Health Care Policy Development Process

¶ … Health Care Policy on Nurses' Delivery of Patient Care Health care policy is usually developed and enacted in order to address various issues relating to health care delivery with the aim of improving patient outcome. These policies are usually centered on addressing health care cost, quality or access, or a combination of these three factors. Given the nature of their interactions with patients, nurses are health care professionals who are well suited to be effective, knowledgeable advocates for their patients.

Generally, health care policies have considerable impacts on nurses with regards to the provision of health care. This is primarily because competent nurses are required to show their commitment to action through being part of relevant decisions and policies that ensures effective patient care delivery in a cost-effective way (Milstead, 2013, p.1).

An example of a health care policy that was recently developed and enacted and has considerable impacts on nursing practice is Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was enacted into law in 2010 but its effect was not holistically felt immediately. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was developed to address a combination of three factors i.e. health care cost, quality, and access.

In essence, the main health care driver for the development and enactment of this policy was to enhance the affordability and accessibility of health care services while enhancing the quality of patient care services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been characterized by both positive and negative impacts relating to the realization of its intended results. Based on findings of recent surveys in nursing practice, this policy has slightly achieved its results through generating job growth but also created increased patient loads that affect delivery of patient care.

The recent surveys have been based on comprehensive analysis of the health care sector since this policy came into full effect in light of its intended goals. With regards to health care access, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has improved health care coverage, especially to the uninsured and underinsured population. Actually, it is estimated that this policy will increase health insurance coverage to between 30 million and 34 million individuals in the United States, which helps in addressing the problem of accessibility of patient care services in the country (Anderson, 2014).

The improved access to care has in turn improved health care costs since more people can afford health care due to expanded health insurance coverage. However, the improved access to care services does not necessarily imply improved quality of care. This policy has not improved the quality of care since it has contributed to the influx of newly insured patients to the delivery system and caused significant stress and strain on health care providers, which in turn lessens the quality of care.

In nursing practice, the policy has contributed to bigger workloads and stress that contribute to reduced care for patients. One of the major health care issues that are prevalent in daily experiences in nursing practice is nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been worsened by the increased demands for health services, decreased patient satisfaction, shortage of health care workers, and lessened time with caregivers. Kingdon's Model is a technique that can be utilized to formulate appropriate policies for dealing with the issue.