Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health
Individuals experiencing health problems as a result of unhealthy living and poor lifestyle behaviors such as smoking are cared for by healthcare workers. Nurses, in particular, give patients discharge instructions to exercise for at least 30 minutes per day, five days a week, but they fail to practice what they preach. Healthcare workers are, more than any group or profession, aware of the dangers of tobacco use, yet they make up approximately 18.9 million users of cigarette smokers in the United States (NIH, 2016). Healthcare workers are predisposed to health risks due to the nature of their jobs, and poor lifestyle choices have continued to increase the rate of obesity, chronic pain, and poor general health. As a result, healthcare facilities and healthcare workers must collaborate to develop programs to reduce the prevalence of health problems among various healthcare workers. This paper will discuss an employee healthcare program that I initiated and implemented in my practice. The Program’s cost and projected outcome and nurses’ roles in its design and implementation will be thoroughly discussed.
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A Healthcare Program in My Office
The DMCfit is a healthcare program in my practice. Doctors Medical Center’s (DMC) program encourages employees to focus on healthy living. This Program is a monthly challenge with 35 teams competing against each other and over 330 employees participating. This Program is divided into several sections, including a weight loss challenge or DMCfit Biggest Loser, the most walker, and the most lifestyle changer. People are encouraged to make lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and drinking alcohol, tracking their steps with a Fitbit, and reporting steps completed each month. The most entertaining is the Biggest Loser of the Month, in which we recorded someone losing 140 pounds in a month.
Population Targeted
Employees are not charged for this Program, but the facility incurs costs for resources such as a gym center. The goal is to promote healthy living and reduce or eliminate health risks associated with obesity, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and other lifestyle choices. Employees are the intended audience. Many Tenet hospitals in California organize this Program. Participants are extremely motivated and encourage themselves not to give up. At the start of the year 2020, the total weight of all participants was 62,330.80 pounds, and by the midpoint of the year, the group’s total weight was 60,447.90 pounds, representing a staggering 3.02% weight loss (DMC, 2019). The biggest male and female losers and the top three team losers receive cash prizes.
The Nurse’s Role in Providing Input
Nurses play an important role in this Program, from program design to recommendations and teaching ancillary employees strategies to lose weight without jeopardizing their health, weighing them weekly, and reinforcing nutritional education. The weight of each participant must be weighed by a nurse in each participating facility and reported to the coordinator every week.
My Function in the Healthcare Program
As a nurse, I advocate for the Program by encouraging employees at my facility to sign up and participate. We began counting our steps, making us move a lot, frequent patient rounds, and any other activities that would get us moving. We are proud to announce how many steps we took for the shift at the end of the shift. Because of the pandemic, I’ve also set up a mini-gym at home, and I’ve continued to encourage my coworkers to do the same. This challenge’s goal is for each participant to educate at least one employee on a healthy living topic within 61 days. This is one way nurses can influence change, according to Laureate Education (n.d.).
Nurses are better positioned to contribute to healthcare program implementation because they have the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to lead the transformative changes that are taking place in the healthcare system (NIH 2017). Nurses are capable of coordinating care from multiple providers and for patients with a variety of care needs. Informatics and Telehealth have created new opportunities for nurses to serve as health coaches, educate patients on healthier lifestyles, and promote their lives and well-being. Nurses, for example, can remotely monitor patients sent home with medical devices and give caregivers instructions on how to assist and care for them. This makes it easier for patients to return home after a medical procedure or treatment.
Members of the Healthcare Team
The healthcare system cannot operate in a vacuum. As a result, each healthcare team member is critical to successfully implementing a healthcare program. The directors, as well as the utilization board, play critical roles in decision-making. Nurses play critical roles in the smooth transition and implementation of healthcare programs and instinctively advocate for their patients (ANA, n.d). We collaborate with other team members. Nursing is an interdisciplinary profession, and success is always the result of a collaborative effort.
Conclusion
More programs, such as DMCfit, should be promoted to help caregivers care for themselves. Healthcare workers care for the sick but do not prioritize their health. Most lack sleep due to night shifts, while others work 12-hour days without rest. They educate patients on the importance of quitting smoking, but they continue to smoke despite knowing the health risks. Exercise can help prevent various health problems and should be encouraged.
Other Related Post: Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing at Workplaces
References
American Nurses Association. (n.d). Advocacy. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.nurs ingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/
Doctors Medical Center. (2019). Doctor Medical Center Hits Midpoint of Biggest Loser Challenge. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.dmc- modesto.com/news/newsroom/doctors-medical-centre-hits-midpoint-of- biggest-loser-challenge
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Getting your Program Designed and Implemented [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
National Institute of Health. (2017). Healthcare Transformation and Challenging Roles for Nursing. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PM C5266427/
National Institute of Health. (2016). Cigarette Smoking Prevalence Among Adults Working in the Health Care and Social Assistance Sector from 2018 to 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4710463/ #:~:text=Of%20the%20approximately %2018.9%20million,16.0%25%20were%20cur rent%20cigarette %20smokers.
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Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health
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