ESSAY: Access to Primary Care for All?

• To what extent is primary care accessible to all populations in this country?
Answer the following in your discussion:
o What are the main barriers to accessing primary care?
o What is being done to solve this problem?
o What else can be done?
o How are NPs making a difference?
o What does the literature say about the NPs ability to provide primary care?
o What does the literature report as comparisons between primary care provided by an NP versus a physician?

ANSWER

Access to Primary Care for All

The ability to access quality care service is paramount in promoting and maintaining a healthy society.  This has a significant contribution towards managing diseases and mitigating unnecessary and premature deaths.  However, this goal has not been embraced fully hence contributing to preventable mortality.

Main Barriers to Accessing Primary Care

Access to quality and affordable universal primary care is hindered by a number of barriers including the increased cost of healthcare that widen the gap between the rich and the poor (O’Donnell et al., 2016). In addition, there is inadequate insurance coverage among the low-income earners. Moreover, some healthcare facilities lack critical healthcare equipment. Importantly, there are no sufficient nurses who can offer culturally competent care to patients from a diverse origin, race, and culture. 

Solving This Problem In the recent past, various initiatives have been taken to address the barriers associated with the access to primary health care. One of these initiatives is the adoption of Universal Health Care. This is geared towards reducing the significant number of people who cannot afford healthcare insurance. This will help eliminate commercialization of healthcare services by insurance agencies, hospital, and pharmaceuticals. More so, American Nurse Association in conjunction with American Nurses Credentialing Center has come up with Magnetic Recognition Program which articulates for transformational leadership, structural empowerment, cultural responsiveness, knowledge, innovation, an….