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An Advanced Practice Nurse ( Apn )

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Almost every day an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) will feel the impact of policy and change in the healthcare field, from the institutional, local, community, state and national levels nurses have a responsibility to contribute to the discussion focused on healthcare improvement on all levels. Let’s first look at these issues on an institutional level, Often we are faced with changes in policy in our current roles , it could be a new policy or a revision to an old policy , it can be written or a unwritten “ understood policy” that everyone follows . We had one of these policies in our clinic, Uninsured or self-pay patients were routed to main campus clinics over 35 miles away because of their uninsured or self-pay status. This…show more content…
This new policy made it easier for the patients to seek care closer to their homes and work and not exhaust their limited funding. The number of uninsured has grown steadily since 2000 in this country. It has increased from 1-2 million with one exception a dip in 2007 and now continues to increase. (Nickitas, Middaugh & Aries) As nurses we must advocate change and implementation of policies that will improve healthcare for this population as well as others. The impact of policy change can also be seen on the local or community level, disparity in access to health care is seen in many communities. In 1985 , The Report of the Secretary’s Task force on Black and Minority Health in the United States , took a close look at health disparities among blacks, Hispanic, Asian / Pacific Islander and Native American Indians . This disparity led to an 80% excess of mortality these groups due to such diseases as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infant mortality, chemical dependency and unintentional injury. A good example of policy change includes nursing taking an active role in breaking that link with social economic status and health status in healthcare Mason, Leavitt & Chaffee (2014). Nurses should education patients about resources in community to assist with prevent of diseases , they can , take leadership roles in emergency preparedness
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