Health Care Delivery Systems
The health care system consists of a network of agencies, facilities, and providers involved with health care in a specified geographic area, with the primary goal of achieving optimal levels of health care for a defined population. The wellness-illness continuum is a range that comprises the entirety of a person’s health. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes physiologic, safety and security, love and belongingness, and esteem and self-actualization. The three levels of health promotion include primary prevention to avoid disease states, secondary prevention to reduce the impact of conditions, and tertiary prevention to manage care for those with serious health problems. Prevention of illness and injury, health promotion, and continuity of patient care are integral components of holistic health care. One of the greatest challenges for the consumer of medical care is artful navigation of the health care delivery system.
Delivery of Patient Care
Patient care involves preventing disease, treating disease and injury, restoring
optimal wellness through rehabilitation, caring for the chronically ill, and
educating patients and families. Numerous health care specialists deliver patient care within the health care system, including dietitians, licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses, medical technicians, paraprofessionals, physical therapists, registered nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, and technologists.
The increasing number of aging Americans, advances in technology, the rising
cost of health care insurance, and the rising cost of malpractice insurance, and a
struggling economy are all factors that contribute to increased health care costs.
Changes in Delivery System
Case management nursing revolves around the use of clinical pathways, which
map out expectations of the hospitalization according to a designated time frame.
Cross-training may involve combining the roles of differing categories of workers
or expanding the responsibilities of staff members to cover multiple care units.
Multisystem health care chains or networks may include several hospitals, clinics,
nursing homes, and pharmacies that share expenses and generally achieve an
overall reduction in operating expenses. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or group health care practices provide health care to members for a fixed prepaid rate. Social and environmental factors do not necessarily cause illness, but they do influence the development or progression of an illness and share a reciprocal
relationship.
Health care providers expect that patients will take an active role in the planning
process, understand the care and the treatment given, ask questions, follow the
treatment plan prescribed, act responsibly with respect to their own conditions,
and give health care workers the same respect to which patients are entitled.
The Patient’s Bill of Rights includes the following terms: patients are assured that
they can expect high-quality hospital care, a clean and safe environment,
involvement in their care and the decision-making process, protection of privacy,
help when leaving the hospital, and help with billing concerns. Each member of an interdisciplinarian health care team is responsible for coordinating activity with every other member of the team by developing a comprehensive care plan, effectively communicating, and keeping accurate records.
Nursing Care Models and Contemporary Practical and Vocational Nursing Care
The four major concepts that form the basis for all nursing models of care include
nursing, patient, health, and environment. The ongoing evolution of the role of LPNs and LVNs is influenced by various state nurse practice acts, individual changes within the health care agencies, the availability of health care workers, and the needs of patients. Practical and vocational nursing is defined as the activity of providing specific services to patients under the direct supervision of an RN or a licensed physician in a structured setting surrounding caring for the sick, rehabilitation of the sick and injured, and prevention of sickness and injury. To accomplish the objectives of their nursing education, practical and vocational nursing students must assume responsibility for their own education, intensive study, and dedication to duty as well as organize their time effectively to ultimately ensure the patient of safe and competent care. The practical or vocational nurse is one of the many large groups of health care workers who provide health care services.
The practical and vocational nursing community functions in accordance with each state’s nurse practice acts. The roles and responsibilities of the practical nurse are varied and complex and evolve with new technologies and research advances, meaning that ongoing education is valued, expected, and required for continued licensure.
Summary
The health care system consists of a network of agencies, facilities, and providers
involved with health care in a specified geographic area, with the primary goal of
achieving optimal levels of health care for a defined population. The wellness-illness continuum is a range that comprises the entirety of a person’s health. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes physiologic, safety and security, love and belongingness, and esteem and self-actualization. The three levels of health promotion include primary prevention to avoid disease states, secondary prevention to reduce the impact of conditions, and tertiary prevention to manage care for those with serious health problems. Prevention of illness and injury, health promotion, and continuity of patient care are integral components of holistic health care. One of the greatest challenges for the consumer of medical care is artful navigation of the health care delivery system. Patient care involves preventing disease, treating disease and injury, restoring optimal wellness through rehabilitation, caring for the chronically ill, and
educating patients and families. Numerous health care specialists deliver patient care within the health care system, including dietitians, licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses, medical technicians, paraprofessionals, physical therapists, registered nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, and technologists.
The increasing number of aging Americans, advances in technology, the rising
cost of health care insurance, and the rising cost of malpractice insurance, and a
struggling economy are all factors that contribute to increased health care costs.
Case management nursing revolves around the use of clinical pathways, which
map out expectations of the hospitalization according to a designated time frame.
Cross-training may involve combining the roles of differing categories of workers
or expanding the responsibilities of staff members to cover multiple care units.
Multisystem health care chains or networks may include several hospitals, clinics,
nursing homes, and pharmacies that share expenses and generally achieve an
overall reduction in operating expenses. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or group health care practices provide health care to members for a fixed prepaid rate. Social and environmental factors do not necessarily cause illness, but they do influence the development or progression of an illness and share a reciprocal
relationship. Health care providers expect that patients will take an active role in the planning process, understand the care and the treatment given, ask questions, follow the treatment plan prescribed, act responsibly with respect to their own conditions,
and give health care workers the same respect to which patients are entitled.
The Patient’s Bill of Rights includes the following terms: patients are assured that
they can expect high-quality hospital care, a clean and safe environment,
involvement in their care and the decision-making process, protection of privacy,
help when leaving the hospital, and help with billing concerns. Each member of an interdisciplinarian health care team is responsible for coordinating activity with every other member of the team by developing a comprehensive care plan, effectively communicating, and keeping accurate records.
The four major concepts that form the basis for all nursing models of care include nursing, patient, health, and environment. The ongoing evolution of the role of LPNs and LVNs is influenced by various state nurse practice acts, individual changes within the health care agencies, the availability of health care workers, and the needs of patients. Practical and vocational nursing is defined as the activity of providing specific services to patients under the direct supervision of an RN or a licensed physician in a structured setting surrounding caring for the sick, rehabilitation of the sick and injured, and prevention of sickness and injury. To accomplish the objectives of their nursing education, practical and vocational nursing students must assume responsibility for their own education, intensive study, and dedication to duty as well as organize their time effectively to ultimately ensure the patient of safe and competent care.
The practical or vocational nurse is one of the many large groups of health care
workers who provide health care services. The practical and vocational nursing community functions in accordance with each state’s nurse practice acts. Roles and responsibilities of the practical nurse are varied and complex and evolve with new technologies and research advances, meaning that ongoing education is valued, expected, and required for continued licensure.