Legislations in the healthcare sector are very significant as they ensure that both clients and, health and social workers are protected. The primary objective of evaluating legislation is to ensure that the healthcare standards which are followed by health and social workers to attend patients are current and relevant to ensure that both the clients and healthcare practitioners safe and they observe ethical care for all people (Van Dongen et al., 2013, p.57). Understanding health and social care theories and models which are used within healthcare systems, healthcare professionals are able to understand legislation and policy reforms easily (Kwon & Johnson, 2014, p.451). The health and social care act which was established in 2012 is currently serving as the most significant legislation guiding the field of health today (Groves, Kayyali, Knott & Van Kuiken, 2013).
There are various infections which are associated long-term condition once they affect an individual. This illness includes diabetes, obesity, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs, etc. individuals are exposed to the risk o been infected by diabetes if they do not participate in physicals exercise and they do not take balanced diets. AIDs is a global health hazard. The numbers of victims of this infection have been rising since 2000. A person is exposed to the risk of getting infected by this infection if they engage themselves into unsafe sex practices, sharing of sharp objects and through blood transfusion in cases where the healthcare professionals who are carrying out this operation and they end up giving infected blood which is not screened to patients (Ma, han & Carruthers, 2014, p.986). These infections have long-term impacts on both patient and the society at large. These illnesses makes a person body weak and not able to perform their daily operation. In case the person is the breadwinner of the family they are not able to work again which means they will no longer be able to give basic needs to their families. Family members and friends have to spend most of their times taking care of the patients and thus been unable to attend other significant roles. Treatments o this infection requires a lot of energy and capital which can affect the economy of the country. This happens because the government is forced to spend most of its capital importing drugs and treatment techniques to attend its citizens.
The purpose of healthcare policies and the law is to ensure standardization in daily healthcare operations which are carried out by health and social workers. Legislations makes it easier for health and social workers to be able to understand how to deal with various issues and challenges which they encounter as they deliver healthcare services to patients. Health and social care workers can apply legislations formed such as privacy act to keep patient’s information and data private and confidential (Grajales III, Sheps, Novak-Lauscher & Eysenbach, 2014). They are not supposed to share patient’ information with other parties without the knowledge of the patient. Application of healthcare laws and legislation cannot be disputed but the way in which healthcare professionals best manage them vary from one hospital to another (Reeves, Perrier, Goldman, Freeth & Zwarenstein, 2013). Policies and legislation helps healthcare professionals to be able to understand their responsibility which they are supposed to take carry in hospitals (Trotter, 2015).
For health and social workers to be able to utilize these legislations entirely in hospitals, they must ensure that they make use of the latest technology techniques which are used to enhance the quality of healthcare services delivered to patients. The best hospital makes use of technology and education to manage their health care policies and legislation (DuBois & Miley, 2013). Technology processes make delivery of health care service by health and social workers more efficient and straightforward. Technology can help in providing updates, authorization, and communication within a hospital. With the use of technology, health and social workers are now able to keep a patient’s information confidential, and the system only allows authorized parties to access the data (Andrews, Darnell, McBride & Gehlert, 2013, p.67).
Healthcare policies protect the health and social workers which motivates them making them deliver quality healthcare services to patients. Legislations such as code of conduct for healthcare professionals provides a clear set of standards which have to be used by healthcare professionals. This legislation forbids health and social workers from using abusive language to the patient (Ventola, 2014, p.491). Code of conduct enables healthcare professionals to be able to work together as a team to ensure quality healthcare services. In a challenging situation, healthcare professional can ask for help from other colleagues so that they do not end up causing medication errors which can have adverse effects on the health of the patient. According to Enthoven (2014), health and social workers maintain clear professionals’ boundaries with use of policies and they know their limits with patients so that they do not end up asking a patient more confidential information which can make them uncomfortable.
Health and social care workers are charged with the key responsibility of assessing the need of the clients and determine the best treatment technique and medication which they can offer to the client to enhance their health status. This can involve interviewing the patient, their family and their healthcare professional so that they can be able to acquire all the necessary information which the need to be able to offer the best medical practice to them (Sallis, Owen & Fisher, 2015, p.43). Health and social care workers coordinate services such as home care services in which they move from one home to another assessing the health conditions of individuals in various communities. Health and social workers assist clients to be admitted to inpatient and outpatient healthcare centers where they can receive high-quality healthcare services which meets their needs at affordable medical charges.
Epidemics such as cholera outbreaks can lead to increased mortality and morbidity rates if not severe (Bowling, 2014). It is, therefore, the role of health and social care workers to ensure that they teach society on the risk factors which can lead to this health epidemic so that they can be able to avoid them. It is also the role of health and social care workers to inform the patients about their rights according to the new health care legislation so that they can be able to defend themselves from healthcare professionals who try to violate their rights by reporting them to the top leaders in the hospital (Groves et al., 2013). Health and social care workers work with a various group of individuals it is therefore necessary that they should be able to develop specific skills which include listening skills so that they can be able to pay attention when a client is explaining their healthcare condition.
There are various values and principles which health and social care workers should have according to healthcare policies and legislation. Privacy is a critical value which requires health and social care workers give the patient a chance to be alone and undisturbed and free from intrusions so that they can be able to make their own decisions regarding their health. Healthcare workers should also have confidentiality according to healthcare policies. This value is very significant in health and social care practice because it authorizes healthcare professionals to keep patient’s information confidential and not to expose it a third party without their knowledge. The healthcare policies and legislation take action against any health care professionals who violate the privacy of a patient. Dignity is a crucial value for health and social workers because it allows them to treat all patients with dignity and respect without mistreating and intimidating them.
Communication is a significant value in healthcare institutions. Health and social care workers need to have effective communication with the patient so that they can be able to gather all considerable information regarding their health (Cameron, Lart, Bostock & Coomber, 2014, p.225). This can be made available by the establishment of a strong therapeutic relationship between healthcare professionals and the patients so that they can feel free to share their health situation without any fear. Healthcare policies and legislation encourage unity in the hospital. Unity is an essential value which enables healthcare professionals to work together to ensure that they deliver quality healthcare services to patients. For example, if a health and social workers encounter a complicated situation when offering healthcare services to a client, they can request for assistance from other healthcare professionals so that they do not end up causing medication errors which can adversely affect the health of the patient. Health and social care practice values and principle have many benefits to the patients. They ensure patients’ information is kept private and confidential and they promote and support an individual’s right to dignity and respect. These values help protect individuals from abuse, and they make communication effective as well as enhancing the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients. They also acknowledge individuals personal beliefs and identities.
There is a various model of care which health and social care workers use to deliver health care services to patients. Outpatient care is a model of healthcare delivery method which is provided in healthcare institutions such as clinics and hospitals. Outpatient healthcare services do not need a patient to be admitted in the hospital for treatment. A patient who is seeking medical attention first visits a physician to receive primary health care services. Outpatient healthcare is made up of three categories which include primary outpatient care in which a patient visits a healthcare professional for diagnosis of infections and prevention measures (Cameron et al., 2014, p.225). The second type of outpatient healthcare is specialized outpatient care. This care requires health and social workers offering medical attention to patients. The last category is stationary care in which a patient needs to seek medical care on a daily basis. Inpatient is the second model of care. This care is given to patient have a sudden illness or sudden worsening chronic condition.
Inpatient model involves three categories of care. The first category is acute standard inpatient care which is given to patients who are undergoing medical procedures which cannot allow them to be assigned outpatient care (Grajales III et al., 2014). Acute intensive care is the second type which is given to patients with critical health conditions which could be threatening their life. The last kind of inpatient model of care is follow-up inpatient care which is given to patients who are partially or dependent on some therapeutic, rehabilitative care. Health and social care workers are given a lot of responsibilities concerning healthcare service delivery. They provide medical health assessment and counseling. They offer individual education on how they can be able to handle various types of infections.
There various principles which can be applied in healthcare institutions such as hospitals to enhance self-care, self-care management and enablement. The first principle ensures patients are capable of making informed decisions which can help them be able to manage their health condition. Patients should decide on the kind of diets they should eat as advised by healthcare professionals so that they can be able to enhance their health (Kennedy et al., 2013). The second principle involves communicating effectively so that patients can be able to assess their needs to develop and gain confidence to self-care. Health and social workers should most often inform individuals about their health situations so that they can be able to come with ways in which they can take care of themselves regarding their health. Healthcare professionals should also inform patients about how they can be able to access support networks which can help them manage their health. Support and enable individuals to develop self-care skills is a critical principle which should be performed by health and social care workers.
There are various health and social practice legislations which can be applied by healthcare professionals in various nations to ensure that they give high-quality healthcare services to patients. Healthcare Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) which was established in 1986 provides immunity for health care professionals and various institutions during conduct assessment. This legislation originated as a result of the Supreme Court ruling which involved abuse of healthcare professionals peer review process (Kastanioti, Kontodimopoulos, Stasinopoulos, Kapetaneas & Polyzos, 2013, p.7). Legislators passed the law to protect the health and social workers from peer related lawsuits and encourage them to be able to file complaints after they encounter any form of the unprofessional issue and dangerous peer conduct. The second legislation which is currently applied in the healthcare sector by health and social worker is Medicare. Medicare programs offer health insurance covers too many individuals across the globe. Medicaid is another healthcare legislation policy which ensures medical insurance coverage or those individuals who have low income (Mainz, Kristensen & Bartels, 2015, p.523).
The policy helps them settle the medical bills, and they punish health and social workers who attempt to discriminate them due to their poor financial status. Medicaid covers various individual with special needs such as uninsured pregnant mothers, disabled individuals, and jobless people. The children’s health insurance program (CHIP) is a legislation which has created a strong foundation for delivering high quality healthcare services to infants who are from poor backgrounds this policy originated from Children’s Health Insurance Authorization Act which was established in 2009 and it has successfully managed to offer healthcare services for clients who were previously disqualified (McLellan & Woodworth, 2014, p.541). In 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which protects workers so that they can be able to carry their insurance health cover from one employment to another. This legislation also enables workers to be able to select a group of health insurance plans so that they can be able to cover the lost coverage and adjust their family changes due to marriage, birth, and adoption. According Healy (2014), HIPAA legislation eliminates discrimination against policy applicants due to health problems. It ensures that an individual who is denied an application by an insurance company can apply or insurance outside the enrollment period. Patient safety and quality improvement act policy which was enacted in 2005 to protect the health and social workers who are exposed to the unsafe working condition (Brayne, Carr & Goosey, 2015). The legislation fine confidentiality breaches as to protect the patient’s privacy (Thompson, 2015).
Conclusion
Healthcare policies are very significant in healthcare, and they ensure adequate health and social care practices in health institutions. This legislation is very important as they protect the rights of patients and ensure that they are not mistreated in hospitals as they seek medical attention. Health and social care workers can apply this legislation to understand their role and responsibility in delivering healthcare services. This makes them keen, and it has led to an improvement in the quality of health care services which is offered to patients. Health and social workers should ensure that they educated the community on some means which they can use to prevent and control some infections which are a threat to life.
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