The Crowded Clinic: Critical Analysis The Crowded Clinic Case Study (Colorado State University - Global, n.d.) discusses the issues of practice management as they apply to access to care. Access to care may be as inconvenient as lengthy patient wait times to issues far more serious that may have a profound effect on the health and well-being of a single patient or an entire cohort. In order to properly address the issue and look for a remedy, it is necessary to understand the underlying conditions that create the problem before creating the means to manage the change required to correct the problem. The Crowded Clinic has multiple issues, including social and operational, which are creating the associated inaccessibility to services. The …show more content…
The application of advanced access principles require that rather than booking weeks and/or months in advance, we leave more time available each day to see the patients who call on that day. This provides a higher percentage of same-day appointments resulting in the elimination of advance booking and long wait-times for an appointment, reduction in the number of missed appointments, and ultimately increasing patient compliance and …show more content…
For example, prescription discount cards are available from a variety of sources at no charge for individuals who do not have prescription drug coverage. If we do not identify those individuals without prescription coverage, those people may have to forego purchasing a prescription that could have been affordable with the discount card. We should also be aware that members of certain populations may be reticent to self-identify because of the stigma (actual or imagined) attached to being part of the
Because of the lack of organization with the health care providers in Canada, the wait times are too long and can cause serious complications to any condition the patient went in for in the first place. This situation of how the health care system can resolve wait times was brought to the government but they continue to ignore the proposals brought to them. It is possible to resolve the problems of wait times without extreme change and expenses in the health care system. The solution is to be found in the reorganization of the health care providers. Lack of assistance in the emergency room can make ones illness to become worse, therefore, causes the patient to be forced to wait in emergency rooms for an extended period of time and when they are finally seen by a health care provider, the outcome is very poor due to lack of registered staff, physicians and proper assessment(Goldman & Macpherson, 2005, p.40). The objective of this paper is to discuss and critically analyze the conditions of emergency waiting rooms. The specific issue this paper intends to explore is extensive and prolonged waiting times for patients accessing health care, patients who need urgent treatment and the vulnerability of elderly patients and children. With an in-depth critique of the barriers to health care and shortcomings of emergency rooms, strategies will be provided to enhance a health care system that makes it more accessible and efficient.
Culture can be defined as behaviors exhibited by certain racial, religious, social or ethnic groups. Some factors in which culture may vary include: family structure, education, and socioeconomic status (Kodjo, 2009). Some may think cultural competence is something that has an end point, however, when the big picture is seen, it is a learning process and journey. From the writer’s perspective, the client-therapist relationship can be challenging. Culturally competent therapists must realize that behaviors are shaped by an individual’s culture. Many changes are taking place within the United States cultural makeup. Therapists and healthcare professionals are being challenged to provide effective and sensitive care for patients and their families. This type of culturally sensitive care requires the professional to be open and seek understanding in the patients diverse belief systems (Kodjo, 2009).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2012), the average time patients spend in the U.S. emergency department (ER) before they can see a doctor has increased to 25% between 2003-2009. The main cause of longer wait times (WT) in the ER is overcrowding. Overcrowding has been found to be closely related to both subjective and objective patient satisfaction (Miro’ et al, 2003). Longer wait times in the ED is such an important issue because its consequences are detrimental not only to the ER patients, but also to providers. As a health care provider, decreasing patients’ WT in the ED is essential, although challenging, to improve patient’s health outcomes and increase patients’ satisfaction. Although it is a very challenging issue to tackle, hospitals that have initiated some quality improvement (QI) strategies are experiencing some positive outcomes in that area of care. The outcomes are measured by decreased waiting times, improved patients’ clinical outcomes and increased patients’ satisfaction.
The number of doctors that present in the United States of America directly affects the communities that these doctors serve and plays a large role in how the country and its citizens approach health care. The United States experienced a physician surplus in the 1980s, and was affected in several ways after this. However, many experts today have said that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the United States, or, at the very least, that there will be a shortage in the near future. The nation-wide statuses of a physician surplus or shortage have many implications, some of which are quite detrimental to society. However, there are certain remedies that can be implemented in order to attempt to rectify the problems, or alleviate some of their symptoms.
Cultural genograms are useful in expanding one’s awareness of the effects of culture on an individual. In turn, this can aid in understanding how other people are a product of his or her culture as well. Cultural genograms are a beneficial tool in providing culturally competent care in nursing. It is essential to remember that there is not an individual culture that is considered to be correct or the standard, but that every culture has a unique view on practices in life. Being culturally sensitive is a critical element in providing culturally competent care.
The term culture is defined as “the thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups” (Potter & Perry, 2013). With the increase of culturally diverse populations in the United States, it is important for nurses to practice cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to acquire specific behaviors, skills, attitudes, and policies in a system that permits “effective work in a cross-cultural setting” (OMH, 2013). Being culturally competent is essential because nurses who acknowledges and respects a patient’s health beliefs and practices are more likely to have positive health outcomes (OMH, 2012). Every culture has certain views and attitudes concerning health. The Jewish (also referred to as Jews), in particular, have intriguing health practices and beliefs that health care providers need to be aware of.
The healthcare system within America reflects increasing numbers of cultural diversity and awareness. According to Holloway (2004), cultural awareness is defined as the deliberate, cognitive process by which health care providers become appreciative of and sensitive to the values, beliefs, practices, and problem solving strategies of the clients’ cultures. Cultural awareness include an examination of one’s personal biases. In order to understand cultural diversity, individuals must strive to acknowledge the prejudices they may already hold toward different cultures. On the other hand, cultural competence is a process through which health professionals can integrate their knowledge and skills to improve culturally effective interactions with clients (Tjale & Villiers, 2004).
It is no secret that the current healthcare reform is a contentious matter that promises to transform the way Americans view an already complex healthcare system. The newly insured population is expected to increase by an estimated 32 million while facing an expected shortage of up to 44,000 primary care physicians within the next 12 years (Doherty, 2010). Amidst these already overwhelming challenges, healthcare systems are becoming increasingly scrutinized to identify ways to improve cost containment and patient access (Curits & Netten, 2007). “Growing awareness of the importance of health promotion and disease prevention, the increased complexity of community-based care, and the need to use scarce human healthcare resources, especially family physicians, far more efficiently and effectively, have resulted in increased emphasis on primary healthcare renewal.” (Bailey, Jones & Way, 2006, p. 381).
Culture care is grounded within one’s worldview, which is shape by social structure factors such as religion, economics, cultural values, environmental context, ethnohistory, and language (Alligood, 2014; Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2015). Moreover, culture care share similarities and differences related to health and well-being, how individual deal with disability and death, as well as, when to seek relief from illnesses or distress. As culture plays a vital role in health care seeking habits and decision making, it is imperative for nurses to fully understand cultural knowledge. With increase cultural knowledge, nurses are better able to implement care plans that are beneficial to the patient with respect to their beliefs, values, and cultural
These differences in origin accounts for diversity in socio-cultural backgrounds and nurses must develop the knowledge and the skills to engage patients from different cultures and to understand the beliefs and the values of those cultures (Jarvis, 2012). If healthcare professionals focus only on a narrowly defined biomedical approach to the treatment of disease, they will often misunderstand their patients, miss valuable diagnostic cues, and experience higher rates of patient noncompliance with therapies. Thus, it is important for a nurse to know what sociocultural background a patient is coming from in order to deliver safe an effective
Today when people move across continents with the help of technology their culture and heritage moves along with them. Almost each and every continent is populated with people from different nations who have diverse traditions and cultures. Thus knowledge of health traditions and culture plays a vital role in nursing. People from different cultures have a unique view on health and illness. Culture-specific care is a vital skill to the modern nurse, as the United States continues to consist of many immigrants who have become assimilated into one culture. I interviewed three families of different cultures: - Indian (my culture), Hispanic and Chinese. Let us see the differences in health traditions between these cultures.
Culture, as define by Giddens, is a “pattern of shared attitudes, beliefs, self-definitions, norms, roles, and values that can occur among those who speak a particular language, or live in a defined geographical region.” (Giddens, 2013, p. 29) When constructing a nursing care plan it is important to understand the patients’ cultural background to fully understand how to care for them. Depending on what culture the individual identifies with, will direct the nurse to which nursing interventions need implemented in regards to certain aspects of care including health care practices and beliefs, how the patient views developmental and family roles, how communication occurs between patient and provider and possibly if that patient has any health
To begin with, efficiency, with the aim of maintaining time for doctors to take care of patients. Efficiency is the optimum method for getting from one point to another. For general out-patient clinics, making an appointment is necessary before you get a consultant. Doctors only spend around a few minutes consulting with a patient, and one case at a time in order to manage large number of patients who were waiting. In addition, there is an accident and emergency service provided for the public.
Reduce appointment availability time to within 5 to 7 days by optimizing a team approach.
Culture is one of the most respected pieces of a person’s life, as it leads and directs their every day living, but also how they view life as a whole picture. We all have the right to our own perspectives and beliefs. Attributing factors could be family upbringing, education, marrying of a spouse, or even worldly travels and experiences. Jarvis (2012), acknowledges that culture involves a persons beliefs, values, and thoughts while implementing their race, ethnicity, and religion. The ability to learn about ones culture, and accommodate them in times of illness and challenges, is a special characteristic. This is an attribute that many accomplished nurses have because of Madeleine Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality.