Analysis of a Current Health Issue or Problem Essay

Analysis of a Current Health Issue or Problem Essay

Analysis of a Current Health Issue or Problem Essay

Healthcare providers must ensure the safety of all medical processes to guarantee quality care outcomes for their patients in different situations. However, different health issues arise in care provision that require effective interventions from all stakeholders Burnout among health care professionals is health problem that affect quality care delivery and patient safety. Studies show that burnout is a syndrome that characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of accomplishments that the workplace that leads to overwhelming symptoms of fatigue, exhaustion and being ineffective (Shah et al., 2018). The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the issue of nurse burnout in the healthcare system by focusing on the elements of the issue and its framing into context. The paper explores the possible solutions to the issue and ethical implication of nurse burnout. In its final part, the paper discusses the implementation of solution to the problem.

Elements of the Problem

In their article, Mudallal et al. (2018) assert that nurse burnout is a prevalent issue characterized by a reduction in a nurse’s energy which manifests through emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation, and feeling frustrated leading to a reduction in their productivity and efficacy. The healthcare environment continues to have increased demand for care, time pressures and emotional intensity for providers which push them to the risk for burnout. Studies show that close to 78% of registered nurses feel burnout while another 64% of advanced practice registered nurses and 56% of clinical leaders are susceptible to burnouts. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) asserts that burnout is prevalent leading to many nurses quitting the profession altogether. Another aspect of burnout is increased levels of emotional exhaustion with figures showing that close to 40% of mental health providers experience exhaustion.

Nurses also demonstrate burnout when the fail to meet work requirements, feel cynical about their career and feel depletion of their bandwidth to focus on effective care provision. Nurses and healthcare providers experiencing burnout are more likely to be absent from work, demonstrate chronic levels of frustration, heightened anxiety and feel unaccomplished in their duties. Nurses undergoing burnout have negative reactions to change and are highly disengaged in their interactions with patients in their care environment.

Analysis of the Problem

Many consider burnout as a syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion and feeling ineffective at individual level. However, the issue can be better conceptualized as a problem emanating from a chronic and primary mismatch between providers’ responsibilities and available resources. Study reports indicate that a substantial percentage of burnout emanate from organizational and system-associated issues (Shah et al., 2019). These include excessive and challenging documentation, regulatory requirements, difficult electronic health records and long working hours on elongated shifts in the healthcare environment. Furthermore, organizational issues like limited or lack of autonomy, endless pressure to enhance quality while reducing costs and insufficient recognition and appreciation of providers’ individual contributions as well as lack of respect for personal life lead to burnout.

Again, studies are emphatic that organizations can only address the issue when they take a system approach by implementing a package of interventions to enhance the system as opposed to individual-level interventions. Burnout requires stakeholders to develop a collaborative approach that can only work at system level and not at an individual level. Burnout affects healthcare providers and it is critical that they understand its components, possible interventions through a system approach and not focusing on individual factors that could lead to its occurrence. Provider burnout, especially among nurses doubles the odds of an adverse patient safety event. For instance, providers who experience depressive systems linked to burnout are more likely to encounter patient safety risks.

Nurse burnout lead to reduced patient satisfaction levels. Patient safety declines when a provider who feels burned out treats a patient. The implication is that care quality deteriorates when a nurse experiencing burnout has more pressing mental and emotional issues. Nurse burnout may impair attention, memory and execution of functions leading to increased susceptibility to errors, including medication administration errors and near-miss events (De Oliveira). In some case, increased levels of burnout among nurses can lead to depression and suicide ideation. The implication is that generating a solution to the issue of burnout among providers, especially nurses is critical to attaining quality patient and safety care.

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Consideration of Options

Stakeholders should develop sufficient strategies to address the issue of burnout among nurses and other healthcare providers. In their study, Aryankhesal et al. (2019) carry out a systematic review on effective interventions or options to reduce burnout among healthcare providers, especially nurses. The article shows that team-based programs, effective communication skills, and participatory programs can enhance the ability of an organization to deal with the burnout issue. The study recognizes that nurse burnout is mainly an organizational and system issue which can be mitigated through a team’s approach as opposed to individual interventions. However, individual interventions like psychological and physical activities like meditation, yoga, and mindfulness can reduce the prevalence of burnout. Furthermore, the effects of these interventions lead to a rise in mental health status in the long term.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) emphasizes the need for multiple interventions to reduce burnout that focus on organizational issues and personal or individual aspects. The study by De Oliveira et al. (2019) also emphasizes the need for different or a combination of alternatives or options to tackle the burnout issue. Through an integrative review of literature, the authors cite the need for systematic supervision of nurses, having basic nursing and training on different psychological aspects as well as specialized training for nurses in certain specialties like oncology.

Solutions

The most effective solution in addressing the issue of burnout entails a combination of interventions that include attainment of match between responsibilities and resources available in an organization. This implies that ensuring that systems have sufficient human resources trained well to address the rising and diverse healthcare demands from different patient and health populations. A collaborative approach to the issue will entail having different players and stakeholders working based on the common purpose of improving patient care outcomes and provider safety as the main goals (Dall’Ora et al., 2020). Nurse burnout affects even the effective working of other professionals in the healthcare organization. Therefore, developing a multifaceted approach to the issue requires stakeholders to work together and ensure that nurses or other professionals do not experience pressure and other negative causes that impact patient care.

Workforce safety entails issues associated with provider burnout and implores on organizational leaders to offer a supportive environment. These include provision of adequate hydration, freedom and liberty from violence at work and health foods. Leaders should also have the ability to recognize and address any potential signs of burnout (Mudallal et al., 2018). The nurse leaders should also demonstrate empowering conduct, ensure there are better work conditions and have effective demographic traits of individuals working in the organization for effective teamwork and collaboration.

Ethical Implications

Burnout remains a critical problem and providers and their organizations need to develop solutions, as recommended above, to address the issue. Implementation of the suggested solution requires a consideration of ethical issues and implications. For instance, teamwork kills individual autonomy and personal initiative. This implies that while creating a team approach to the problem, organizations and their leaders should not undermine autonomy, respect, and free expression of divergent views on the best approaches to the situation.

Burnout causes serious risks to patient safety and quality of care. Therefore, providers must ensure that they protect regulatory and professional requirements while developing interventions at personal and organizational levels to deal with the burnout issue. Training and psychological and physical activities like yoga and meditation may require time and output from the professionals which may lead to fatigue and even burnout (Aryankhesal et al., 2018). As the organization must find a delicate balance to enhance overall acceptance of efforts to address the problem among providers.

Implementation

The implementation of the suggested interventions from an organizational perspective will require and involve leaders at different levels and resources, especially the training sessions. Therefore, it would be important for the nurses and other professionals to understand the need for these interventions to reduce burnout and improve quality of care. The organization should involve nurses through effective communication and seek input and feedback on what works well for them (Jun et al., 2021). While emphasizing the importance of a systems approach, the implementers should consider different aspects of the interventions, get sufficient resources and have timelines to guide the process. Expert advice and evidence-based practice research should be integral components of the entire program for better outcomes and ensuring that it meets its goals.

Organizational leaders should provide the requisite support, offer resources and model the changes by appreciating the level of the problem. Their actions and decisions should demonstrate their commitment to addressing the issue, not just short-termly but in the long-term (Garcia et al., 2019). Organizational leaders should incorporate views from nurses and other professionals like physicians to develop multifaceted approaches to care delivery.

Conclusion

Burnout is a health care concern that affects the ability of providers to offer quality care due to its characteristics. Studies demonstrate that burnout is an organizational issue which need a systems approach as opposed to individual interventions. Therefore, healthcare organizations and their leaders as well as nurses should focus on implementing policy interventions from a multifaceted and collaborative approach to address the issue.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (2019). Burnout.

https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/burnout

Aryankhesal, A., Mohammadibakhsh, R., Hamidi, Y., Alidoost, S., Behzadifar, M., Sohrabi, R.,

& Farhadi, Z. (2019). Interventions on reducing burnout in physicians and nurses: A systematic review. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33, 77. DOI: 10.34171/mjiri.33.77

Dall’Ora, C., Ball, J., Reinius, M., & Griffiths, P. (2020). Burnout in nursing: a theoretical

review. Human resources for health, 18(1), 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-020-00469-9

De Oliveira, S. M., de Alcantara Sousa, L. V., Gadelha, M. D. S. V., & do Nascimento, V. B.

(2019). Prevention actions of burnout syndrome in nurses: an integrating literature review. Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health: CP & EMH, 15, 64. DOI: 10.2174/1745017901915010064

Garcia, C. D. L., Abreu, L. C. D., Ramos, J. L. S., Castro, C. F. D. D., Smiderle, F. R. N., Santos,

553. A. D., & Bezerra, I. M. P. (2019). Influence of burnout on patient safety: systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicina, 55(9), 553. doi: 10.3390/medicina55090553

Jun, J., Ojemeni, M. M., Kalamani, R., Tong, J., & Crecelius, M. L. (2021). Relationship

between nurse burnout, patient and organizational outcomes: systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 119, 103933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2021.103933

Mudallal, R. H., Othman, W. A. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. (2017). Nurses’ burnout: the influence

of leader empowering behaviors, work conditions, and demographic traits. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 54, 0046958017724944. doi: 10.1177/0046958017724944

Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021).

Prevalence of and factors associated with nurse burnout in the US. JAMA network open, 4(2), e2036469-e2036469. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.36469

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Write a 4-6 page analysis of a current problem or issue in health care, including a proposed solution and possible ethical implications.

Introduction

In your health care career, you will be confronted with many problems that demand a solution. By using research skills, you can learn what others are doing and saying about similar problems. Then, you can analyze the problem and the people and systems it affects. You can also examine potential solutions and their ramifications. This assessment allows you to practice this approach with a real-world problem.

Instructions

Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

Describe the health care problem or issue you selected for use in Assessment 2 (from the Assessment Topic Areas media piece) and provide details about it.
Explore your chosen topic. For this, you should use the first four steps of the Socratic Problem-Solving Approach to aid your critical thinking. This approach was introduced in Assessment 2.
Identify possible causes for the problem or issue.
Use scholarly information to describe and explain the health care problem or issue and identify possible causes for it.
Identify at least three scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles about the topic.
You may find the How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles? library guide helpful in locating appropriate references.
You may use articles you found while working on Assessment 2 or you may search the Capella library for other articles.
You may find the applicable Undergraduate Library Research Guide helpful in your search.
Review the Think Critically About Source Quality to help you complete the following:
Assess the credibility of the information sources.
Assess the relevance of the information sources.
Analyze the health care problem or issue.
Describe the setting or context for the problem or issue.
Describe why the problem or issue is important to you.
Identify groups of people affected by the problem or issue.
Provide examples that support your analysis of the problem or issue.
Discuss potential solutions for the health care problem or issue.
Describe what would be required to implement a solution.
Describe potential consequences of ignoring the problem or issue.
Provide the pros and cons for one of the solutions you are proposing.
Explain the ethical principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if potential solution was implemented.
Describe what would be necessary to implement the proposed solution.
Explain the ethical principles that need to be considered (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if the potential solution was implemented.
Provide examples from the literature to support the points you are making.
Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like:

Assessment 3 Example [PDF].
Additional Requirements

Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

Length: 4–6 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page and reference page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
APA tutorial: Use the APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] for guidance.
Written communication: Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Using outside sources: Integrate information from outside sources into academic writing by appropriately quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, following APA style.
References: Integrate information from outside sources to include at least three scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles and three in-text citations within the paper.
APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for in-text citations of outside sources in the body of your paper and also on the reference page.
Organize your paper using the following structure and headings:

Title page. A separate page.
Introduction. A brief one-paragraph statement about the purpose of the paper.
Elements of the problem/issue. Identify the elements of the problem or issue or question.
Analysis. Analyze, define, and frame the problem or issue.
Considering options. Consider solutions, responses, or answers.
Solution. Choose a solution, response, or answer.
Ethical implications. Ethical implications of implementing the solution.
Implementation. Implementation of the potential solution.
Conclusion. One paragraph.
Competencies Measured:

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By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Apply information literacy and library research skills to obtain scholarly information in the field of health care.
Use scholarly information to describe and explain a health care problem or issue and identify possible causes for it.
Competency 2: Apply scholarly information through critical thinking to solve problems in the field of health care.
Analyze a health care problem or issue by describing the context, explaining why it is important and identifying populations affected by it.
Discuss potential solutions for a health care problem or issue and describe what would be required to implement a solution.
Competency 3: Apply ethical principles and academic standards to the study of health care.
Explain the ethical principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if potential solution was implemented
Competency 4: Write for a specific audience, in appropriate tone and style, in accordance with Capella’s writing standards.
Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
Short Description:
In 2010, the Federal Department of Human and Health Service (DHHS) launched the Healthy People 2020 goals to include a goal to eliminate health inequality/disparity. Healthy People 2020 defines a health disparity as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion” (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2017, p.1).

Potential Intervention Approaches:
– Federal goals
– Community health improvement plans
– Patient advocacy efforts
– “Triple Aim” for populations
Keywords for Articles:
health disparities, community health assessment, community health improvement plan, strategic planning, local health departments, health inequities

References:
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2017). Disparities. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/disparities

Shah G.H., & Sheahan J.P. (2016). Local health departments’ activities to address health disparities and inequities: Are we moving in the right direction? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2016; 13(1):44. http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/44

Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2017). Triple Aim for Populations. http://www.ihi.org/Topics/TripleAim/Pages/Overview.aspx