ABSTRACT
Given the current professional behavioral health workforce shortage, nursing professional development practitioners require educational resources to fully support registered nurses across settings in responding to patients with behavioral health symptoms. Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour training to help nonprofessional bystanders assess a mental health crisis, provide initial help, and connect to supports and self-help resources in the local community. Mental Health First Aid was acceptable and useful to 60 RNs and can be supplemented with additional content.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence/standards , First Aid/nursing , Mass Screening/nursing , Mental Disorders , Nurses/supply & distribution , Psychiatric Nursing/education , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Mass Screening/methods , Middle Aged , Staff DevelopmentABSTRACT
Globally, an estimated 25% of individuals suffer from mental disorders. Approximately 50% of Americans will experience mental disorders in their lifetime. The cost of this U.S. mental health crisis is estimated at $444 billion per year when lost economic productivity is included, with only about one-third of the total dollars going to care itself. The generalist RN workforce is an untapped resource and invaluable health provider choice, uniquely suited to make an economic difference to the U.S. healthcare system by improving access, lowering costs, and improving quality of behavioral health care.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/nursing , Mental Health Services , Models, Nursing , Nurse's Role , Cost Control , Health Policy , Humans , Mental Disorders/economics , Mental Disorders/epidemiology , United States/epidemiology , WorkforceABSTRACT
Trust, one of nursing's intangible assets, impacts nurses' ability to form meaningful relationships with patients and this connection positively impacts health outcomes. Linking trust to the fabric of nursing and investing in its measurement will become essential to nursing's valuation and the resulting investment in nursing. Trust, as nursing's core value, should be fostered by nurse educators as they prepare the next generation of nurses. Nurse administrators should connect the trust a patient has for his or her nurse and patient cooperation and honest transparent communication between providers and the patient. Banking trust as a valuable nursing asset will substantiate nursing's marketing and support its worth. Nursing's trustworthiness is an intangible asset that warrants protection, as trust once lost is hard to recapture.
Subject(s)
Nurse Administrators/psychology , Nurse-Patient Relations , Nursing Care/psychology , Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology , Patient Satisfaction , Trust , Attitude of Health Personnel , Clinical Competence , Communication , Education, Nursing, Continuing , HumansABSTRACT
Shrinking dollars increase the need for health care stakeholders to clearly understand nursing's worth. For nursing to assure an adequate investment in nurses, it needs to articulate its value drivers. Nursing revenue offers a data source that reflects stakeholder choices and patient needs. The daily nursing billing supports hospital payment and provides cost data, important for hospital financial decision making. This revenue is a tangible asset reflecting nursing value and can be used to justify an investment in the profession. Nursing leadership can use this daily nursing charge data to monitor and measure the impact of efficiencies related to patient care.
Subject(s)
Economics, Nursing , Education, Continuing , Insurance, Health , LeadershipABSTRACT
Adequate investment in a profession links to its ability to define and document its value. This requires identifying those elements or value drivers that demonstrate its worth. To completely identify nursing's value drivers requires meshing the economic, technical, and caring aspects of its profession. Nursing's valuation includes assessing nursing's tangible and intangible assets and documenting these assets. This information communicates nursing's worth and ensures adequate economic investment in its services.
Subject(s)
Financial Management, Hospital , Nurse's Role , Nursing Staff, Hospital/economics , Costs and Cost Analysis , Humans , United StatesABSTRACT
Rising health care costs and limited health care resources have created a call for data that document the true value of nursing. Difficult choices will need to be made when seeking effective and just distribution of health care resources. The field of economics can be used to study and evaluate health care choices, seeking to determine what health resources are necessary and valued in life. Selecting a method of economic valuation and using cost-driven data related to the nursing process will yield information needed to communicate the value of nursing services. These data are critical to assure tomorrow's health care system does not under-invest in nursing services. Evaluation of nursing services will be needed to support the importance of investing in nursing services in order to improve the overall outcome of future health care.
