Legislative Assignment

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Legislative Worksheet (SBAR Format) –

How a Bill Becomes a Law

SITUATION: IS THIS SOMETHING THAN CAN BE LEGISLATED?

Identify the problem/concern: Tennessee as a state is substantially affected by the barrier imposed on nurses’ job performance despite the fact that nurses, in general, play a significant role in streamlining and ensuring that every individual receives medical care. As such, Legislation of policies that directly touch on the removal of nurse’s job barriers is vital to address this worrying trend (Khodayar Oshvandi).

State your proposal/idea. Tennessee under the able leadership of its Representative Diane Black has marked a significant stride in all as appertains to health care through the enactment of Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2016(Diane Black) which paved the way for equitable reimbursement of funds to rural hospitals in Tennessee. As such, it is imperative through her leadership, that another legislation is put forward aimed at total “removal of barriers” to nurses ability to perform their obligations in health care facilities.

BACKGROUND: DO YOUR RESEARCH

Functions and importance of nurses

A nurse is a person trained to take care of the sick. As such nursing involves the use of established medical judgment in the course of the provision of medical care to enable the sick maintain, improve, or better recover health, cope with health problems, and also achieve the best quality of life, no matter their disease or disability, until death. As such, this points out to the most vital role nursing plays in health care facilities, and specifically to the patients who need it- care (American Nurses Association).

Nursing functions include but not limited to: first, delivering excellent care to patients by evaluating and informing on the progress of the patient. Implementing the nursing process is also a way in which the nurses ensure proper care to patients. Secondly, the nurses coordinate and monitor interdisciplinary care by providing effective communication with physicians and other CSS. Moreover, nurses pursue correct problems appropriately. Thirdly, nurses are intimately involved in educating patients and their families and above all sensitize the community as a whole. They achieve this function by participating in discussions regarding palliative care and above all consider the cultural, linguistic competencies and literacy in the process of educating patients. More so, the nurses ensure the maintenance of the nursing organization. The nurses get involved in planning, organizing, and evaluation of the work of nursing. As if not enough, nurses also take part in improving nursing performance by ensuring the coordination in offering house nursing education programs (Kane RL).

Most importantly is that, throughout these processes, nurses ensure that the services they render to their patients are patient centered. More so, they provide timely attention to each and every patient`s disability. Last but not least, they provide efficiency by minimizing the total cost of care and disability adequately. Lastly, nurses provide equitable distribution of care to each and every patient in need of their attention without discriminating them against culture, gender, and ethnicity.

Category of nurses

The nursing profession has a broad class of nurses with different educational requirements and different certification from various bodies. Due to this fact, it implies that different nurses carry out different roles in a health care facility. As such, due to the uniqueness of the tasks they perform, they become a valuable asset that every health care facility needs to have. For instance, advanced practice registered nurses need to have a minimum of master’s degree in either preventive, primary, or chronic care. The second category is that of a Nurse Practitioner. Certified Nurse-Midwife, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, public health nurse, Clinical Nurse Leader, and Nurse Doctorate are some of the major categories of professional nurses (American Nurses Association).

Impact of nurses job barriers

Everyone needs a healthy and comfortable working environment to not only realize their personal development but also deliver efficient and effective services. As such with a lot of working barriers imposed on nurses, the results to be received will be more of negative than positive. For instance, with too many restrictions imposed on the nurses will automatically lead to job stress and job dissatisfaction on the nurses’ part. Therefore, the result will be decreased nurses work motivation. Reduced work motivation will evidently transpire in the end results such as but not limited to ineffective skill mix between the nurses and other health care providers. Secondly, lack of mentoring and little to no advocacy of residency programs. Inadequacy professional development of different nurses is another anticipated result in case the barriers to nurses persist. Apart from that, the slow response of nurses as appertains to a possible hazard in a patient (Kane RL).

Weak recovery goals set by nurses that foster recovery of patients to a slight extent. More so, a massive problem of drug errors falls, delays in care are prone to increase. As such the “never events” will continue to occur in health care facilities. Lastly, it may contribute to the understaffing which is a problem of great concern in many regions. As nurses will feel the urge of leaving their jobs to participate in other activities that they deem fit on their part (Khodayar Oshvandi).

There has been no significant documented legislation in Tennessee, aimed at setting out to impact change in all as appertains to the removal of barriers to nurses’ job performance.

ASSESSMENT: FINANCES AND STAKEHOLDERS

Identify financial implications if any (e.g., added costs, cost savings, increased revenue):

To champion and echo this voice of change further, we will need support. As such the financial impact expected will be regarding the printing of T-shirts, banners, fliers, and posters aimed at creating awareness of the barriers to Nurses Job performance and further call people in to yield their support for the right change.

Identify stakeholder groups that would support this bill: nurses in various health care facilities will come in support of the bill. Above all, it is expected that all legislators who were once nurses will come in significant support of the bill. To a greater extent, the institute of medicine will greatly get in support of this bill at all costs as they are instruments of pushing forward for this real change.

Identify people/groups that would oppose this bill: legislators who are not nurses, in as so far us many of the legislators will come in support of the bill, others will not find in them the dire need for pushing such a good bill forward gets an assent to law. More so, it is expected; most physicians may not come in full support of the bill for fear of either anticipated “victimizations” or simply tenure of their jobs.

RECOMMENDATION

Make an appointment with your legislator to discuss your proposal. If this bill gets an enactment into law, it would not only serve as a sovereignty to the job performance of the nurses but also an avenue of quality care to the patients at large. As such I deem it fit to meet further with you, – Representative Diane Black, in the course of next week at a time and place of your choosing to further deliberate on this issue. And find the best way forward in addressing this challenge. A solution today this challenge is the benefit of the nurses and to a greater extent, to the patients of tomorrow. More so, it will serve as a legacy to your administration.

CONCLUSION

The leadership of Representative Diane Black has marked a significant stride in all as appertains to health care through the enactment of Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2016 (Diane Black) which paved the way for equitable reimbursement of funds to rural hospitals in Tennessee. As such, it is imperative through her able leadership, that another legislation is put forward aimed at total “removal of barriers” to nurses ability to perform their obligations in health care facilities. I believe that the Representative is a change activator, as such she will actively take part in this legislation to see to it that this bill becomes law.

References

American Nurses Association. “ANA Supports Bill to Improve Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients.” News Release. 2011. http://nursingworld.org/Functional-.

Diane Black. Black Introduces a Bipartisan Legislation to Ensure Fair Reimbursement for Tennessee Hospitals. 2 February 2016. https://black.house.gov/press-release/black-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-ensure-fair-reimbursement-tennessee-hospitals. 18 February 2016.

Kane RL, Shamliyan T, Mueller C, Duval S, Wilt T. Nurse Staffing and Quality of Patient Care. Evidence Report. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Minnesota: Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center, Minneapolis, Contract No. 290-02-0009., 2007.

Khodayar Oshvandi, Vahid Zamanzadeh, Fazlollah Ahmadi, Eskandar Fathi-Azar, Denis Anthony, & Tina Harris. “Barriers to Nursing Job Motivation.” Research Journal of Biological Sciences 3.4 (2008): 426-434.