Escape Fire “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare” is a documentary concerning the state of health care in the United States. It alleges that the American healthcare system is a broken system that mainly focuses on getting as many people treated the healthcare system, without actually treating their true medical issues. It challenges that the healthcare system is more about bringing in revenue than providing adequate medical care. It further contends that the healthcare system is more about increasing healthcare numbers than improving health. Escape fire is defined as a fire intentionally set to provide protection against a larger uncontrolled fire (Heineman & Fromke, 2012). This documentary maintains that in order to …show more content…
One of the first discussed was the number of patients that a physician at a community clinic was expected to see daily. The physician in the film maintains that she is constantly scrutinized by administration to increase her productivity. The physician however does not feel that increasing the number of patients she sees allows her to properly care for her patients. She is more concerned about the quality of care she provides versus the quantity of patients she sees. She gives this as a reason for her quitting this job. This is illustrated in several of the patients she is providing care for. During the documentary she is simply treating the presenting symptom rather than focusing on preventative measures or patient education. An example of this is one female patient that is tearful, who states that her son it’s her son’s birthday and he is out to the country, she is working six days a week and she just broke up with her boyfriend. The patient states that Celexa has worked in the past. While the doctor acknowledges that medication is not the fix to the patient’s problem, the insinuation is that she prescribed it anyway without attempting find solutions to the patient’s issues. Another issue that was identified was demonstrated by a woman who by the age of thirty-five had over 40 stents placed. It was easier for her providers to continue to recommend stent placement because this procedure …show more content…
In the clinical setting, the nurses’ expertise can be used to make clinical assessments and recommendations for routine care at a lower cost than a physician visit. This would increase the number of patients seen and increase the quality of the care provided. The advance practice nurse would be able to hone in on preventative measures and increase patient education. The advance practice nurse can also make recommendations about practice changes needed to facilitate better health outcomes through the use of evidence-based practice. Nursing leaders are aware of how important nursing science is to provide needed evidence to transform practice, even though, finding the time and resources to support any research activity is often challenging (Stone, 2017). As there continues to be an initiative to improve quality healthcare while simultaneously reducing costs, the importance of the nurse with advanced education in transforming healthcare delivery and healthcare policy will continue to grow. Opportunities for nurse managed health clinics, quality nursing research to improve evidence based practice, leadership of multidisciplinary health management teams and change agents in health policy and improved patient outcomes make the nurse with advanced education the “escape fire” in health care now and in the