Examine changes introduced to reform or restructure the U.S. health care delivery system. In a 1,000-1,250 word paper, discuss action taken for reform and restructuring and the role of the nurse within this changing environment. Include the following: Outline a current or emerging health care law or federal regulation introduced within the last 5 years to reform or restructure some aspect of the health care delivery system. Describe the effect of this on nursing practice and the nurse’s role and responsibility.

Examine changes introduced to reform or restructure the U.S. health care delivery system. In a 1,000-1,250 word paper, discuss action taken for reform and restructuring and the role of the nurse within this changing environment. Include the following: Outline a current or emerging health care law or federal regulation introduced within the last 5 years to reform or restructure some aspect of the health care delivery system. Describe the effect of this on nursing practice and the nurse’s role and responsibility.

Trends and Issues in Healthcare Today

The US healthcare system has undergone tremendous reforms since it was developed. Some of the laws that have been passed to improve US healthcare include the Affordable Care Act of 2010, HIPAA, Medicare, Medicaid, and many more. These laws have improved the healthcare system and made the role of nurses clear. The purpose of this assignment is to discuss action taken for reform and restructuring and the role of the nurse within this changing environment.

Current Law 

The US Congress has passed many laws regarding the US healthcare system. One such law is the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support (CARES) Act of 2019. The law expands and reauthorizes the provisions introduced first in the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (Congress.Gov, 2019). The Autism CARES Act ensures support for prevalence tracking, services, research, and other government activities in the improvement of care among people with autism.

The law increases yearly authorized federal spending on autism activities to $369.7 million through 2024. The law aims to improve the entire lifespan of people with autism spectrum (Congress.Gov, 2019). This law was enacted to restructure healthcare delivery among people with autism. It aimed to improve the quality of care provided to patients with autism.

The Autism CARES Act will affect nursing practice by promoting evidence-based care when dealing with people with autism. The law provides support for prevalence tracking and research regarding autism services (Congress.Gov, 2019). It affects nursing practice by promoting evidence-based practice and high-quality care services in the treatment of patients with autism.

The role of nurses based on the law is to engage in research activities that aim to improve the quality of life of people with autism. The responsibility of nurses is to ensure that people with autism receive care that is supported by research and evidence-based. Nurses are also responsible for ensuring that the added funds are used as intended. The law will also affect nursing practice by supporting the inclusion of knowledge about autism in nursing education.

Impact of Quality Measures and Pay-for-Performance on Patient Outcomes

Quality measures are significant, especially in nursing practice. For a healthcare service to be of high quality, it should be patient-centred, safe, effective, timely, and equitable (Zarowitz et al., 2018). Quality measures affect patient outcomes by identifying what to be done to improve patient outcomes and provide high-quality care. One of the patient outcomes is patient experience. The nurse can improve the patient experience by providing safe, effective, and timely care.

In summary, quality measures affect patient outcomes by providing ways for how nurses can achieve these outcomes. pay-for performance, also known as performance-related pay is a care delivery system where healthcare professionals are paid based on their performance. This delivery system affects patient outcomes by ensuring that healthcare professionals achieve what patients envision from the treatment plan (Kyeremanteng et al., 2019). Pay-for-performance ensure that patients get value for their services.

Quality measures and pay-for-performance affect nursing practice by directing how nurses should conduct their duties. The role of nurses in these situations is to ensure that patients achieve the best and high-quality care. Nurses also have the role of working together with other healthcare professionals and patients to provide the best care. For instance, nurses need to work with patients in developing a care plan that fits their needs of the patient.

Nursing Leadership and Management Roles 

Nursing management and leadership are vital in nursing practice. New professional nursing management and leadership roles have emerged to respond to emerging trends in promoting patient quality and safe care in diverse healthcare settings. One such role is education and training. Nurse leaders and managers have the role to educate junior nurses and training them about emerging issues in nursing.

Nurses need requisite knowledge to handle emerging trends in healthcare such as covid-19 pandemic and other problems. As such, the role of education is vital in ensuring that nurse knowledge to implement emerging trends (Noh et al., 2020). The second role is policy development. Nurse managers and leaders also have the role to develop and implement policies that support emerging trends.

One of the emerging trends is the use of elec