The role of DNP Scholar in leading change
The knowledge to action model provides an opportunity in promoting practice change as it focuses on initiating the utilization of research knowledge in discerning the underlying issues of concern for practitioners. The knowledge to action model incorporates various healthcare stakeholders in translating knowledge to practice in developing evidence-based solutions for the nursing practice problems (Heckman et al. 2021). Besides, inter-professional teams play a critical role in enhancing the staff relationship and communication by perceiving positive healthcare outcomes for different patient groups. Through the inter-professional teams, healthcare practitioners bring together diverse knowledge base, experience, and expertise to guarantee patient safety and improve health outcomes through reduced inefficiencies. Additionally, empowering teams provides an effective strategy for inspiring individuals to embrace change (Nilsen et al. 2020). It is imperative to prepare the healthcare teams for change while promoting their involvement and enlightening them of the change process’s perceived benefits.
Week 1
According to the Global Burden of Disease Research, nursing personnel shortage is a national practice problem (Global Burden of Disease Research, 2020). The scarcity of healthcare nursing personnel worldwide poses negative consequences to the population health outcomes. First, the practice problems constrain nurses’ ability to meet the healthcare demands, resulting in nurse burnout cases and, consequently, medical errors. Globally, healthcare organizations and institutions have to increase their spending in meeting the growing global demands for healthcare needs. While recognizing nurses’ critical role in customizing patient care, the overwhelming need for care with the limited nursing professionals overwhelms their scope and practice. Additionally, the practice problem limits healthcare organizations’ ability to promote overall population health. While healthcare institutions are responsible for meeting the healthcare needs of diverse populations, the nursing shortage may result in medical inefficiencies, high mortalities, and litigation in the failure to honor the duty of care.
The state professional nursing associations are significant stakeholders in providing quality healthcare outcomes. The professional associations are affected by nursing shortages with considerable impact on their ability to promote positive healthcare outcomes. Some of the stakeholders involved in resolving the practice problem include; state and local healthcare departments, nursing managers, and patient associations. According to Drennan & Ross (2019), the clinical practice guidelines are fundamental in addressing the practice problem of nursing shortages. It focuses on reviewing the underlying evidence in optimizing patient care. The nurse-patient ratio provides a clinical practice guideline that provides a basis for scaling solutions to address the practice problem by insight into the patient populations’ critical public health needs.
Week 2
The nursing shortage results in a dissatisfied workforce within the healthcare institutions at the local level. In nursing care, nurses’ shortage culminates in increased burnout cases as nurses have to attend numerous. The national problem deteriorates the quality of nursing care, resulting in the potential for medical errors and misdiagnosis, resulting in higher morbidity and mortality rates due to inadequate provision of timely emergency and critical care. The nursing shortage ultimately deteriorates the quality of care for the local population due to the inefficiency in meeting the population’s daily healthcare and medical needs. Within the local setting, the stakeholders include; nurses, healthcare managers, clinicians, physicians, and the local health departments tasked with the responsibility of promoting universal health outcomes. In addressing the problem, the implementation of onboard nursing programs and staffing to reduce the nurse shortages has been imperative to promoting efficient nursing outcomes through collaboration with medical learning institutions. Indeed, the program is effective as it bridges the gap in knowledge transfer and reduces nursing care disparity.
References
Drennan, V. M., & Ross, F. (2019). Global nurse shortages—the facts, the impact, and action for change. British Medical Bulletin, 130(1), 25-37. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldz014
Heckman, G. A., Boscart, V., Quail, P., Keller, H., Ramsey, C., Vucea, V., King, S., Bains, I., Choi, N., & Garland, A. (2021). Applying the knowledge-to-Action framework to engage stakeholders and solve shared challenges with person-centered advance care planning in long-term care homes. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0714980820000410
Global Burden of Disease Research (2020). Global, regional, and national burden of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, 1990–2019: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-129365/v1
Nilsen, P., Seing, I., Ericsson, C., Birken, S. A., & Schildmeijer, K. (2020). Characteristics of successful changes in health care organizations: An interview study with physicians, registered nurses and assistant nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4999-8
