NURS FPX 4000 Assessment 2

Applying Library Research Skills

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Applying Library Research Skills

Having research skills is the first thing that healthcare professional and nurses should possess nowadays, as they need to follow the latest news in medicine and technology. By being trained with these skills they have the ability to keep up with any industrial updates and provide quality care to patients. Through engaging in research-based career path, the professionals are able to find treatment methods, apply those practices and provide the best care for the patient. But based on the evidence is what doctors and nurses do as well as communities should make their choices to enable them to accomplish what they wish with minimal effort. As a person and a nurse, I am always trying to improve my research skills particularly in the areas of accessing information, applying it in nursing practice, contributing to professional development, and consequently improving patient outcomes. This assignment will focus on applying research skills at our library to effectively address the ever increasing healthcare expenditure.

Overview of the Problem

For patients, their families, and healthcare professionals, the growing expense of healthcare is a significant issue and obstacle. Financial difficulties and treatment delays are caused by patients and their families. This pressure can have a negative impact on patients’ mental and physical health since they may neglect or postpone necessary medical care in order to control costs. Families are dealing with the same problems as the patient. Seeing families suffer due to medical expenses is difficult. When they can’t afford to take time off work to bring their children in for appointments, I witness stressed-out parents. Some elderly people have to decide between paying for their rent or groceries and their medicine. Their health suffers as a result of the actual financial burden. Healthcare workers are not exempt from financial hardships; it is challenging to maintain good standards of service when overburdened. Patients may not receive the individualized treatment they require, and they are the ones who suffer the most from this stress. We choose this work to alter the world, therefore it may be disheartening when the system erects obstacles in the way of our best efforts. However, there are things we can do to improve the situation and ease the burden on patients and medical staff. Increased personnel and resources may make a significant difference by allowing nurses to spend more time and give better care to each patient. Healthcare employees may work in a more supportive environment and suffer less burnout by putting wellness programs into practice. Treatment providers can increase the accessibility of treatment for individuals facing financial difficulties by offering sliding-scale pricing, flexible payment plans, or financial assistance programs. Patients and their families may experience less financial hardship with more equitable insurance policies and broader healthcare coverage. We can form a healthcare system the helps the patients and healthcare providers to solve these problems. It can help join efforts to ensure that nurses are armed with the tools that can allow them to offer patients superior care.

Finding Articles in Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Journals

Being a nurse, I heavily depended on peer-reviewed journal articles when I wanted to gain access to valuable recommendations regarding increasing healthcare expenditure. The first thing I did was use academic sources like PubMed and CINAHL with keywords like “financial strain on patients”, “medical affordability”, and “healthcare costs” to find relevant papers. The method of doing so helped me to understand the problem and all of its sides completely. Among the key terms I have used to refine my search results include “healthcare reforms,” “cost-cutting measures,” and “healthcare economics.” To make sure that only content from reliable, peer-reviewed sources reaches me, I also applied filters. I can tell you at that time that the findings were correct and reliable. I mostly chose nursing-related articles since health professionals had better e comprehension of patient problems and what should be done to make their treatment better. Being at the leading edge makes it possible for nurses to learn about likely solutions.

Credibility and Accuracy of the Sources

As a nurse, I checked the sources to be reliable and equipped with knowledge which would endorse us to reduce costs. At first I had to determine whether the articles had yielded from reliable and acknowledged sources. Such impression reflected that the study had gone through a process of assessment by many experts and consequently, the results of the study could be relied on. Another that I had to do was focusing on the authors’ area of specialization and to identify any conflicts of interest. I went ahead to review their previous publications. I made sure to check the influencer’s qualifications in healthcare studies and their policy experience.

Annotated Bibliography

Xu, Y., Zhao, Y., & McGuire, T. G. (2023). The impact of rising out-of-pocket health care costs on US adults. Health Services Research, 58(5), 1032-1040. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36248721/

The impact of growing out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures on people in the US is examined in the essay “The Impact of Rising Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs on US Adults” by Xu, Zhao, and McGuire (2023). The research shows a strong correlation between rising out-of-pocket expenses and challenges covering necessities like housing, food, and transportation by analyzing expenditure data and symptoms of financial distress. According to the research, families and individuals may experience significant stress as a result of these growing expenses, sometimes necessitating them to make tough choices about how to divide their limited resources.The study found that high out-of-pocket healthcare costs might worsen financial instability and, in certain cases, lead people to postpone or forgo getting necessary medical care, which may ultimately have a negative impact on their health.The authors also point out that some demographic groups are more negatively impacted by these financial strains. The impact of rising healthcare prices is sometimes disproportionately felt by individuals with lower incomes and those without adequate health insurance. This highlights how unequally available and expensive healthcare is in the US. To address these issues, the authors provide many legislative recommendations that would ease the financial burden on consumers. These treatments include increasing the amount of healthcare that is covered, making insurance more affordable, and restricting out-of-pocket expenses to protect people from unjustified financial hardship. Overall, by analyzing the link between healthcare costs and financial stability in the US, this research illustrates how rising healthcare costs may disrupt the greater socioeconomic fabric. It advocates for a more equitable healthcare system that reduces out-of-pocket expenses and assists individuals in meeting their basic requirements without restricting access to essential medical care.

Schumock, G. T., Khan, N. A., & Avorn, J. (2019). Prescription drug spending in the United States: A review of recent trends. Pharmacotherapy, 39(8), 824–835. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9383648/

The review article by Schumock, Khan, and Avorn (2019) provides a comprehensive examination of US prescription pharmaceutical spending patterns in addition to highlighting the underlying factors driving higher expenses. The authors claim that the expanding usage of brand-name prescriptions, specialty pharmaceuticals, and pricey drugs are the main reasons behind the rise in prescription drug expenditures in the United States. The article highlights how the shift to more costly name-brand medications—particularly specialty pharmaceuticals used to treat chronic or complex conditions like cancer and autoimmune diseases—has resulted in a significant rise in healthcare costs. The data presented by the authors demonstrates that although specialty pharmaceuticals make up a very tiny percentage of all prescriptions, they account for a disproportionately large amount of total drug spending. Article also explains that one reason for the current spike in healthcare costs is the rising cost of pharmaceuticals, especially those for rare disorders. This tendency has two aspects. These drugs give patients hope, but some people might not be able to afford them, which strains the system of healthcare resources. The challenges of producing these drugs in small quantities, pharmaceutical companies’ pricing policies, and patents’ restriction of competition are some of the explanations offered by researchers for this price increase. The article describes such options like these as possibilities in the context of the current price escalation in prescribed medicines. Some of these mechanisms entail the introduction of a system that allows generic drugs to be more effective through affordable means, enhancing transparency of medicines pricing, and creating a basis for competition among drugs manufacturers. These strategies intend to ensure the costs would be reasonable enough for individuals and health specialists as well as bringing the accessibility of life-eternals to the world. On the other hand, research examines the pricing of prescription drugs in the United States and brings forward emerging policies for the opportunity to ensure adequate and affordable supply.

Hadley, J., & Swartz, K. (2023). Rising Health Care Costs and the Erosion of Health Insurance in the United States. Health Services Research, 58(2), 213-220. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36721408/

In this article, Hadley and Swartz (2023) examine the relation between the increasing healthcare costs and the depletion of the employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States. The authors present a model that shows how the increasing healthcare costs of employers result in less comprehensive health insurance plans that share greater part of the financial responsibility with the employees. This movement, in turn, leads to higher medical expenses for workers and their families, which ultimately continues the trend of fading healthcare affordability. The authors employ a data analysis method that is all-inclusive in support of their model, taking information from different sources to show how increasing costs impact employer-sponsored health plans. Health care costs changes are met by the employers in two ways; either they reduce the value of the health insurance provided to the employees or they ask for higher employee contribution. It is exactly this trend that can lead to higher deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs for the employees. In addition, the article talks about the consequences of these changes to the workers and their families. Further, with health insurance coverage becoming more limited and expensive, employees might encounter financial problems and may defer or even avoid the healthcare they need due to the costs. As a result of this, adverse health outcomes are higher and a greater pressure is placed on the healthcare system. To deal with these problems, Hadley and Swartz argue for policy reforms concentrating on cutting soaring healthcare costs and widening health insurance coverage. Possible solutions include controlling healthcare spending, improving employers’ motivations to provide the comprehensive insurance and implementing laws to defend employees from too much out-of-pocket expenditure. In the end, this article shows clearly the contributions of high the health costs to the employers health insurance, presenting the difficulties of the workers and their families. The two storytellers underline the critical role played by the policy actions in reversing this trend and provide everyone with the opportunities to receive cheap but quality insurance in America.

Thorpe, L. E., & Joyce, G. F. (2017). The Financial Burden of Chronic Disease Management in the US. Health Affairs, 36(1), 7-16. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm

In their discussion on one of the major financial struggles of the US healthcare system, Thorpe and Joyce (2017) focus on the fact that chronically ill people constitute one of the main challenges in this industry. The authors study the expenditure on chronic problems like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, which constitute a large amount of healthcare spending. This highlights the fact that the management of these conditions forms the majority of healthcare expenditure in USA and chronic disease parameters are a significant portion direct and indirect healthcare costs. The study shows that the average costs of treatment and management of these chronic diseases are such that they are detrimental not just to the individual patients but also the healthcare system. Researchers claim that overall national health care spending is equal to 86% of the annual budget which is directly influenced by chronic and mental health disorders. This statistic therefore points out the urgent necessity of effective preventive strategies and better disease management systems, which can, thus, restrain cost burdens. According to the authors, absence of reforms will result in cost increase, which in turn will affect the government budget, employer expenditure, and overall healthcare system. It is proposed by Thorpe and Joyce that the budget should be allocated for more comprehensive preventive services and early interventions. Such strategy may ultimately lead to a reduction of both spending and time costs. They advocate for a holistic approach towards chronic disease care, which combines patient education, early diagnose, and lifestyle adjustments to avoid high public-health cost as well as patient health-welfare. Conclusively, this piece gives a comprehensive description of the financial outcome of chronic disease management in the US and underscores the significance of preventive healthcare. The authors rightly point out that the policy reform needs to be implemented in order to bring down these costs of chronic disease management, and see the long term gains come from better prevention programs and enhanced chronic disease management.

What I Learned from the Study and Acquired Knowledge

Exploring annotated bibliography and finding numbers on chronic diseases management in US healthcare spending field has helped me to widen the vision of the complex matter that the system is dealing with, unknown to me before, and to understand the strategies needed to solve the problem. Chronic diseases continue to exert a tremendous financial burden according to the studies by Thorpe and Joyce (2017) that indicate that the major part of healthcare spending being used towards diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This realization justifies the developing of a robust prevention system as well as a comprehensive management plan that minimizes the financial impacts back later. Moreover, Hadley and Swartz’s research (2023) deliberates on how the health-care expenditures are rising and it narrows the employer-sponsored health insurance, thus offering employees less coverage and more individual expenses. This study in turn demonstrates that health cost decelerating health care policies and the insurance effective access affordability are definitely essential. Among various aspects that make drug prescribing topical issue in the era of skyrocketing costs, branded and specialty drugs are top-priority. This finding reflects precisely the call for price disclosure and steps intended for promoting using generic medication that is aimed at alleviating patients’ monetary problems. I figured out from these researches that there are multi-faceted phenomenon of healthcare costs, insurance coverage and chronic disease management create sacrifices and hindrances to the equilibrium state of healthcare access. Successful prevention and early intervention will not only keep expenses to one minimum but also contributes to better health. The role of policy revisions in avoiding rising healthcare expenses by attending to the management of its root causes has been highlighted by the studies under consideration, no doubt. An all-round perspective which can be inclusive and give due attention to affordability issues in healthcare as well as good quality of health care is vital to creation of a sustainable and fair health care setup. Conclusively, this analytics brings about the view that there are wide institutional reforms that should be done to address the financial dilemma of the health care system and finally achieve better health to all.

 
References

Hadley, J., & Swartz, K. (2023). Rising Health Care Costs and the Erosion of Health Insurance in the United States. Health Services Research, 58(2), 213-220. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36721408/

Schumock, G. T., Khan, N. A., & Avorn, J. (2019). Prescription drug spending in the United States: A review of recent trends. Pharmacotherapy, 39(8), 824–835. PMC: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9383648/

Thorpe, L. E., & Joyce, G. F. (2017). The Financial Burden of Chronic Disease Management in the US. Health Affairs, 36(1), 7-16. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm

Xu, Y., Zhao, Y., & McGuire, T. G. (2023). The impact of rising out-of-pocket health care costs on US adults. Health Services Research, 58(5), 1032-1040. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36248721/

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