NRS 433 Week 2 Discussion: Healthcare Policy Appraisal

NRS 433 Week 2 Discussion: Healthcare Policy Appraisal

NRS 433 Week 2 Discussion: Healthcare Policy Appraisal

Discussion Board Post on Healthcare Policy Appraisal Discussion
Please see following instructions: (Please see attached reference as listed in the directions)
Considering the Policy Process (Chapter 7 – Berkowitz in Mason, Levitt, & Chaffee), appraise a recent healthcare policy change on your unit or in your organization using the Policy Process. This discussion may also present for you an opportunity to reflect back on a “burning question” that you have as a nurse.
Problem: What was the basis for the policy change? What was the problem? How was it identified?
Evidence based rationale: What evidence was used to determine the problem was significant enough to result in a change?

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Options: Were there alternative options for consideration prior to developing the policy? How was the policy implemented?
Stakeholder Involvement: Who was informed and educated about the decisions and issues surrounding the problem, issue, policy?
Implementation: What were the actions steps to implementation?
Evaluation: Did the policy work (resolve the problem it was designed to address)? Were there any unintended consequences of the policy? How likely will the policy impact change on the unit, in the organization or in your practice?

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Healthcare Policy Appraisal Discussion

Healthcare policies are adopted to address different clinical problems in medical facilities. Similarly, our organization uses healthcare policies to resolve various clinical issues. This discussion analysis a recent healthcare policy change in our organization using the policy process, including clinical problems necessitating policy change, evidence-based rationale, options, stakeholder involvement, implementation, and evaluation.

Problem

            The policy change was necessitated by the organization’s high rate of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Haque et al. (2018) state that HAIs are infections that inpatients contract within 48 hours after being hospitalized. Forms of HAIs reported in the healthcare organization include catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), surgical site infection (SSI), and ventilator-associated events (VAE).

Evidence-Based Rationale

            The clinical issue of interest in the organization is the high rate of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). HAIs are associated with adverse health outcomes, including high morbidity and mortality rates, more extended stay, high readmission rate, and high cost of healthcare (Benenson et al., 2020). For this reason, HAIs is a severe problem in healthcare organization. Haque et al. (2018) state that HAIs impose a substantial financial burden on individual patients and healthcare organizations. The cost of care increases due HAIs’ medications and treatment procedures. Additionally, HAIs are a significant factor contributing to the high morbidity and mortality rates in various medical facilities. Therefore, policy change is required to reduce the high rate of HAIs in the organization, preventing adverse health outcomes, including high morbidity and mortality rates, more extended stay, high readmission rate, and high cost of healthcare.

Options

            Two alternative options, including using antibiotics to treat infections and practicing hand hygiene involving washing hands with soap and running water or using alcohol hand rub, could be adopted to reduce HAIs in the organization. However, practicing hand hygiene was preferred as an evidence-based change due to its effectiveness in preventing hospital-acquired infections (Sands et al., 2020). Maintaining hand hygiene kills microorganisms in healthcare providers’ hands, preventing them from being transmitted to the patients. The actual implementation of the changed policy involved a 12-weeks education program.

Stakeholder Involvement

            Change policy implementation involved a 12-weeks education program. Two training sessions, each lasting for 60 minutes, were conducted weekly at the organization’s social halls. Healthcare workers, including physicians, specialists, nurse leaders, and nurses, were informed about the problem and required policy change during the training. Staff members attended the training in shifts to avoid interrupting service delivery. The change policy team educated healthcare workers on how to practice hand hygiene by washing their hands regularly with soap and water or using alcohol hand rub, preventing transmission of pathogens from one patient to another.

Implementation

Implementation of the desired change involved various sequential steps, including identifying the clinical issue necessitating the change, weighing possible options, selecting the best alternative, identifying the stakeholders to be involved during change implementation, and actual implementation of the proposed change, which involved creating awareness regarding practicing hand hygiene among healthcare workers.

Evaluation

The policy was successfully implemented in the organization. Change policy increased hand-hygiene knowledge and compliance among healthcare workers. Consequently, the policy will likely reduce HAIs in the organization or your practice.

Overall, the selected clinical issue is the high rate of HAIs. HAIs are associated with adverse health outcomes, including high morbidity and mortality rates, more extended stay, high readmission rate, and high cost of healthcare, necessitating policy change in the organization. Two alternative options, including using antibiotics to treat infections and practicing hand hygiene involving washing hands with soap and running water or using alcohol hand rub, could be adopted to reduce HAIs in the organization. However, practicing hand hygiene was preferred as an evidence-based change due to its effectiveness in preventing hospital-acquired infections. The education program increased hand-hygiene knowledge and compliance among healthcare workers and is anticipated to reduce HAIs in the organization.

References

Benenson, S., Cohen, M. J., Schwartz, C., Revva, M., Moses, A. E., & Levin, P. D. (2020). Is it financially beneficial for hospitals to prevent nosocomial infections? BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 1-9. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-020-05428-7.

Haque, M., Sartelli, M., McKimm, J., & Bakar, M. A. (2018). Healthcare-associated infections–an overview. Infection and drug resistance, 11, 2321. Doi: 10.2147/IDR.S177247.

Sands, M., Aiken, A. M., Cumming, O., & Aunger, R. (2020). The effect of behavioral interventions targeting hand hygiene practices among nurses in high-income hospital settings: a systematic review. Public health reviews, 41(1), 1-20. https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-020-00141-6