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Homework answers / question archive / Please respond to this 4 peers' Discussion Prompts Respond to your classmates' or instructor's posts
Please respond to this 4 peers' Discussion Prompts
Peer# 1
Hospital administrators are supposed to be the key to maintaining a balance between the facility’s budget and the accommodations for the patients and the healthcare professionals. From my understanding, most facilities struggle to maintain this balance, as they usually do not have the funds to properly run their programs. Mixing this with dissecting statistical data and the time they are given to make difficult decisions, I do not think they have adequate time to interpret vital information given to them when making these difficult decisions.
When I think of statistical data being given to hospital administrators, I think of a lot of numbers and graphs that are up to the administrator to interpret as they see fit. However, administrators do not always have the extensive background in data analytics that health researchers have. Health researchers have a deep understanding of how to organize data. Rightfully so, as some studies evolve with many variables. If that is the case, then hospital administrators—who, granted, should have experience interpreting data—may not have the same extensive background required to completely understand the information being presented. Again, mixing this with the other factors administrators are responsible for, I can see why they could make decisions that aren’t as educated. Or rather, administrators make decisions based on their minimal understanding of the data.
I suppose an argument for this question is that it is not always the administrator who needs to have the experience understanding the different statistical data; this information should be delegated to the researchers who are comfortable translating this information. Administrators would be more effective if they were told what the hospital needs instead of being given information that is hard to comprehend.
Peer# 2
Professor and classmates
The way in which statistics is applied in the field of health, and in particular in nursing, is by providing knowledge and understanding of information about the etiology and prognosis of diseases, in order to advise patients on how to avoid disease or limit its effects (Charekishvili, 2016).
I think so many hospital administrator tend to face substantive challenges or difficulties in the course of understanding the statistical method used in healthcare research because, to interpret and understanding results of statistical methods, it is necesary for the healthcare administrator to engage in application or integration of the most suitable as well as the powerful statistical tests; something which most of them lack off, usually because they also lack of interest to learn (Groth, 2020).
On the other hand there's a lack of the suitable and power test have been critical in forcing administrator from conclusion from subscribe subsequent studies, which might enjoy insufficient support from the data (Aggarwal, 2018). For instance, concepts like confidence interval can be explained in layman’s language, like; it is an educated guess about a certain characteristic feature in a population. It’s a range of values around that stat that has a probability of true value of that particular stat. Such concepts can be further supplemented with relatable examples like weight of one candy in a box of candy, to make it more interesting to the people who do not have any formal training.
Peer# 3
During the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak lawmakers had to execute new pieces of legislation in efforts to support the American people and the economy. One of the laws that was passed during the pandemic was The CARES Act. Under The CARES Act various industries were represented – small businesses, education, and most importantly health care. Under the health care segment, the bill provided funding for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19. Under the bill limits for liability for volunteer health care professions were also placed as well as the prioritization for the review of certain drugs for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The bill allowed emergency use of certain diagnostic tests that are not approved by the FDA and expanded health-insurance coverage for diagnostic tested and requires coverage for preventative services and vaccines. Under the bill there were also revisions for other comestibles including those regarding the medical supply chain, the national stockpile, the health care workforce, the Healthy Start program, tele-health services, nutrition services, Medicare, and Medicaid (116th Congress, 2019 – 2020). The passage of this legislation experienced some setbacks in regard to cost. It was referred back to the Committee on Finance various times. These delays may have occurred in effort to find reasonable funding within each industry. Industries were impacted tremendously during the Covid-19 outbreak, causing a scarce of resources. Thus, placing pressure on lawmakers to ensure everyone was represented and covered.
Peer# 4
ACA is a comprehensive health care reform law signed by then-president Obama in March 2010. This law has three main goals which were, to make affordable health insurance available for more people, to expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults below the 138% of the Federal poverty levels and to support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally (healthcare.gov, 2021). The act also established the American Health Benefits Exchange, where citizens can review and compare insurance plans.
While the Affordable Care Act has started to help alleviate healthcare disparities among US citizens, the state and federal insurance exchanges have not made payers very happy. Younger adults and healthier patients have been more likely to take on the individual mandate's tax penalty than to purchase coverage on the health insurance exchanges due to high prices, which has left payers with a pool of older and sicker populations.
Implementation of the ACA has been marked by controversy and unexpected twists and turns, including court challenges and delays in crucial provisions. States first implemented many ACA provisions in their efforts to expand access to care and improve overall health system performance (NCSL, 2011). Then, in 2012, a supreme court ruling further complicated the landscape by allowing states to choose whether or not to expand their Medicaid coverage to insure more low-income individuals. At present, nineteen states have still not expanded their Medicaid programs, causing disparities in healthcare access and leaving millions of patients with few coverage options.
The ACA is the most significant and comprehensive health care reform enacted since Medicare. Although however, we cannot say with certainty that Obamacare has led to lower premiums, we can say that it has provided coverage for millions of previously uninsured Americans.
# Response 1
I agree with you that hospital administrators need to make critical decisions so that they become effective. However, some factors affect effective decision-making for the hospital administrators, which include inadequate time and wrong data interpretation. The administrators find insufficient time to make decisions since they struggle interpreting statistical data presented to them by nurse researchers (Gifford et al., 2018). I suppose that hospital administrators fail to balance hospital budget, patient and health professionals' accommodation. It would be better if researchers are left responsible for translating data for the administrators since they do not have that extensive background to understand technical issues related to statistics. For example, the term "control group" means a group of people or individuals in a clinical trial assigned to a comparison intervention that can be explained in a non-technical language for the administrator to understand. I have learned one skill that could be easily used to quickly educate hospital leaders who might not have an MHA or training in healthcare research about interpreting health statistics. This is through explaining to them about efficacy and intervention of the condition under investigation to avoid all other jargon (Gifford et al., 2018).
References
Gifford, W. A., Squires, J. E., Angus, D. E., Ashley, L. A., Brosseau, L., Craik, J. M., ... & Graham, I. D. (2018). Managerial leadership for research use in nursing and allied health care professions: a systematic review. Implementation Science, 13(1), 1-23.
# Response 2
I agree with you that the purpose of health statistics in healthcare is to guide patients on how to protect against disease and how to get treated in case they are attacked by an illness (Ketcherside et al., 2017). However, how hospital administrators apply the results of statistics to make decisions is ineffective. Most statistical results can be explained in layman's language so that administrators can understand. Mainly, the health statistics serve to direct the directors on what should be done to promote health among patients and reduce death cases. Every administrator would wish to make action-based plans which are effective. I would recommend that the nurse researchers help administrators to understand health statistics. Hospital administrators need basic knowledge concerning health data, which can help them interpret presented information and plan effectively. In some instances, it can be assumed that the hospital administrators were nurses before they secured leadership positions and may understand some primary statistical results. Therefore, hospital administrators need basic knowledge concerning health statistical data like a research protocol which entails the objectives, methodology, design, organization of a trial, and statistical considerations (Ketcherside et al., 2017). I have learned a simple skill to efficiently train healthcare leaders who do not have an MHA or training in healthcare research to understand health statistics, which is explaining to them concepts of confidence intervals, research bias, and the intended use of particular research results (Ketcherside et al., 2017).
References
Ketcherside, M., Rhodes, D., Powelson, S., Cox, C., & Parker, J. (2017). Translating interprofessional theory to interprofessional practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(5), 370-377.
#Response 3
I agree with you that health is a priority in America, and whenever lawmakers change or make new policies, they prioritize the healthcare system. During the difficult times of the pandemic outbreak, lawmakers executed new pieces of legislation known as the CARES Act to ensure that economy is boosted so people's living standards are maintained. The Act covered all industries from businesses, education, and health care. Even though almost all enterprises were closed down and other everyday activities like attending schools, the Americans did not suffer that much. CARES Act allowed emergency use of specific diagnostic tests that are not yet validated or approved. However, the human protection institutions could have proved how safe the drugs are to people as far as ethical principles are concerned. The programs like Medicaid and Medicare were considered, including the health workforce and telehealth services. The bill concluded that heavy funding should be done to healthcare facilities. The healthcare financing faced challenges and was referred back to the Committee on Finance, and execution of those bills will be delayed, which might be a setback to healthcare operations during this COVID-19 pandemic. My appeal would be that the government and the Committee on Finance hurry up the decision-making process to save lives. In my view, the Belmont report about the Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research gives the IRBs the powers to prove or disapprove research results relating to human health and protection once considerations have been done (Meyer et al., 2020).
References
Meyer, E. C., Carnevale, F. A., Lillehei, C., & Uveges, M. K. (2020). Widening the Ethical Lens in Critical Care Settings. AACN Advanced Critical Care, 31(2), 210-220.
# Response 4
I agree with you that the Obamacare Act is the best healthcare reform ever enacted since the Medicare program. The bill aimed to make health affordable and accessible to many middle and low-income earners, who mostly live below the poverty line. Most people have benefited because they have been covered or insured. Obamacare has led to an increase in tax, and it is probably the best healthcare reform that has expanded healthcare and improved performance, which integrates patient rights, privacy, and protection (Redman & Caplan, 2021). Although the ACA has faced challenges whereby some institutions like courts and powerful politicians criticize it, and some want it to be thrown away, it still makes sense to most Americans. The health cost has been reduced, and most people can access and afford healthcare services, unlike in the past when the ACA had not been enacted. Insurance companies also need to play their part. Most public hospitals tend to partner with private insurance Companies to do business. It is wrong, and this should come to an end.
To conclude, the American government should support the ACA since it is for the good of the middle and low-earning citizens who may not afford healthcare services if they become expensive. Life is precious, and it must be protected. I think the Belmont report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research influence the decisions the IRBs make, for example, how effective human rights, privacy, and welfare are observed in the healthcare research process (Redman & Caplan, 2021).
References
Redman, B. K., & Caplan, A. L. (2021). Should the Regulation of Research Misconduct Be Integrated with the Ethics Framework Promulgated in The Belmont Report?. Ethics & Human Research, 43(1), 37-41.
