Nurse leaders play a crucial role in value-based care, so they need diverse skills to succeed. Their experience on the front lines makes them the perfect candidates to promote value-based care. In the healthcare industry, nurses make up the major portion of all employees. Their voice makes a difference and affects many people, so it is essential to consider their opinions because they clearly understand the needs of healthcare leadership.
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Understanding value-based leadership
The healthcare environment today is quite challenging, and there is a greater need to focus on value instead of volume. To make this shift successfully, nurse leaders need to develop advanced skills if they hope to transform healthcare. The main factors affecting success are creating care delivery models that go beyond the existing organizational boundaries, utilizing analytics and data, and embracing change and innovation. Value-based care is the way forward, and nurses must bring about the change. With the right skill sets, nurse leaders can design the future of healthcare.
Value-based care was introduced due to poor outcomes, shifting demographics, and unsustainable healthcare costs. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act was designed to bring about healthcare reform, and value-based care is an integral part of this strategy. The act was introduced to create a framework to achieve the goals of reduced healthcare expenses, improved health of the population, and enhanced patient outcomes and experiences. This legislation created a significant shift from volume to value-based. Earlier, healthcare providers were focused on the number of procedures and tests performed. With a focus on value, providers are incentivized to deliver high-quality care. Nurses are an essential part of this transformation in healthcare and should be willing to move into roles that influence clinical outcomes and improve health.
Nurses must be committed to delivering cost-effective, safe care at all levels. They must also understand what is needed to bring about healthcare reform. When nurse leaders and nurses are actively engaged in this reform, healthcare reform can be successful. This also affects patient care and reimbursement dollars. When leaders are planning to bring about change, implementing delivery models that go beyond the healthcare settings is more likely to bring about change. This new approach can be challenging for most healthcare organizations, so it is essential to have nurse leaders that are highly experienced and trained to a high level.
Nurse leaders need several skills, such as data analytical skills, financial acumen, and a clear understanding of population health. When you pursue graduate nursing programs at Marymount University Online, you will be equipped to be a value-based nurse leader capable of improving patient outcomes. The program’s curriculum will provide you with evidence-based knowledge, health policy awareness, and clinical experience needed to be an ethical nurse.
How nurses impact value-based transformation
Nurses are at the heart of any evidence-based, coordinated, effective care model. They must take the opportunity to manage their patients effectively and make their voices heard in healthcare reform. Nurses have a significant impact on quality outcomes in healthcare. For nurses to focus beyond acute care, they need new skills. They also need to shift their focus from providing episodic care to working on delivering patient-centric guides.
Developing collaborative partnerships and ensuring safe transitions are essential skills to learn in the new value-based care model. Nurses can act as the bridge in fragmented services by delivering care coordination to reduce negative patient outcomes. Some of the ways in which care coordination can be accomplished are by focusing on effective communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, self-management skills, and patient engagement. These are the first steps nurses can take to reduce costs, improve patient outcomes, and reduce readmissions.
Managing patient care across the healthcare organization also requires a new approach that aligns provider services with patient priorities. A value-based strategy can be an effective foundation to achieve this. Nurses are the coordinators of patient care and can lead the transformation towards a team-based, integrated healthcare model. They are an important part of a healthcare organization linking patients with the different areas of the healthcare system. Their skill sets, leadership, and clinical knowledge make them capable of undertaking important roles in care coordination supporting the shift to value-based care.
Value-based care goes beyond the healthcare organization, focusing on the outcomes and needs of the patient not only in the healthcare facility but throughout their life. It concentrates on chronic care issues of the population to support cost-effective, safe care. Individuals with multiple chronic conditions have always been challenging in healthcare, and that population will grow over the next few years.
Patients with multiple chronic conditions can have a substantial financial impact on healthcare organizations because of high readmission rates and extended stays. To navigate these issues and meet this population’s needs, innovation is required in the nursing sector. Flipped discharge is one such innovation in nursing. In this concept, the discharge process is moved beyond the healthcare facility to the patient’s home. A complete geriatric assessment is required to identify patients needing this approach. In creating a customized care plan focusing on timely services, a comprehensive and holistic approach is required. In-home assessments and thorough communications are also crucial for flipped discharge. This innovative approach may enhance patient satisfaction and reduce readmissions.
Technological advances may also be very effective in addressing chronic care by allowing healthcare providers to provide care in the patient’s home. There are a few wearable devices that are already used today, such as glucose monitors and heart rate monitors, that can transmit data to healthcare providers. Remote patient monitoring is another innovative tactic to help patients make lifestyle changes. This collaboration with patients and other healthcare disciplines is a crucial pillar of success in nursing for transitioning to value-based care. This transition requires a strong population management strategy focusing on collaboration, advocacy, and coordination.
Nurse leaders should also embrace the big data revolution since it allows them to draw meaningful information from data. Population management can benefit greatly from big data because it provides insight into the strategies needed to deliver value-based care. Nurse leaders need to be capable of analyzing data and finding key details that can be converted into operational strategies aimed at cost-effective, safe care. Data competency is one of the skills that all nurse leaders need to excel in. Nurse leaders should also embrace innovation and encourage fresh ideas, while healthcare organizations need to cultivate a vision that goes beyond departmental boundaries and extends beyond acute care.
Essential values all nurses need to succeed
If you are interested in pursuing a career as a nurse leader, it is vital to ensure that you understand the fundamental values you will need to succeed in this role. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses provides a list of values crucial for succeeding as a nurse leader.
Altruism
Altruism means being concerned about the well-being of others, and this is an essential skill for all nurses to have. They also need to have a deep understanding of the perspectives, beliefs, and cultures of others, demonstrating this understanding and acting as an advocate for their patients. Nurse leaders also need to act as a mentor for other professionals needing to be highly motivated to help others and work without expectations of recognition or reward. Altruism should be instinctive; it cannot be taught. Formal education can teach clinical nursing skills, but altruism is an instinct that comes from within.
Accountability
Nurses are accountable for providing cost-effective, high-quality care to their patients. Accountability means having the competence, power, and right to act. Nurses must be able to evaluate patient care and implement changes that improve patient outcomes in healthcare organizations.
Human dignity
Nurses need to respect the uniqueness and inherent worth of people. They will also need to respect all their colleagues and patients. As professionals, they must protect the privacy of their clients, support their individual needs with sensitivity, and always act in accordance with the code of ethics of their profession. Nurses providing care to their patients must safeguard the dignity of the individuals and respect their wishes regarding treatments and procedures.
Integrity
Integrity is reflected in everything nurses do in their professional practice. When nurses are honest and deliver care according to an ethical framework, it can be seen in everything they do. They must demonstrate accountability, identify errors, and accurately and honestly document care. Nurse leaders must be role models, always upholding the profession’s integrity.
Social justice
For nurses, it is crucial to uphold humanistic, legal, and moral principles. They need to support non-discrimination and fairness in delivering healthcare. They also need to encourage policies and legislation for advancing healthcare and nursing and promote universal access to healthcare. When nurses practice these values, they can influence health policy by engaging with elected officials and policymakers. They can also build partnerships with organizations in the community to address disparities in healthcare.
How to embrace value-based leadership in nursing
In healthcare, nurses are the moral center, inspiring compassion, and ethical care. Nurse leaders are charged with guiding the way to creating a better healthcare system. As professionals at the forefront of this change, other doctors, nurses, and the community look up to them to practice these values. Nurse leaders will also be expected to promote clinical excellence, provide education, and encourage the professional development of the clinical team. Nursing is constantly changing, and today, nurse leaders can shape the future of healthcare and nursing. Below are a few main ways in which you can embrace value-based leadership.
Leading with values
Nurse leaders can identify the values of their department and their organization while thinking about their own goals for the future and their true purpose because this will help them decide how to guide the system forward. These values should be realistic and authentic and must be communicated with everyone to engage team members fully. Evaluate success in terms of fulfilling values instead of metrics to truly embrace a value-based system.
Effective communication
In any hospital setting, effective communication is crucial because it can affect the safety of patients. All nurses and team members in a healthcare facility must know what is expected of them. Nurse leaders must set clear guidelines, roles, and responsibilities for team members and decide how performance reviews will be conducted. Instead of talking about the guidelines, nurse leaders must also have them in writing and display them so everyone on the team can read them. Other nurses follow the example of nurse leaders, so they must follow their own rules.
Leadership development and talent management
Hiring the right employees and retaining them is crucial in healthcare. If you are hoping to start a cultural shift in your organization, it is even more important to find employees that support this view and will be fully engaged. Disengaged employees may diminish care quality and be unsuitable for a value-based system.
When hiring employees, asking the right questions as they relate to your values is essential. Discuss how you expect future employees to meet these values during your hiring process. If the healthcare team is staffed adequately, it is important to empower them to participate in decision-making and provide them with professional development opportunities. Doing this will give your team members a sense of accountability that can encourage them to contribute positively to the healthcare organization’s success.
Change is always tricky, and the shift to value-based care is no exception. Nurse leaders who lead by example play a crucial role in ensuring the success of a value-based system. When nurse leaders emphasize team cohesiveness, effective communication, and core values, it becomes easier for healthcare organizations to achieve the desired results.
