In healthcare, there are different types of care models. One such model is acute care. According to Nursing Times, “acute care falls under the broader category of secondary care. It involves the treatment of patients diagnosed with short-term but serious conditions and takes place in a number of clinical settings.”
This form of patient care can be witnessed during major traffic accidents, personal accidents or illnesses such as a bad case of the flu. Typically, an acute care nurse operates in a front-line care position for emergency rooms or intensive care units.
Acute care consists of four key components. A study by Translational Pediatrics defines these key components as:
- “Mobilizing community resources,
- an emphasis on evidence-based care,
- enabling patient self-management,
- and focusing on high-quality care.”
A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Administration can equip nursing professionals with the necessary knowledge, skills and practice to effectively implement acute care for patients of all needs. They will graduate with the rounded experience to drive innovation in the healthcare field.
Technology’s Role in Acute Care Delivery: Maximizing Communication, Minimizing Mistakes
One significant way healthcare professionals can enhance acute care delivery is by making sure mistakes are kept to a minimum. Much of this has to do with communication models and technology tools.
According to Pulsara, “80 percent of medical errors result from miscommunication between caregivers during transitions of care. Miscommunication and treatment errors stem from a lack of a single effective communication method.”
This is especially apparent when healthcare providers are short-staffed and nurses are required to take on more responsibility to keep the facility operating. During busy seasons, nurses work long hours paired with mounds of patients’ medical information. Miscommunication can easily occur when nurses are inputting data for each patient.
An effective way to alleviate miscommunication and treatment errors is to rely on technology to compile all relevant information. Pulsara expands upon this, saying, “in today’s interconnected world, mobile technology can enable medical professionals to quickly assemble acute care medical teams for any time-sensitive emergency — including a global pandemic like COVID-19 — on the fly.”
Technology in healthcare allows medical professionals to access data with a simple touch of a button. The information is uploaded to the shared device in minutes, ensuring patients receive appropriate care promptly. No more waiting for excessive amounts of time.
However, hospitals and health systems need to play a part in this process by replacing any outdated systems that support the move to mobile technology. This ensures technology works on behalf of the care team members who trust its accuracy and speed.
Home Healthcare Services and Acute Care
Home healthcare services have the potential to transform the delivery of acute care. This offers convenience for certain patient demographics. Patients who cannot leave their homes to see a healthcare professional will be able to have a specialized unit come out to them.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced a new initiative in this regard: “This program creates additional flexibility that allows for certain health care services to be provided outside of a traditional hospital setting and within a patient’s home.”
Such an initiative will reduce the number of acute care patients in emergency rooms or clinics during high-impact times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, not everyone who needed health services had the COVID-19 virus. Some facilities struggled to establish two separate areas for COVID and non-COVID patients. This type of acute care delivery in the home environment would lessen such challenges.
Even though there’s an effort to expand acute care delivery to the home, there will still be a need for acute care professionals in hospitals and clinics. So this home model expands the opportunities for both individual care professionals as well as the organization as a whole.
Magnify Your Healthcare Practice With a Master’s Degree
A great way to magnify your practice as a nursing professional and elevate your contribution to acute care delivery is to further your career and earn your MSN degree. Those who enroll in the MSN Nursing Administration online program at Radford University will expand their nursing knowledge and prepare to enter into leadership positions that ultimately influence acute care delivery.
Students will study coursework that includes extensive looks at healthcare systems and policy, leadership issues and factors affecting organizational practice. This program allows students to develop organizational and system leadership that emphasizes the importance of professional accountability, ethical decision-making, collaborative relationships and protection of human dignity and diversity.
For example, the Healthcare Systems & Policy course covers the basics of the legal and regulatory processes of healthcare systems. Each future nursing administrator will obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to enter influential roles in the healthcare field, such as chief nursing officer, director of nursing or nursing administrator.
Learn more about Radford University’s online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Nursing Administration program.
