Essay: Overview Of Australian Healthcare System, Network, Insurance, Profession, And Training.

History of Australian healthcare system development

You are required to answer each question.

Q1.a) Provide a brief history of how the Australian health care system developed.

b) Give an example of tertiary health service.

a) On February 1, 1984, the introduction of highly controversial Medicare system was done in Australia. It established the basic health care for all the citizens of Australia. With the historic initiative by the Prime Minister- Robert Hawke on March 5, 1984, now all the Australian citizens have a simpler, new, and fairer insurance system. The heath system of Australia is considered to be among the best system in the world, which is providing an affordable and safe heath care for all the Australians. It is run jointly by all the levels of the government of Australia, which are local, state and territory, and federal government (Health.gov.au. 2022). 

b) Tertiary healthcare is referred to a 3^rd level of the health system, which mainly provides specialized constructive care on referral from the primary and secondary medical care. For example, all Australians have the right of getting free treatment at the public hospitals, such as emergency services, liver transplant, specialist outpatient clinics, and others (Surgery.uwa.edu.au. 2022).

Reference:

Health.gov.au. 2022. The Australian health system. [online] Available at: <https://www.health.gov.au/about-us/the-australian-health-system> [Accessed 20 March 2022].

Surgery.uwa.edu.au. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.surgery.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/2912477/Health-Care-in-Australia.pdf> [Accessed 20 March 2022].

Q2. a) Name a Local Healthcare Network (LHN) or Primary Healthcare Network (PHN) in Australia.

b) Discuss the  strengths and weaknesses of the network.

c) Provide reference.

a) Australia Capital Territory Primary Health Network (Health.gov.au. 2022).

b) Strengths- A strong primary health care system is related with increased efficiency and reduced costs, reduced health inequalities, lower rates of possibly preventable hospitalizations, increased patient care satisfaction, and better health outcomes, which includes lower expected avoidable mortality rates (Aihw.gov.au. 2022).

Weaknesses- Some of the weaknesses of the primary health care system of Australia are increasing demand on the health services and an ageing population; increasing chronic disease rates; increasing costs of the medical research and innovations; difficulties in making best use of the developing health technologies; and making better use of the health data (Aihw.gov.au. 2022).

References:

Aihw.gov.au. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/1918d07d-e913-4e31-8325-1f496833d775/8_3-primary-health-care.pdf.aspx> [Accessed 20 March 2022].

Health.gov.au. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/phn/your-local-phn/act-phn> [Accessed 20 March 2022].

Q3.Discuss the role of private health insurance-providers in Australia? 

In Australia, the private health insurance permits a person to be treated as a private patient in all the private or public hospital. This can also help in paying for the costs of heath care that is not covered by Medicare, such as physiotherapy, optical and dental. The cost and things covered depends upon the policy. The private health insurance also assists in getting an access to some services of hospital more quickly. Purchasing private hospital cover helps in paying less tax. Hence, in this way, the private health insurance helps in giving a choice outside the public system (Health.gov.au. 2022).

Reference:

Health.gov.au. 2022. About private health insurance. [online] Available at: <https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/private-health-insurance/about-private-health-insurance#:~:text=public%20health%20care-,What%20is%20private%20health%20insurance%3F,covers%20depends%20on%20your%20policy.> [Accessed 20 March 2022].

Q4.a) Name 3 interdisciplinary health care professionals.

Tertiary healthcare service in Australia

b) How do they contribute to the health care needs of a person?

a) The three interdisciplinary healthcare professionals are physicians, nurses and case manager.

b) The contribution of a physician is multi-faceted, as they identify and meet the patient’s needs, practice population and community through working with various partners. Further, nurses play an important role in the hospital, as they communicate with the patients, try to understand them, and take good care of them along with administering medicines. Lastly, the case managers contribute to a patient’s health care needs by identifying requirements, barriers, and gaps in the care of a patient. They monitor the overall evolution of plan and finds out whether goals are met (Antonsdottir et al. 2022).

Reference:

Antonsdottir, I., Rushton, C.H., Nelson, K.E., Heinze, K.E., Swoboda, S.M. and Hanson, G.C., 2022. Burnout and moral resilience in interdisciplinary healthcare professionals. Journal of clinical nursing, 31(1-2), pp.196-208. 

Q5. Discuss how political and economic policy impact health care delivery in Australia. Use an example to support your discussion.

The factors such as education, income, social support, power, and employment conditions act to either strengthen or undermine the individuals and communities’ health in Australia. Government plays a significant role in the health care development. Over the past twenty years, Australia has experienced a considerable economic and social reforms, with major political parties increasingly adopting the neo-liberal policies. However, despite all these key reforms, the health outcomes of the population in Australia are best among the world. For instance, in Australia, a regionally administered- universal public health insurance program is financed by the government levy and tax revenue (Davis 2016).

Reference:

Davis, S.J., 2016. An index of global economic policy uncertainty (No. w22740). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Q6. Discuss the role of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) 

The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives is a peak advocacy body for the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives. It helps in promoting the retention and recruitment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This also helps in implementing the strategies to embed the cultural safety in the health care and education. CATSINaM honours a culturally safe and holistic approach to achieve an optimal health and well-being for the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples and the communities. This helps in contributing to minimize various gaps that exist in the social determinants of the health, which presently exist between the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and the non-Indigenous Australians (Peters and Bryant 2019).

Reference:

Peters, M.D. and Bryant, R., 2019. Research and policy: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurse and midwife research. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 26(8), p.23.

Q7. Briefly describe the history of EN training in Australia.

The history of nursing education and training started from 18^th and 19^th centuries. At beginning, most of the care took place in the Catholic Church or at home, and was provided by the esteemed nuns, deaconesses, and monks. During 1830s to 1838s, the 1^st trained nurses arrived in Sydney. In 1909, the University of Minnesota School for Nurses became the 1^st university that provided the nurse training program. Presently, for becoming an enrolled nurse, Diploma of Nursing- Enrolled Nurse is required.  A diploma of nursing is offered at the number of the Registered Training Organizations, and can be studied at various locations across the NSW (Health.nsw.gov.au. 2022).

Strengths and weaknesses of Local Healthcare Networks and private health insurance providers

Reference:

Health.nsw.gov.au. 2022. Becoming an enrolled nurse - Becoming a nurse or midwife. [online] Available at: <https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/careers/Pages/enrolled-nurse.aspx> [Accessed 21 March 2022].

Q8.a) Name two nursing regulatory authority/body in Australia.

b) List their functions. 

a) The two-nursing regulatory body in Australia are as follows:

1- The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)

2- he Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA)

b) The Ahpra works with the fifteen National Boards to assist protecting through regulating the registered health practitioners of Australia. Together, their main role is protecting public and set the policies and standards that must be meet by all the registered health practitioners.
On the other hand, the NMBA regulates the registrations of nursing. It operates as an independent authority and oversees the practitioner registration; develops the professional code, guidelines, and standards; handles complains and notification relating to the profession; assess the overseas-trained practitioners intending to practice in Australia; and approves accreditation standards and study courses (Health.gov.au. 2022).

Reference:

Health.gov.au. 2022. Nurses and midwives in Australia. [online] Available at: <https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/nurses-and-midwives/in-australia> [Accessed 21 March 2022]. 

Q9. a) Name two professional nursing associations.

b) How do they help nurses?

A) The two professional nursing associations in Australia are the Australian College of Nursing and the Australian College of Midwives.

b) The Australian College of Nursing is the country’s voice of the profession of nursing that is focused on the advocacy, education, and policy to advance respect, recognition and status for the nurses; and are committed to their desire of advancing nursing and shaping health to improve all Australians’ health care (Australian College of Nursing. 2022). Further, Australian College of Midwives is the professional body for the Australian midwives, which purposes to strive to ensure that the midwives are inspired, educated, and supported through all their career stages and in all the settings of their work (Midwives.org.au. 2022).

Reference:

Australian College of Nursing. 2022. Home – Australian College of Nursing. [online] Available at: <https://www.acn.edu.au/> [Accessed 21 March 2022].

Midwives.org.au. 2022. Australian College of Midwives. [online] Available at: <https://www.midwives.org.au/> [Accessed 21 March 2022].

Q10. Identify a primary health care service and discuss its importance in the Australian health system?

A health promotion and prevention in Australia is a primary health care service. It aims to improve all the Australians’ health and well-being at all the phases of life, with the help of system-based approach for prevention, which addresses the wider determinants of the health, reduces the total burden of the disease, and lessen the inequalities of the health. Ultimately, better wellbeing, health and equity will improve the economic and social progress. The investment in promotion of health and prevention of illness, can help in achieving various gains, which include improved productivity, absenteeism, reduced social support payments, and the other factors (Schadewaldt et al. 2016).

Reference:

Schadewaldt, V., McInnes, E., Hiller, J.E. and Gardner, A., 2016. Experiences of nurse practitioners and medical practitioners working in collaborative practice models in primary healthcare in Australia–a multiple case study using mixed methods. BMC Family Practice, 17(1), pp.1-16.

Q11. Discuss two strategies that you will adopt to prepare yourself to meet the requirements of the National Nursing and Midwifery Digital Health Capability Framework.

Roles of interdisciplinary healthcare professionals and CATSINaM

Following are the strategies that can be adopted to be prepared to meet the requirements of the National Nursing and Midwifery Digital Health Capability Framework:

i. By developing the vital capabilities needed for the twenty-first century. It can be done by strengthening the pursuit of nursing and midwives in incorporating the digital tools, and having the understanding of the value of information and data in the future environment of healthcare.

ii. By being agile and responsive to the changing healthcare landscape and embracing the change for the commitment to provide best care to the patients (Merolli 2021). 

Reference:

Merolli, M., 2021. Intended Use of the national nursing and midwifery digital health capability framework. Healthier Lives, Digitally Enabled: Selected Papers from the Digital Health Institute Summit 2020, 276, p.106.

Q12. Discuss two factors that affect healthcare access for migrants in Australia?

The two factors that affect the healthcare access for the migrants in Australia are cultural and linguistic differences. The language barriers highly affect the patient care in Australia. A linguistically and culturally diverse background, Australia is less likely to access the health services that often leads to the poorer outcomes of health. It acts as a barrier to create an effective relationship between the health professionals and immigrants’ patients. Identifying the factors that influence an access to care, implementing the immigrant-friendly solutions, and motivating a linguistically and culturally sensitive education, may be helpful in improving the overall quality of care as well as increasing an access to care (Al Shamsi et al. 2020).

Reference:

Al Shamsi, H., Almutairi, A.G., Al Mashrafi, S. and Al Kalbani, T., 2020. Implications of language barriers for healthcare: a systematic review. Oman medical journal, 35(2), p.e122.

Q13. Discuss one Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) used in Australia.

In Australia, Acupuncture was introduced as early as in 1880s. It is a most common form of the CAM in Australia. Acupuncture has experienced a major growth since the 1990s. At present, there are around 4,000 registered acupuncturists with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. In Australia, a bachelor’s degree of four years in the related fields is considered as the minimal need for the registration in Australia. Australian widely accepts acupuncture as a treatment, since around 10 percent have received this treatment, and around 80 percent of the general medical practitioners refer their patients to the service of acupuncture (O'Sullivan et al. 2016).

Reference:

O'Sullivan, J., Del Mar, C., Barnes, A. and Marron, L.J., 2016. Acupuncture in Australia. Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 21(1), pp.22-24.

Q14. For one of the listed topics,

a)  identify factors that could impact health policy development.

b) Provide reference.

i. Stem cell research

ii. Genetically modified food

iii. Medical cannabis/marijuana

iv. Reproductive technology – IVF

v. Euthanasia and assisted suicide

vi. Pandemic outbreak

So far, 2020 has been the year of global pandemic of the covid19 and its adverse and devastating effect on the world’s healthcare systems, and Australia is not an exception. In 2020, it has been the most key issue for every Australian, as the covid-19 has exposed key challenges in the healthcare system, which include poor integration between the components, inefficient resource use and over-reliance on the treatment rather than depending on the preventive care. The continuing pandemic is the opportunistic time to just pause and reflect on the various lessons, which must be taken from the crisis. Australia’s flexible healthcare system is a strength and should be built-in. Also, can-do attitude and innovation should be supported and fostered (Blecher, Blashki and Judkins 2020).

Brief history of EN training in Australia

Reference:

Blecher, G., Blashki, G.A. and Judkins, S., 2020. Crisis as opportunity: How COVID-19 will reshape the Australian health system. Med. J. Aust.

Birrani is a 49 year old Indigenous Australian who is admitted to hospital with high blood sugar level.

Q15. Discuss how Birrani’s social and emotional wellbeing may be affected by diabetes and related hospitalisation.

Diabetes, especially a high blood sugar level is a chronic metabolic disorder, which impacts social, metal, and physical, including the psychological well-being of a patient. If not addressed properly, the social and emotional well-being of Australian indigenous patient- Birrani may be highly affected. The social, psychological, and emotional requirements of Birrani are compromised, when the personal efforts to meet the challenges, has failed to succeed as expected. Diabetes and its different complications are positively related with the psychiatric and psychological issues, such as depression, fear of hypoglycaemia, and poor habits of eating. Hence, it is important to identify and support the patient, such as Birrani to get over his social and emotional well-being (Kalra, Jena and Yeravdekar 2018).

Reference:

Kalra, S., Jena, B.N. and Yeravdekar, R., 2018. Emotional and psychological needs of people with diabetes. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 22(5), p.696.

Q16. Discuss two cultural safety principles you will apply when caring for Birrani.

Cultural safety is all about making an environment, which is safe for the indigenous people in hospital. The two cultural safety principle that can be applied when caring for Barrani are as follows:

1) Understanding general context in which the health of Barrani is rooted i.e., historical, economic and social determinants of health.

2) Building equitable partnerships with the communities from which Barrani belongs, and promoting the support structure that is inclusive of the indigenous communities that include families, elders and healthcare professionals (Tremblay et al. 2021).

Reference:

Tremblay, M.C., Bradette?Laplante, M., Witteman, H.O., Dogba, M.J., Breault, P., Paquette, J.S., Careau, E. and Echaquan, S., 2021. Providing culturally safe care to Indigenous people living with diabetes: Identifying barriers and enablers from different perspectives. Health Expectations, 24(2), pp.296-306.

Q17. Identify and discuss a nursing theory that will help you care for Birrani.

Of the nursing theories, Kings’ Goal Attainment states the nature of the relationship between the nurse and a patient for attaining the goals that are implemented in the interaction process through communication. For doing so, an evaluation with the patient is used by the nurse, particularly in identifying the problems, disorders of health, their perception regarding the problem they are facing, and sharing information to plane the overall strategies to reach at the goals proposed by the agreement (Araújo et al. 2018). Hence, in case of Birrani, Kings’ Goal Attainment theory can be used to prove care by a nurse to treat diabetes.

Reference:

Araújo, E.S.S., Silva, L.D.F.D., Moreira, T.M.M., Almeida, P.C.D., Freitas, M.C.D. and Guedes, M.V.C., 2018. Nursing care to patients with diabetes based on King’s Theory. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 71, pp.1092-1098.

Q18. a) Identify and discuss two health support services you can refer Birrani to facilitate positive health outcomes.

The two health support services that can be referred to Birrani to enable positive health outcomes are as follows:

1. Checking blood Glucose levels on regular basis, and also keeping a positive mental attitude and seeking advice in case of being depressed or anxious.

2. Using medication strictly prescribed by the doctor, and do not make any change in the diabetes tables without consulting the concerned doctor.

It is equally important to take healthy diets and do some physical exercise to keep the blood sugar level at minimum (Betterhealth.vic.gov.au. 2022).

Reference:

Betterhealth.vic.gov.au. 2022. Diabetes - Better Health Channel. [online] Available at: <https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes#treatment-for-diabetes> [Accessed 21 March 2022].