Health Care Of Clients With Chronic Illnesses

How does this issue affect nursing practice, healthcare delivery and health outcomes for individual, families and/or

Although the largest profession in the health care industry is nursing, a larger number of people are getting older and living longer. This means that more people will need nursing care, whether it’s in a hospital, a long-term care facility or at home. It is projected that long-term care facilities will need 66% more RNs by 2020 (Addressing the Nursing). The increase in life expectancy has amplified the complexity of health care because more people are living with chronic conditions. The American Nurses Association reported that “a large cross-sectional study of over 1,000,000 adults revealed that 82% had one or more chronic conditions” and we are seeing an increase of those age 65 and older living with multiple chronic conditions (Mion). Now, more than ever, there is a high demand for the best delivery of medical care.

Head Start is a federally funded, education development program that was created in 1965. The program provides education and services for eligible children from low-income families. Head Start 's philosophy focuses on the development of social-emotional, physical and mental health, nutrition, and working with families and the community and stated “low-income people should help plan and run their own programs” (p. 41-42). Head Start has truly expanded their resources over the years by providing a full school year for ages 3-6 years old and offering services such as health screenings, referrals, and social services (p. 42). Most importantly, each and every Head Start program must follow the federal Head Start Program Performace Standards that address all areas of development (p. 42). The program is truly committed to support low-income families and creating an education system that supports all aspects of the child.

Registered nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system, and make up the largest number of healthcare professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) “The employment rate for registered nurses is expected to grow by 16% between 2014 and 2024”. This is more than double the average rate of growth for a profession. The rapid growth rate can be attributed in part to better management of chronic diseases and the baby boomer generation. The growth in the nursing profession is paramount, however the demographics of the nursing population does not mirror the demographics of the population served.

Shortage of nursing staff in the long-term care continues to rise due to a couple of reasons. Many studies have revealed several factors that play a significant role in nursing shortages over the years. These factors include health care organizations downsizing the number of staff on a unit and increasing workloads, prolong work hours, and the people leaving the workforce. These factors have a significant impact on the quality of care in the long-term setting. This paper will compare and contrast the effect of lack of staffing has on the quality of patient care in a long-term settings. Over the years, the toll of the economy has had an impacted on the healthcare system which led to the reduction in the number of nursing staff and increasing the workload.

Head Start was created in 1965, during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential administration, as part of the Great Society plan and the War on Poverty (Currie , 2001). After observing the quality discrepancies between low income and high income educational settings, Johnson realized that “Five and six year old children are inheritors of poverty 's curse…(Johnson, 1965)” As a result, he called for the creation of a program that would allow “…preschool children of poverty [to] get a Head Start on their future (Johnson, 1965).” Soon, Head Start was established, with the goal of “enhance[ing] children’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive development (Mississippi Head Start Association, 2012).”

contribute to the costly effect include the fact that nurses have, increased incidence of nurse burnout and patients have poorer outcomes increasing both mortality and readmission rates. Nurses are a large component to keeping readmission rates down through spending time with a patient and educating and empowering patients on self-care through helping patients understand importance of medication regimen adherence, importance of diet adherence, ways to reduce infection and various other skills to care for self at home" (Problem Memorandum Assignment, 2015) The documents exigence is crucial the audience to better the outcome of patients and that of the health

On September 15, 2016 Students started clinical rotation at Head Start in Gaffney South Carolina, Located at 501 W. Rutledge Ave. Gaffneys Head Start program is administered by Piedmont Community Actions, Inc. (4) According to the Administration For Children and Families, The Economic Opportunity Act was passed  in August, 1964  which created various programs.  In 1964  President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the first Head Start Act into legislation. (4)  “ Head Start was designed to help break the cycle of poverty, providing preschool children of low income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs.”  The purpose of attending Head Start would allow students to perform the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning- Fourth Edition also known as Dial 4. The clinical experience at Head Start allowed nursing students to observe, evaluate, and incorporate communication skills, Professionalism and legal/ ethical practices, infection control practices, patient safety practices, patient teaching practices, and Invasive and non-invasive procedures.

As I finish up my last two hours at the Early Childhood Center that resides on the university’s campus, it has been an adventure for me. I have acquired many new skills for the classroom, Shadowing for Ms. Bailey class, room 307 was not an easy process but I got through it. Head Start is located on Winston Salem’s University’s campus in its own secluded area, where students who attend Winston Salem won’t bother. Essentially outside of the university the Early Childhood center is placed in a rough part of town. Around you can find low income based housing, run down gas stations and ABC stores around. That doesn’t stop Head Start from producing the best students they can, their mission statement is to “help low-income families in our community put their children on a path to success in school…and throughout their lives”.

In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen a significant decline in the quality of patient care it provides. This has been the result of reduced staffing levels, overworked nurses, and an extremely high nurse to patient ratio. The importance of nurse staffing in hospital settings is an issue of great controversy. Too much staff results in costs that are too great for the facility to bear, but too little staffing results in patient care that is greatly hindered. Moreover, the shaky economy has led to widespread budget cuts; this, combined with the financial pressures associated with Medicare and private insurance companies have forced facilities to make due with fewer

31,000 were prelicensure applicants” (as cited in Ganley & Sheets, 2009, p. 401). As more

The growing number of the elderly patient has a direct impact on nursing practice. The issue of” baby boomers” having an increased life expectancy may have jobs security for the nurses in future as evidenced by multiple improvements in cardiac surgery in older population. The aging of the baby boomers is expected to produce a plethora of new nursing jobs, which could lead to higher wages, greater job security, and greater variety in types of work (Page, 2015).

Chronic conditions are associated with aging as concluded by (Niccoli & Partridge, 2012). As growth occurs, the body cells tend to decrease in function and become susceptible to diseases. However, individual lifestyle and comorbidity, such as smoking and obesity could lead to early chronic diseases such as Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Respiratory failure, and bone diseases (Fabbri, Luppi, Beghe, & Rabe, 2008). Caring for patients with such complex conditions could be challenging for nurses as well as other healthcare professional and could lead to poor care coordination, having to prioritize the care and consider the consequences of their actions and inactions (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, Pierson, & Applebaum,

Being in the medical field, specifically the nursing profession, taking care of my patients or residents is of the utmost important. Patients often times have more than one illness. Some are mild while some may be debilitating to the patients. Some diseases are asymptomatic while some are symptomatic.

Upon considering the past and future of nursing, many changes have already taken place, and even larger changes are expected. With the recent rate of technological development, the heath care system is certain to follow in its advances at nearly the same pace. Many predictions for the future of medicine are based on computerized technology. The use of telemonitoring, video and “smart houses” are already being used by some companies today, and will be utilized more frequently in the future. This will enable one nurse to care for many more patients than he/she is capable of safely caring for currently. This is very important due to the baby-boomer generation growing older and the