Role of the nurse as health care policy advocate

Successful policy processes depend on the availability of power, time, energy and will, along with the skills needed in legislation.

The local government
Indiana’s local government sponsors people by providing direct services and offering health insurance. The local government pays for uncompensated care through insurance premiums for government employees. The local government assists people through health insurance policies that work to favor patients. These legislations protect the health system of Indiana (Indiana Health Care Association).

The federal government
The federal government plays a crucial role in promoting innovation across a wide spectrum of healthcare activities in Indiana. Federal funding for healthcare information technology infrastructure, basic science and transitional research help fuel innovation. Transparent regulations can support rapid development, approval, and adoption of strong delivery systems, high-quality care, and medical product advances. Federal health care policy can incentivize sustained private investment in the healthcare sector. The success of these efforts is critical to driving innovation to reduce health care costs and expand access to quality healthcare which favors the patient (Indiana Health Care Association).

The state government
There are certain legislations and regulations in the state of Indiana that affect patient health care. Examples of these legislations include plans for paying for emergency room services, laws that guarantee continuity of care when a patient is discharged among others. These regulations control the functioning of state government hospitals. They result in a positive impact on patient recovery in the hospital (Indiana Health Care Association).

Guidelines that will help a medical facility and/or medical personnel to prevent lawsuits
1) Good documentation: everyone who has practiced nursing knows that if a procedure is done and not documented then it was not done at all. Documentation includes a description of the information provided by the patient that contributed into the treatment decisions, a description of the physical findings or laboratory results that factored into your diagnoses and; treatment decisions, a discussion of why a particular decision was made and a discussion of the events of treatment. A good chart is so complete that it can be used by another nurse as reference material (Abood, 2007).

2) Good communication: among the aspects of good communication is seeking informed consent. Informed consent is usually a dialogue between the patient and the nurse. It requires nurses to discuss the benefits of the treatment and the alternatives to the treatment.

3) Good consultation Nurses: should consult doctors and other nurses in the line of practice to avoid malpractice. Good consultation creates teamwork in solving certain hospital issues. Consultation provides direction to certain problems to prevent lawsuits by patients (Abood, 2007).

4) Attend to the patient: certain things are difficult to explain to a panel of judges than a nurse’s failure to personally attend to a patient. In the line of duty, nurses may receive some information about a patient over the telephone. The danger of passing information by phone is that a nurse will miss a detail that he would have seen if the nurse had personally examined the patient. It is advisable for a nurse to attend to the patient than to dedicate the work to another person (Abood, 2007).

5) Adequate discharge instructions: Patients tend to leave the hospital before they heal properly. Leaving the hospital or being discharged requires adequate counseling on the patient and relatives. Discharge instructions must be included to ensure the patient heals with no complication. It also enlightens the patient to be aware of any danger signs in their conditions. Proper information prevents lawsuits (Abood, 2007).

6) Be prepared to deal with misinformation:  Nurses must be alert so as to deal with any emergencies that arise within the hospital set up. Being keen and alert can help prevent major disasters in conditions like diabetes, hypertension and other conditions (Abood, 2007). Nurses need to prepare by educating the patients and relatives on how certain misfortunes can be prevented.