Assessment: Advocacy Analysis
Select a healthcare program within your practice or within a healthcare organization. Summarize the program, including costs and the project outcomes.
Describe the target population.
Explain the role of the nurse in providing input for the design of the program. Be specific and provide examples.
Describe the role of the nurse advocate for the target population for the healthcare program you selected.
How does this advocate’s role influence the design of the program? Be specific and provide examples.
Recommend at least two evaluation tools that are most appropriate for designing the healthcare program you selected.
Provide a justification for why you would recommend these evaluation tools.
Describe members of a healthcare team needed to implement the program you selected. Be specific and provide examples.
Explain the role of the nurse in healthcare program implementation.
How is the role of the nurse different between design and implementation of healthcare programs? Be specific and provide examples
Write “Advocacy Analysis”. Each component requested in guidance should be developed in a specific paragraph/heading. Follow APA guidelines for sentences. List outcomes to work towards and measure/metrics for the program. Add demographic age, location, etc. Make it organized and in order with headings. Ensure introduction and conclusion: 1. Select a healthcare program within your practice or within a healthcare organization. Summarize the program, including costs and the project outcomes.
Palliative care is specialized medical care for individuals facing a severe illness. Its primary objective is to alleviate symptoms and reduce the stress associated with the disease, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for the patient and their family. A dedicated team of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and specialists, deliver palliative care in collaboration with the patient’s primary medical team. Importantly, palliative care is tailored to meet the patient’s specific needs rather than being solely determined by the patient’s prognosis. It is suitable for individuals of all ages and at any stage of serious illness, complementing ongoing curative treatments (Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019). While palliative care units are not typically profitable, they significantly reduce per diem and total costs. By practicing cost avoidance, palliative care shows potential for generating savings for health systems.
Various studies have shown that palliative care interventions can lead to cost savings, reduced hospitalizations, efficient resource utilization, and improved patient outcomes (Smith & Cassel, 2009). The projected outcome of the palliative care program involves developing and utilizing outcome measurement tools within healthcare, particularly in the context of palliative care clinical practice. By implementing patient-reported outcome measures in palliative care, healthcare professionals aim to enhance the quality of care for individuals facing serious illnesses. Patient-centered outcome measurement is instrumental in education and audit processes and is an informative resource for healthcare professionals and decision-makers. The ability to collect nationwide data facilitates cross-country comparisons. It allows for economic evaluations of palliative care interventions, ultimately contributing to the effective allocation of resources in palliative care settings (Antunes et al., 2018).
2. Describe the target population.
The targeted population for a palliative care program typically includes individuals facing severe illnesses or conditions that require specialized medical care focused on symptom management, pain relief, and enhancing the quality of life. Palliative care programs are designed to support patients and their families, who may be experiencing stress and emotional challenges.
3. Explain the role of the nurse in providing input for the design of the program. Be specific and provide examples.
Nurses play a pivotal role in shaping the design of palliative care programs through their expertise and direct patient care responsibilities. Nurses conduct thorough patient assessments, providing valuable insights into symptom management, pain control, and overall well-being. They actively participate in care plans tailored to each patient’s unique needs. Nurses also serve as communicators, ensuring effective interactions between healthcare providers, patients, and families. Additionally, nurses are instrumental in quality improvement initiatives, monitoring and evaluating care processes to identify areas for enhancement. By leveraging their clinical experience and compassionate care, nurses significantly contribute to palliative care programs’ patient-centered and holistic design (Ferrell & Paice, 2019).
4. Describe the role of the nurse advocate for the target population for the healthcare program you selected.
Nurses serve as vital advocates for the target population in palliative care programs, ensuring patients receive patient-centered, compassionate care tailored to their needs. Their advocacy involves empowering patients to make informed decisions, promoting dignity, and enhancing the quality of life. Additionally, nurses advocate for the support of family caregivers, recognizing their essential role in the care journey. By upholding the principles of dignity, autonomy, and respect, nurses provide comprehensive and empathetic end-of-life care for patients in palliative care (Matzo & Deborah Witt Sherman, 2019).
5. How does this advocate’s role influence the design of the program? Be specific and provide examples.
Nurses’ advocacy role significantly shapes the design of palliative care programs by ensuring a patient-centered approach, effective communication strategies, emphasis on symptom management, and family-centered support. By advocating for individualized care plans prioritizing patients’ needs and values, nurses influence the program design to be tailored and responsive. Furthermore, by emphasizing family-centered support, nurses help design programs that recognize and support the critical role of family caregivers through education, bereavement support, and caregiver resources. Nurses ensure that palliative care programs are holistic, compassionate, and comprehensive throughout their advocacy efforts, ultimately improving patients’ and their families’ overall quality of care (Ferrell & Paice, 2019).
6. Recommend at least two evaluation tools that are most appropriate for designing the healthcare program you selected.
When designing a palliative care healthcare program, utilizing appropriate evaluation tools is essential for comprehensive care planning and monitoring patient outcomes. Two highly recommended evaluation tools for developing a palliative care program are the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS). The ESAS is a validated tool used to assess the severity of symptoms commonly experienced by palliative care patients, such as pain, fatigue, and anxiety, allowing for systemic symptom management and tracking of symptom progression over time (Watanabe et al., 2011). On the other hand, the PPS is specifically designed to evaluate functional status in palliative status in palliative care settings, providing a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s performance status by considering factors like ambulation, self-care ability, and consciousness levels, which aids in determining prognosis and guiding care planning (Baik et al., 2018). By integrating these evaluation tools into the design of palliative care programs, healthcare providers can ensure a holistic approach to patient assessment, care planning, and intervention evaluation, ultimately enhancing the quality of care provided to palliative care patients.
7. Provide a justification for why you would recommend these evaluation tools.
The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) are recommended for designing palliative care programs due to their effectiveness in assessing and managing symptoms (ESAS) and evaluating functional status (PPS) systematically and comprehensively to provide individualized care for patients.
8. Describe members of a healthcare team needed to implement the program you selected. Be specific and provide examples.
Implementing a successful palliative care program necessitates a multidisciplinary healthcare team with diverse expertise to address the complex needs of patients with severe illnesses and their families. This team typically includes a palliative care physician who leads the team and manages treatment plans, nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists who provide direct patient care and symptom management, registered nurses offering bedside care and symptom management, social worker providing emotional support and assistance with advance care planning, chaplains addressing spiritual needs, mental health professionals providing psychological support, physical and occupational therapist focusing on improving mobility and function, pharmacists managing medications, nutritionist/dietitians assessing nutritional needs and trained volunteers offering companionship and assistance. This collaborative team approach ensures comprehensive care that addresses those receiving palliative care’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects.
9. Explain the role of the nurse in healthcare program implementation
10. How is the role of the nurse different between design and implementation of healthcare programs? Be specific and provide examples.
The role of a nurse varies between the design and implementation phases of healthcare programs, with distinct responsibilities in each stage. In program design, nurses are pivotal in proposing efficient and practical ideas to meet patients’ needs adequately. This involves promoting health by providing educational services, preventing illnesses through interventions like vaccinations, and caring for ill and disabled individuals. Nurses focus on saving lives and ensuring patients’ well-being by examining them frequently and mitigating health risks. Moreover, in advocating for the target population, such as individuals over 65 years and those with disabilities, nurses ensure services are delivered equitably and efficiently. They may go the extra mile by visiting patients at home to assess their living conditions for a more comprehensive evaluation (Hallmark et al., 2021).
Conversely, nurses play a critical role during program implementation in integrating healthcare programs into their daily clinical routines to deliver quality and attentive care to individuals. They operationalize the proposed healthcare design into a functional clinical program tailored to patients’ needs. Nurses are key players in healthcare program implementation, leveraging their clinical expertise and patient interaction to drive effective healthcare delivery and positive outcomes (Holland & Watson, 2021).
