Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. continues to have worse health outcomes than other developed nations.

Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. continues to have worse health outcomes than other developed nations.

QUESTION #1

Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. continues to have worse health outcomes than other developed nations. This activity is designed to expose you to some of the data that results when resources are not managed effectively. As you review the tables, think about what all nurses can do as leaders to change these trends.

Explore The Commonwealth Fund issue brief, U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, to see an explanation of health care from a global perspective.

QUESTION #2

Read the Executive Summary (pages 24-43) of the landmark Institute of Medicine* report, Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses.

QUESTION #3

Reducing and eliminating waste is essential to managing resources. Waste in health care can take many forms: materials, unneeded transport of people or items from one place to another, inventories, wait times, employees working on processes that are not valuable to the customer, arduous processes, re-work due to incompetence or lack of organization, and incorrect staff staffing levels.

The Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) developed a Hospital Inpatient Waste Identification tool.

Review the IHI resources to better understand some of the ways you can affect waste as a nurse and nurse leader.

Answer preview Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. continues to have worse health outcomes than other developed nations.

Despite having the highest health care spending in the world, the U.S. continues to have worse health outcomes than other developed nations.

APA

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