In general, people’s health and vitality are critical not only for their products but for the nation’s future as well. For instance, healthy children will be healthy adults in the future, healthy students learn better, and healthy employees work more productively and help to develop and strengthen the country’s economy. Finally, healthy seniors are more mentally and physically active and able to live independently. Introduced in 2011, the National Prevention Strategy may be regarded as this health care reform that focuses on the promotion of wellness in order to stop any disease before it starts (Benjamin, 2011). For the shift from a disease-oriented health care system to one of wellness and prevention and the continuation of this trend, the strategy emphasizes the following measures:
- The creation of safe and healthy community environments and the enhancement of the quality of air, land, and water;
- The maintenance and development of clinical and community preventive services (Benjamin, 2011);
- Health disparities’ elimination and the provision of equal access to health care to all community members;
- The provision of health education for people’s empowerment and their responsibility concerning their health.
As a matter of fact, nurse practitioners play a highly significant role in relation to the transformative changes as they are fully contributing members of the interprofessional team (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). Health care shifts from provider-based, fee-for-service, and episodic to patient-centered, team-based, high-quality, and affordable. As a result, these changes require nurses’ improved skills, knowledge, and attitudes to population care and wellness with a focus on care coordination, patient-centered care, quality improvement, and data analytics (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). Moreover, health care providers should understand factors that drive transformation and participate in activities related to the prevention of diseases.
References
Benjamin, R. M. (2011). The National Prevention Strategy: Shifting the nation’s health-care system. Public Health Reports, 126(6), 774-776. Web.
Salmond, S. W., & Echevarria, M. (2017). Healthcare transformation and changing roles for nursing. Orthopedic Nursing, 36(1), 12-25. Web.