Joseph Schwartz: Founder And President, Skyline Healthcare

He’s a graduate of the University of Florida and a past participant in several leadership development programs including Leadership Okaloosa, the Cox Emerging Leaders program and the Cox Enterprises Mentoring program (both as a mentee and mentor).

Many older adults ask the question,” How might a nurse or healthcare educator approach a

Like any other industry, medicine also has its consumers. Patients often search for a medical practitioner or system that best reflects their own values. The medical community is continually changing, as are the rules and regulation that govern health

With the expected rise in the population of people over fifty, AARP is focusing on the importance of nurses in healthcare. Nurses have been very instrumental in filling in the gaps of providing care for seniors. “AARP also provided supplemental insurance to help members with prescriptions and home care needs” (AARP,

There will be a few challenges ahead for our healthcare system and the nursing profession: 1. The Aging Population- (baby boomers will be hitting retirement age). 2. Poverty-“the increasing numbers of disenfranchised people and pressure to limit health care expenditures will collide to create an intense values conflict for nurses of the future”. (Chitty & Black p.382) 3. Unhealthy Lifestyles- (obesity, tobacco use, lack of exercise, stress, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse). 4. Faculty and Student shortages- making nursing shortage worse. Nurses as

operate as a service provider. From this I will be able to gain a greater understanding of patient care. This collaboration between disciplines and the resulting improvement for the patient was identified by Hill (2006). Since I have started working within the NHS over the last year, I have had more opportunities to work with members of different professions both in the NHS and voluntary sector. This experience has helped me develop a better understanding of how patient care is made up of a multitude of smaller parts.

During my practicum and work experience there has been a population that has stood out to me and has become the area in which I would like to focus my attention on. This is the ever growing population of older adults in our country. First, I will define why I am so interested in this area of practice: the strengths older adults posses as well as some general issues experienced by older adults. After that, I will discuss the strengths perspective and how it relates to in home service provision of older adults. Finally, I will discuss state and national advocacy that is taking place to keep older adults living in the community.

Our ever-evolving healthcare environment is under the pressure of greater human longevity and emerging of new disease processes and scientific knowledge. It has become essential for health care professionals to adapt to changes in order to meet the needs of patients and community health. As an emergency nurse, I have the benefit of partaking in direct patient interaction, enhancing my knowledge, witnessing various disease progressions, and engaging in opportunities for professional advancement. I intend to provide the highest level of nursing practice in today’s increasingly complex health care system as I continue to develop my clinical skills and advance my role as an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) professional.

Change within the healthcare industry is occurring at an exponential rate. Although change is not new to healthcare, the underlying reasons for change are diverse compared to other industries. Consumer perception that healthcare is a right has inspired regulatory changes that affect both access and quality of care, adding to the already escalating costs. The entry of investor-owned companies into the acute-care markets in the late 1960s has created a challenging and changing healthcare environment, which threatens the survival of those unable to adjust to the trends of the industry (Johnson, 2009).

real­estate company starting after college. In 1971 he was given control of the company. Trump

Healthcare demands are increasing across the United States. The nursing shortage is a national concern and nursing leaders are faced with the reality that the nursing workforce is ageing at a rapid rate (Sherman, 2013; Harrington & Heidkamp, 2013). It is predicted by the year 2025, there may be a nursing shortage of 250,000 nurses. Currently the average age of a nurse in the United States is 47. More than one third of the Registered Nurse (RN) workforce is between the ages of 50 and 64 (Sherman, 2013). A challenge for organizations will be in retaining the older nurses. Facilities will need to build supportive cultures, teach leaders about generational diversity, and consider how the current work is being completed and to give attention to ergonomics and job engineering (Sherman, 2013). To encourage older healthcare workers to remain in the workforce, organizations will need to develop strategies to accommodate the older workers changing abilities (Harrington & Heidkamp, 2013).

This report will show that the healthcare industry in United States of America will go through three stages of evolution. Already through the first stage, this industry will restructure within an atmosphere marked by ambiguity in the regulatory environment, sustained scientific advancement, global economics and digital transformation. By 2030, the health care industry will be drastically different from today and ever more complexly tied to the global health market and its population. With the evolving changes in the industry over the time, our firm should realize the importance of creating new means of developing business and improve firm’s business strategy to continuously succeed in the healthcare industry.

To make matters worse, an aging workforce is contributing to the nursing shortages, with hundreds of thousands of nurses over the age of fifty, and forty-seven being the average nurse’s age in the United States (Gordon, Buchanan, and Bretherton 76). According to Suzanne Gordon, whether young or old, nurses are disillusioned because they believe that health care systems guided by bottom-line concerns simply don’t recognize the specificity of their work (234).

Within the next ten years more than one million registered nurses in the United States will be eligible for retirement. This will potentially leave the nursing profession with the largest shortage in history. The need for health care is only growing due to the aging baby boomer population. “Nursing researchers have noted that the projected nursing shortage, if not rectified, is expected to affect healthcare cost, job satisfaction and quality patient care” (Lartey, 2014). Without an adequate number of nurses what will happen to our hospitals, schools, nursing homes, nursing programs, and more importantly our patients? There are three main issues that if addressed can serve as possible solutions to the upcoming nursing shortage. First hospitals and jobs need to retain their trained, experienced nurses. Second the nursing profession needs to be promoted to increase the enrolment number and bridge the gap between retirement and new nursing graduates. Thirdly nurses and society need to be educated to end the stereotypes and poor images of the nursing profession.

According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the nursing profession is the largest population in the nation 's health care workforce with over three million members. Because of this, nurses have a fundamental role in the transformation of the nation 's rapidly changing health care environment. To achieve this role, the IOM addressed several key recommendations to serve as a guide to the direction of the future of nursing (Institute of Medicine, 2010). This paper will focus on three areas that the IOM considers as obstacles the nursing profession encounter as they tackle the challenges of the changing health care system and how it will impact the future of nursing.