Introduction
This paper explores one such quality improvement approach – patient engagement. Another discussion will be on the impact of patient engagement on nurse’s need to make a clinical judgment to enhance quality care. The paper will also identify healthcare initiatives to support patient engagement. The dialogue will extend to emerging issues such as the use of technology and issues that affect patient engagement. Finally, there will be a conversation on communication issues that affect patient engagement in healthcare settings.
Overview of Patient Engagement
Patient engagement is a healthcare structure that seeks to incorporate patients within the healthcare team in planning, deciding, and exploring healthcare. The engagement supports two-way communication that maximizes information sharing on treatment and progress to ensure quality care and safety. Efforts to patient engagement focus on enrolling patients to identify adverse effects. Another aim of patient engagement is to empower patients to support safe care. Nurses empower patients to participate in safe care through education about their conditions. The engagement also focuses on strengthening involvement to improve safety culture.
Patient Engagement and Nurse’s Clinical Judgement
Patient engagement impacts nurses’ need to use high-level clinical judgment through discrepancies between patients’ culture and healthcare processes. The engagement requires nurses to incorporate the patient’s culture to encourage involvement. Patients would find a reason to continue sharing and reporting to nurses about adverse effects and progress where practitioners adhere to their beliefs, advice, and other contributions. Challenges arise where such traditions do not provide the most appropriate care. In such a case, nurses must use high-level clinical judgment to ensure quality and safe care and patient satisfaction to sustain engagement.
Another way patient engagement would impact nurse’s need to use high-level clinical judgment is through patients’ low knowledge about clinical reporting. Sharing within a healthcare team requires an individual to know what and how to report. However, patients lack the knowledge and experience on engagement in healthcare decision-making and treatment processes. Nurses should use the limited and poorly communicated information to judge patient’s needs from a clinical perspective critically. The engagement and need to incorporate patient data requires nurses to use all clues to conclude patient’s attendance needs.
Current Health Initiatives and Emerging Issues in Patient Engagement
Health Initiatives Related to Patient Engagement
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires states to ensure healthcare be innovative to have their healthcare providers develop relationships with patients for maximum involvement. Under the policy, nurses should involve patients in decision-making and provide incentives to increases involvement.
Another initiative is the American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics, which requires patient engagement as an ethical practice. The provision provides that nurses respect human dignity and establish relationships with patients.
Emerging Issues Related to Patient Engagement
Among the emerging issues related to patient engagement is technology to enhance communication with patients and increase information access. The systems have reduced barriers to communication leading to increased interaction between nurses and patients regardless of time and distance.
Another emerging issue on patient engagement is the complexity of healthcare to accommodate the system. Healthcare organizations realize that patient engagement is a sophisticated process in Areas such as leadership. There lacks an evidence-based theory that can inform the best approach to enhance patient engagement.
Common Issues that Interfere with Quality Improvement
Nurse Understaffing
Understaffing limits the time needed to involve patients in planning healthcare. The initiative requires that nurses have more time with patients to develop a relationship and plan care while collecting feedback.
Training and Skills
Another issue that interferes with quality improvement through patient engagement is training and skills. Patient engagement requires skills in communication and the use of healthcare information systems, and healthcare data management. Nurses need to develop a relationship with patients to enhance two-way communication.
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture prevents quality improvement through patient engagement where nurses are unwilling to adopt the initiative. Involving patients in healthcare is a culture that requires the implementation of different initiatives from the management. A corporate culture that prioritizes profit would not accommodate patient involvement to avoid wasting time. Nurses also need to feel supported and with the freedom to exercise their practice. Support and freedom in care are an organizational culture that motivates healthcare providers to make extra efforts in listening to patients with discussion and collaborative planning.
Workplace Communication Issues
Physical barriers such as different location between nurses and patients affect communication and patient engagement (Andriyanto, 2019). Distance between providers in different campuses and rooms prevents reach for feedback and continued interaction with patients. Poor documentation of patient information also affects communication due to lack of references for diagnosis and treatment report to guide the patient. (Andriyanto, 2019). Cultural differences also interfere with the interaction between patients and nurses. Nurses find it hard to understanding patients using different language and cues leading to limited information sharing.
Healthcare organizations can overcome communication issues through information systems which increases access between nurses and patients (Zonneveld et al., 2020). Healthcare leaders can also train staff on appropriate record keeping. The workshops would enhance documentation needed in patient empowerment through information sharing. Another solution to communication issues would be to adjust systems to accommodate patient families. The families would help overcome barriers to communication such as culture and pain.
Conclusion
In conclusion, patient engagement is an initiative to make patients active participants in healthcare. The engagement supports quality care by minimizing errors. Patient engagement necessitates nurses to use clinical judgment following communication barriers that affect sharing and patients’ involvement in decision-making about their health. The presentation has also identified ACA policies and ANA code of ethics as initiatives to support patient engagement. Healthcare organizations are using technology to help patient involvement. Despite the significance of patient engagement, the initiative faces barriers such as nurse understaffing, training and skills, and corporate culture.
References
Andriyanto, A. (2019). Communication barrier between nurse and patient at the hospital: A systematic review. Journal of Health Policy and Management, 4(2), 105-110. Web.
Zonneveld, M., Patomella, A. H., Asaba, E., & Guidetti, S. (2020). The use of information and communication technology in healthcare to improve participation in everyday life: A scoping review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(23), 3416-3423. Web.