NURS FPX 5003 Assessment 2 Interview Of Health Care Professional

Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX 5003 Health Assessment and Promotion for Disease Prevention in Population-Focused Health

Prof. Name

Date

Interview with a Healthcare Professional

Conducting interviews with healthcare professionals offers valuable insights into the healthcare needs of diverse populations served by healthcare organizations. By integrating healthcare data with the lived experiences of healthcare professionals, organizations can develop more effective strategies and plans. It is essential to understand how healthcare professionals communicate with patients, particularly those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. This knowledge is critical in providing patients with sufficient health information to make informed decisions about their care.

Furthermore, healthcare professionals can contribute to the development of best practices by observing industry leaders. Implementing these practices ensures compliance with relevant healthcare standards and guidelines. In this review, Dr. Mud Swamp, who oversees West Virginia College’s schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and various affiliated health programs across the state, was interviewed. Dr. Swamp earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a medical degree from West Virginia College (West Virginia College, n.d.).

Strategies for Addressing Identified Healthcare Needs

Multiple strategies can be used to identify healthcare needs, such as interviews with healthcare professionals, community leaders, stakeholder meetings, surveys, and demographic data analysis. According to Aron (2019), the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is a powerful tool for driving organizational improvements. In clinical settings, the PDSA cycle assesses care quality and determines if improvements or changes are necessary. An external evaluator can assist organizations in planning and assessing these changes.

Healthcare disparities continue to persist in the U.S., especially for sexual, ethnic, and gender minorities and individuals with low health literacy (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2021). The Cultural and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards, introduced in 2000, aimed to address these disparities. The enhanced National CLAS standards introduced in 2013 help ensure health equity, particularly for minority groups with low health literacy. Implementing CLAS requires cultural humility and competence at the provider level (Minority Health, n.d.).

Criteria for Evaluating the Strategies

When evaluating strategies, program organizers should ask questions like “What achievements has the organization made during this period?” and “How many diabetic patients were served?” Dineen-Griffin et al. (2019) suggest that organizations either hire an external evaluator or designate an internal staff member to evaluate system efficiency for future decision-making. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) DAC outlines six evaluation criteria: relevance, soundness, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability (Alcayna & O’Donnell, 2022).

The interview revealed that West Virginia College hospitals implement various methods to provide Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) to diabetic patients. The organization employs patient-centered communication and addresses cultural barriers, ensuring effective interactions between proactive care teams and informed, engaged patients, consistent with elements of the Chronic Care Model (Timpel et al., 2020).

NURS FPX 5003 Assessment 2: Interview of a Healthcare Professional

Healthcare professionals influence and engage healthcare teams, patients, and communities through various communication methods, such as group meetings, face-to-face interactions, campaigns, and surveys (Gehlert et al., 2019). Patient outcomes can improve by effectively communicating complex health information to diverse populations. For example, diabetic patients benefit more from understanding that maintaining a specific blood glucose level is crucial to reducing future complications than simply being told to maintain a specific level. Understanding populations with low health literacy helps healthcare providers create frameworks to enhance health education.

Benefits of Adhering to National CLAS Standards

The National CLAS Standards offer a framework for delivering culturally and linguistically appropriate services, enhancing healthcare professionals’ ability to communicate effectively in multicultural settings. These standards contribute to reducing healthcare disparities and achieving health equity by enabling healthcare providers to connect with patients from various cultural backgrounds (Annalee A., 2022).

Epidemiological principles are foundational for disease surveillance and analysis. Public health professionals use these principles to identify public health problems, track diseases, and predict their impact on populations (Harvard Medical School, 2022).

Organization’s Strengths in Addressing National CLAS Standards

West Virginia College hospital has demonstrated a strong commitment to implementing the National CLAS Standards. These efforts have resulted in addressing healthcare disparities and meeting the needs of vulnerable populations, including the African American community. Successful implementation of the National CLAS Standards depends on organizational commitment, which helps eliminate healthcare disparities (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2022).

Challenges of the Organization in Addressing National CLAS Standards

Challenges in implementing the National CLAS Standards often include resource limitations and a lack of guidance on applying the standards. Failure to properly implement the standards can lead to adverse patient outcomes and financial burdens. Isoherranen et al. (2019) noted that communication issues within healthcare organizations are barriers to effectively implementing the CLAS standards.

Recruiting skilled professionals and training staff can be costly for organizations, particularly those located in rural areas, further hindering the implementation of CLAS standards (Think Cultural Health, n.d.).

Organization’s Strategies, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Effective communication is essential in healthcare settings, and West Virginia College hospital excels in empowering staff to voice concerns and adapt strategies to meet CLAS standards. By encouraging staff to listen to patients and understand their cultural needs, the hospital provides high-quality care to its diverse patient population (Rangachari & Woods, 2020).

However, retooling staff can be a challenge, as new employees often require additional training to use existing healthcare tools and equipment effectively. Despite the costs, WVU Hospital capitalizes on opportunities to train healthcare workers on cutting-edge medical technology to improve care delivery.

Conclusion

Identifying healthcare needs allows healthcare organizations to prioritize needs, allocate resources, and improve healthcare outcomes. It fosters collaboration and creativity while addressing healthcare disparities.

References

Alcayna, T., & O’Donnell, D. (2022). How much global climate adaptation finance is targeting the health sector? European Journal of Public Health, 32(Supplement_3). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckac129.146

Annalee A., M. (2022). A culturally competent patient care: A review of the CLAS standards. International Archives of Public Health and Community Medicine, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.23937/2643-4512/1710077

Aron, D. C. (2019). The complexity of context. Complex systems in medicine, 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24593-1_9

Dineen-Griffin, S., Garcia-Cardenas, V., Williams, K., & Benrimoj, S. I. (2019). Helping patients help themselves: A systematic review of self-management support strategies in primary health care practice. PLOS ONE, 14(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220116

NURS FPX 5003 Assessment 2 Interview Of Health Care Professional

Gehlert, S., Choi, S. K., & Friedman, D. B. (2019). Communication in health care. Handbook of health social work, 249–277. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119420743.ch12

Isoherranen, K., O’Brien, J. J., Barker, J., Dissemond, J., Hafner, J., Jemec, G. B. E., Kamarachev, J., Läuchli, S., Montero, E. C., Nobbe, S., Sunderkötter, C., & Velasco, M. L. (2019). Atypical wounds: Best clinical practice and challenges. Journal of Wound Care, 28(Sup6), S1–S92. https://doi.org/10.12968/jowc.2019.28.sup6.s1

Harvard Medical School (2022). Using epidemiological tools to evaluate human disease. Postgraduateeducation.hms.harvard.edu. https://postgraduateeducation.hms.harvard.edu/trends-medicine/using-epidemiological-tools-evaluate-human-disease

Minority Health (n.d.). CLAS, cultural competency, and cultural humility. Office of Minority Health. https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/