The Relationship Between Nursing and Hospital Quality of Care, Reaction Paper Example

It is important to gain an understanding of the laws that regulate nursing practice in each location. The American Nurses Association helps nurses gain an understanding of the professional development that is needed to help them excel in their career in addition to the basic regulations that must be followed in order to conduct ethical practice. However, this organization does not provide specific information about state and other local regulations that guide nursing practice. As such, it is important for each individual to gain an understanding of the local laws that guide their practice. Furthermore, many organizations have institutional regulations that are created to coincide with broader regulations, but more directly inform practice within an individual institution. Based on this knowledge, it is helpful for nurses to understand their role in this broad scope of practice. Thus, this could help guide interactions between different types of employees (Spetz et al., 2013). For example, these regulations and standards explain the different responsibilities between physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, etc. It necessary for each medical professional to understand these regulations within the scope of their area of practice which helps each individual improve practice in their own realm.

Understanding overlapping and individual responsibilities can help inform practice in many ways. In particular, this type of comprehension can help mold training programs to provide better education to nurses and other health professionals. On a broader level, it is important for nurses to understand not only the regulations that are in place for their current practice, but for their future practice as well. Thus, an important component of nursing education is learning how to remain aware of changing standards in the field.

References

Spetz J, Harless DW, Herrera C, Mark BA. (2013). Using Minimum Nurse Staffing Regulations to Measure the Relationship Between Nursing and Hospital Quality of Care. Med Care Res Rev, 70(40): 380-399.