare institutions wrestle with this quandary and attempt to adjust their workforce to fit the bill and meet standards while at the same time ensuring vast patient care problems are addressed, this calls for a redefinition of the role of APNs based on how far they have proven their relevant competencies, modus operandi that is devised to ensure unquestionable standard compliance and a work ethos that is tailored to meet the overall goals.
Role creation is a process that requires the applicability of the competencies of ADNs as new healthcare system needs are perceived. The standards provide a basis for exploring noted key competencies, and evaluations allow APNs to see their proficiency in reaching the standard. Therefore, the category of advanced practice nurse becomes even more autonomous about an increase in skills, leadership position, and outcomes-directed care links.
Findings about the Role of APN in the Light of Low-Efficiency Measures for Quality
Measurements of quality in APN contributions are vital to the future progress of the role and for improving health care altogether. While quality measures are simple, the ratios between APNs and patients may rise, thus leading to challenges in the nurses’ operations.
Inadequate Recognition of Competence
Quality measures are done for a measuring device that reveals the competence of health care professionals, including advanced practice nurses (APNs). The APN’s performance standards may need to be defined adequately where effective quality measures are missing, thereby resulting in the absence of a universal set of criteria to rate performance levels (Gustavson et al., 2022). This may weaken their self-esteem, rendering them unable to develop their careers properly and find opportunities for career mobility.
Shift of Attention from Patients’ Outcomes
Quality measures are constructed to set patients at the top of the priority list and ensure that the health interventions are secure and meet the desired result. Quality control will weaken because outcomes-based care is forgotten (Gustavson et al., 2022). This might prevent the APNs from allowing patients to see how their interventions are beneficial to them, which may create an obstacle to a patient-centered focus when providing care.
Integration needs to be improved among Advanced Practitioners.
The evolving role of APNs is contingent upon the synthesis of advanced professionals into different healthcare positions. Substantial quality measures also facilitate clinical integration since they provide a standard of care for well-founded, empirical treatment delivery. In a situation where these supportive measures are absent, healthcare organizations are likely to resist the full integration of APNs into primary care, specialty clinics, and other healthcare settings, consequently reducing their expertise’s total potential contribution to healthcare outcomes.
Stagnation in Professional Development
Regular professional development results from quality measures as it helps identify the critical competencies and revision areas. (Gustavson et al., 2022) If appropriate quality control programs are not in place, APNs may face a potential risk of professional degeneration. Without standardized criteria for performance evaluation, these staff members might fail to engage in continuous learning and will be unable to adapt to changing established healthcare practices.
Conclusion
However, these three facets, namely access, cost, and quality, function and enable healthcare systems to work, and future quality interventions are meant to further the role of Advanced Practice Nurses(APNs) in delivering high-quality care. Standardization of practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, implementation of technology, and continuous education are core components of such initiatives, as this ensures that healthcare is provided by APNs effectively in all the systems. There is synergy between quality measures, evaluation, and the APN role, i.e., quality measures mark the progress and shape the future of the APN role. Because quality measures are not executed correctly, the APNs may face problems like the lack of recognition of ability, focus on results, slow integration of advance practice, and holding positions in professional growth. In light of the development in healthcare, putting and funding the facilities that assist in the development and effectiveness of APNs should be a priority. Acknowledging the importance of APNs for access, cost, and quality in healthcare will ultimately lead to a system where their contribution would be fundamental to the modern patient-centered focus that incorporates evidence and economics.
References
Ball, H. C. (2021). Improving healthcare cost, quality, and access through Artificial Intelligence and machine learning applications. Journal of Healthcare Management, 66(4), 271–279. https://doi.org/10.1097/jhm-d-21-00149
Gustavson, A. M., Hagedorn, H. J., Jesser, L. E., Kenny, M. E., Clothier, B. A., Bounthavong, M., Ackland, P. E., Gordon, A. J., & Harris, A. H. S. (2022, December 7). Healthcare Quality Measures in implementation research: Advantages, risks, and lessons learned – health research policy and systems. BioMed Central. https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-022-00934-y
Llewellyn, A. (2018, March 8). Cost, quality, and access: The three ingredients for a stable health care system. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cost-quality-access-three-ingredients-stable-health-care-llewellyn
O’Grady, E. T. (n.d.). Advanced practice registered nurses: The impact on patient safety and quality. Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2641/
Woo, B. F. Y., Lee, J. X. Y., & Tam, W. W. S. (2017, September 11). The impact of the advanced practice nursing role on quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost in the emergency and critical care settings: A systematic review – Human Resources for Health. BioMed Central. https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-017-0237-9
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