peer response 36

I agree health care providers should spend more than fifteen minutes with patients to learn about their concerns and issues. Patients seem to discuss their concerns in detail the more they feel comfortable with their health care provider and time spent. Physicians are under great pressure to meet patient numbers. Assessment is a major part of a doctor’s visit, but interventions and education is a very important component, which becomes cut short. Patients are becoming more and more noncompliant due to decrease in resources provided. Not only are physician’s interactions cut short with patients, but nurse’s interactions are too.

As a nurse you realize how much time a nurse spends with patients versus a physician. As a nurse the more I have conversations with patients, the more information I learn. I believe physicians should spend more time with their patients so concerns are verbalized. Many Physicians spend less than 5 minutes in a patient’s room, and I think to myself “Wow nurses are the eyes and ears for the doctors”. Physicians are under pressure to see patients in shorter period of times, to increase number of patients seen per day. This puts the doctors under great financial pressure. Dr. Reid B. Blackwelder stated in a Kaiser Health News article, “Doctors are thinking, ‘I have to meet my bottom line, pay my overhead, pay my staff and keep my doors open. So it’s a hamster wheel, and they’re seeing more and more patients…And what ends up happening is the 15-minute visit.” To avoid income cuts, physicians have to increase their number of patients per hour, by decreasing valuable assessment or intervention time. Patients might not be getting the proper education due to little time seen in the office, “Shorter visits also increase the likelihood the patient will leave with a prescription for medication, rather than for behavioral change-like trying to lose a few pounds, or going to the gym” (Rabin, 2014). Chronically ill patients particularly need the right educations for compliance.

Many patients with chronic illnesses are increasing with noncompliance. These decreased office visit times play a major effect on patient’s self-care, “When physicians spend an inadequate amount of time with their patients, the patients may not fully understand the importance of complying with all aspects of their recommended treatments, which eventually leads to deteriorating health and higher treatment costs. Approximately 50% of patients with chronic conditions do not take their medications as prescribed” (Haas, Krosner, Mukerji, & Kaplan, 2014). Sometimes a regular physical can takes months for an appointment because of the increase in amount of visits. Doctors are being bombarded and patients are becoming noncompliant due to decreased education.

Sometimes even as a nurse it is hard to be with a patient more than 15 minutes at a time. In my own experience my nurse patient ratio is 10:1. Nursing is a fast paced job that involves managing multiple tasks. It’s difficult to spend time with patients and have therapeutic interactions with them, without being disrupted. Any healthcare provider should be able to have a therapeutic interaction and discussion with patients and their family without feeling rushed. Nurse patient ratio is a major problem in our work field. Nurses are getting burnt out and patients are not getting the proper care and education needed, “The premise behind mandatory nurse-patient ratios is that minimum, specific, guaranteed nurse staffing will produce better patient outcomes and alleviate nurse workloads and increase job satisfaction”(Tevington, 2011). Many concerns go unresolved or put on the back burner when distractions get in the way. If time was more available these concerns would be addresses faster and properly.

References

Haas, D. A., Krosner, Y. C., Mukerji, N., & Kaplan, R. S. (2014, December 26). Delivering Higher Value Care Means Spending More Time with Patients. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://hbr.org/2014/12/delivering-higher-value-ca…

Rabin, R. C. (2014, April 21). 15-Minute Visits Take A Toll On The Doctor-Patient Relationship. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://khn.org/news/15-minute-doctor-visits/

Tevington, P. (2011). Professional Issues. Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios. MEDSURG Nursing, 20(5), 265–268. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.mc3.edu/login?url=https://search-e…