Week 1 Healthcare Policy & Finance peers’ response
substantially respond to
at least two other student posts in a way that prompts further input or provides another viewpoint.
Describe a situation from your professional experience that backs up your viewpoint and discuss the social, moral, political and economic factors impacting your position. Please provide references using APA format.
1st peer post
Andrea Grisales
Jan 10, 2024 at 9:37 AM
As a nurse, I have an in-depth understanding of the healthcare system, which might influence your expectations and interactions with it as a consumer. We, as nurses, often have high standards for the quality of care, given our professional background. This perspective might influence our expectations and satisfaction as consumers of healthcare services. We are bound by ethical and professional standards, which might influence their expectations of care. We might be more sensitive to patient rights, informed consent, and ethical treatment issues in healthcare settings.
Knowledge of the U.S. healthcare system impacts how I can help other stakeholders with education. Understanding the healthcare system allows me to educate other patients on navigating it more effectively. This includes explaining how to access services, understand insurance coverages, and advocate for themselves. Doing so makes me feel like I empower patients to make informed decisions. I can also help improve health literacy among other consumers. This involves explaining medical terms, treatment options, and preventive measures in a way that is easy to understand. Increased health literacy is linked to better health outcomes, as shown in various studies.
When considering the advancement of healthcare policy initiatives in the U.S., various spheres of influence play critical roles. Each stakeholder has unique capacities and perspectives that can significantly impact policy development and implementation. Consumers, or patients, are central to healthcare policy initiatives. They are the ultimate beneficiaries of healthcare services and policies. Their experiences, needs, and feedback provide essential insights into what works and doesn’t in the healthcare system. While all these stakeholders have unique roles and capacities to influence healthcare policy, the most impactful advancements are likely when there is collaboration and alignment among these various spheres. The literature supports the idea that multi-stakeholder engagement, combining the strengths and perspectives of each group, leads to more comprehensive, effective, and sustainable healthcare policy initiatives.
2nd peer post
Darrell Williams
Jan 9, 2024 at 1:39 PM
As a consumer of healthcare services and insurance, consider your own perspectives of the U.S. healthcare system. Please address each of the following aspects in your discussion response and support your answer with evidence from the literature.
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As a nurse, you wear at least two or more stakeholder hats; how does being a nurse influence your role as a consumer of healthcare?
Being a nurse, my role as a consumer of healthcare has made me far more knowledgeable and much more critical in regard to what my money is purchasing for my healthcare needs. I believe anyone working in the field to which they may purchase something makes them more critical of what they are purchasing. Having inside knowledge gives a person more of an idea of what is happening. I feel it also gives me the insight to know what is more of a necessity to have within reach or to be covered in terms of insurance.
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How does your knowledge of the U.S. health care system impact how you can help other stakeholders?
My knowledge gives me the ability to help others by means of navigation. More often than not, I have helped others by giving them help on how to navigate hospital procedures and politics. Navigation is what I feel is my biggest contribution to others. Lack of knowledge on how certain things are treated, procedures and medications that are often needed for a diagnosis, and the general movement through an ER or MedSurg floor have been what I help most with. On these occasions, people are extremely thankful for what I have given them guidance on. Being a nurse, especially in a time of need, is a huge asset to those individuals to navigate with much less difficulty.
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Explain the various sphere(s) of influence (consumer, provider, etc.) that would be the most impactful in advancing healthcare policy initiatives and explain why.
One of the most impactful ways of advancing healthcare policy initiatives is the consumer voicing their opinion and concerns over initiatives. The reason behind this is that those making policies listen to what their customers (those spending money) say. Money has a massive driving force to those making policy because if ultimately the policies will push those spending money with them away, then the policy either needs to be changed or they face the threat of losing money from the consumer. The most impactful, however, is that of a nurse. A nurse has professional insight which puts their feedback to the front line, and a group of nurses is even stronger. Advocating for that which is correct is the ultimate function of a nurse. “Advocacy is the cornerstone of nursing – nurses advocate for patients, causes, and the profession. Our advocacy, motivated by moral and ethical principles, seeks to influence policies by pleading or arguing within political, economic, and social systems, and also institutions, for an idea or cause that can lead to decisions in resource allocation that promote nurses, nursing, and all of healthcare” (Matthews, 2012, paragraph 9). A nurse advocating for a cause, patient, or policy holds a great deal of power. This is true because of a nurse’s knowledge base in the healthcare field and the desire to do good for their patients and to better their communities. These reasons alone make a nurse very powerful.
Reference:
Matthews, J. H. (2012, January 31).
Role of Professional Organizations in Advocating for the Nursing Profession. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Retrieved January 9, 2024, from
