To Prepare:

Review the Resources and think about the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously selected for study in Module 1.
Reflect on the competing needs in healthcare delivery as they pertain to the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously examined.

DIRECTION: Post an explanation of how competing needs, such as the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients, may impact the development of policy. Then, describe any specific competing needs that may impact the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. What are the impacts, and how might policy address these competing needs? Be specific and provide examples.

Virtual-Based Care in Healthcare

Competing needs arise in organizations whereby the leaders seek to maintain the organizational goals and objectives while employees seek to meet their targets as their corporate responsibility. In a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted on virtual-based healthcare, the introduction of virtue-based care has resulted in intensified competing needs, especially among the employees, resources, and even the patients (Bhone Myint Kyaw, 2019). Competing needs that may impact the virtue-based care in nursing and healthcare at large include the need of the nurses to undergo thorough training and learning to be equipped with the necessary skills, abilities, and knowledge to operate virtually while maintaining the care quality and effectiveness. This will result in some nurses adapting to extremely new models and channels of care providence, which may require much effort, working beyond work hours, and engaging in extra work, to meet the 24/7 requirement (Ben Kotzee, 2017). Secondly, there is a need for the organization to install numerous resources such as information systems, virtual medical care equipment, and integrated systems that will facilitate the effective and efficient communication and care providence between the patients and nurses. Hence, this will translate in increased costs and budgets in setting the virtue-based care system as an extension of the traditional hospital and module of operation.

The organization can best solve the problem by taking action of reducing the adverse impacts, stabilizing and balancing the inputs and outputs in the health issue, and develop effective and coherent policies to facilitate a smooth transition, operations, and maintenance. According to a peer-reviewed article on “Nurses Advancing Telehealth Service,” coherent policies will define the manner of operation and eliminate any inconsistencies or difficulties. For instance, the issue of the staff working extra hours may result in underperformance and providence of substandard services due to human fatigue and limitations. The policy can define various nurses and staff to work in two or three schedules to ensure the nurses are not overworked (Joelle T. Fathi, 2017). The competing need for resources can be addressed by the developed policy in that an effective and NPV viable project is designed to facilitate the implementation plan efficiently.

References

Ben Kotzee, A. I. (2017). Virtue in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study. PMC: HEC Forum, Vol 29(1): 1–19.

Bhone Myint Kyaw, N. S. (2019). Virtual Reality for Health Professions Education: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by the Digital Health Education Collaboration. Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 21(1).

Joelle T. Fathi, H. E. (2017). Nurses Advancing Telehealth Services in the Era of Healthcare Reform. Journal of Issues in Nursing, Vol 22(2).