How will the new health care bill (Obama Care) affect the practice of nursing?



Outline

Abstract3

Effects on Nursing Practitioners3

Programs for Promotion of Nursing4

Future Challenges for the Nursing Practitioners6

Conclusion7

References8

How will the new health care bill (Obama Care) affect the practice of nursing?

Abstract

The congress passed the President Obama health care plan known as Obama care in March 2010. The bill mainly emphasizes on issues related to health care of American citizens such as health insurance coverage of elderly and young adults. Among many other rules, it includes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and The Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, which were signed as the laws by President Obama. These bills, in addition to other nonprofit organizations, will also be helpful for the American Nurses Association, and will also impose some challenges for the future nurses. In this paper, we discuss that how this legislation will affect the practice of nursing.

Effects on Nursing Practitioners

The main aims of the health reform are to provide health benefits to every American natives, by increasing the insurance coverage for the people of all ages, reducing costs, and the development of new health centers. The reform includes a wide range of initiatives to be taken for redesigning the existing infrastructure of healthcare (Sochalski J., and Weiner J., 2011). As a result, more people who normally do not visit the hospital for years and rely on self medications will be motivated to visit the hospitals and consult doctors. Due to this fact, more vacancies for the nurses will be created which is undoubtedly, the main benefit for the nursing profession.

PPACA will encourage innovative strategies for training, recruiting and retaining the health workforce for longer periods. The goal includes the development of competent and vibrant workforce which may be diverse. Existing health care workers will also be supported by the new infrastructure of health organizations.

To make this reform a reality, the plan includes development of new health care centers managed by advanced practice nurses (Routson J., 2010). These centers will be beneficial for citizens as they will be able to get comprehensive primary care. Also, these will help the nurses, specially the fresh graduates to get quality practical training. However, the extension in insurance coverage and development of numerous health care centers would require Specialized practitioner nurses to be able to deal with situations and work in the highly challenging environments (Craven and Ober, 2009). Therefore, the government needs to develop the workforce before the establishment of new infrastructure. As without the properly trained health care staff, the plans can never be successful. In the next section we discuss some of the programs included in the reform for promoting career growth in the nursing practitioners.

Programs for Promotion of Nursing

Besides the job vacancies, there are many other provisions which have positive aspects for the nursing practitioners (LeBuhn R. and Swankin D.A., 2010). The American Nurses Association considers this bill to be beneficial for the progress of the nursing profession and career ...