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Emily A. Ramsland
14 July 2019
ANALYSIS OF A U.S. HEALTH CARE POLICY 2
Tuberculosis claims the life of many individuals every day. The aim of prevention and
elimination of Tuberculosis is continuously progressing and will be evaluated in this paper. For
the purpose of this assignment, my thesis is: This paper will provide a summary of a Health Care
Policy, identify major stakeholders involved, consider the positive and negative aspects, the
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that is transferred throughout the air. Health care
workers are at an increased risk of contracting Tuberculosis when caring for their patients who
may be contaminated with it. The policy of choice is called The Global Prevention and
Elimination of Tuberculosis Among Health Care Workers. This policy aims to prevent
Tuberculosis as well as to detect it early in individuals that do contract it. In addition, this poly
aims to better educate nurses and health care workers in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
of Tuberculosis. This will allow for a safer environment for everyone and it will hopefully lower
the public health morbidity and mortality rates from Tuberculosis (American Public Health
Association, 2018).
Major Stakeholders
In the Global Prevention and Elimination of Tuberculosis Among Health Care Workers
Policy, the major stakeholders include any health care worker, the patients, the insurance
companies, as well as the government (American Public Health Association, 2018). The health
care workers are considered a stakeholder in this policy because they must be able to effectively
diagnose and treat Tuberculosis, if not the aim of prevention and elimination of the disease will
never come to fruition. The patients are critical stakeholders because they must be informed of
ANALYSIS OF A U.S. HEALTH CARE POLICY 3
the disease in order to prevent it and in order to know when to seek treatment. If patients were
not informed about Tuberculosis, they will not know how to prevent it and the disease will then
continue to spread and cause many others to be exposed. Insurance companies can prevent many
people from seeking treatment because of the price of medical care. Without a correct diagnosis
and correct treatment plan, Tuberculosis will continue to be spread from person to person. The
government regulates healthcare for many individuals and they are largely involved in
controlling infectious diseases and preventing illnesses. In addition, the government may also be
a source for funding the policy and its implementation. Each stakeholder plays a vital role in the
Many healthcare professionals feel underequipped to care for patients with Tuberculosis
and prevent the spread to any of the other patients. Through the implementation of this policy,
health care workers will be further trained in infection control measures, isolation precaution
information, as well as a primary prevention method for Tuberculosis. Through these teachings,
health care workers will be able to implement what they have been taught and they will be a
driving factor in reducing the transmission of Tuberculosis which will lead to its elimination in
the United States. Furthermore, this policy would have a positive aspect of lowering the
mortality and morbidity of the infectious disease and it will help to lead to the eradication of
Along with every beneficial and successful policy come setbacks and barriers. For this
policy, a large setback will be the cost required to prevent and eliminate Tuberculosis. This is
especially relevant in underprivileged Country where many do not have quick access to
healthcare. The opposing argument is that it will cost an incredible amount of money and the
ANALYSIS OF A U.S. HEALTH CARE POLICY 4
outcome may not be what is expected. In addition to funding, training that is specialized for
health care workers regarding the isolation precautions for Tuberculosis is said to be
unnecessary. It was identified that many individuals with latent or active Tuberculosis are from
the immigrant population, of which will never make it to a health care worker due to their legal
status. Furthermore, it would be unbeneficial to invest money and time into teaching the health
care workers when much of the population with Tuberculosis will never come into a facility for
The implementation of this policy would better equip nurses in caring for patients with
Tuberculosis and contributing to the prevention of the spread of Tuberculosis to the other
patients. Through the additional teaching that would be provided regarding Tuberculosis,
isolation precautions, and disease prevention, nurses will be able to be advocates for their
patients in contributing to the diagnosis and the treatment. This will also contribute to the nurse’s
patient teaching on how to prevent Tuberculosis and when to seek treatment. For areas of the
world that are underprivileged and Tuberculosis is more rampant, teaching the communities how
to prevent the spread and how to treat it, this infectious disease will be further prevented and
hopefully soon eliminated. Ideally, the government would pay for the teaching classes to the
nurses and the nurses would then teach their patients as part of their day-to-day shift as a nurse.
This policy will allow nurses to practice effective and equitable delivery of care to every patient
Proposed Change
In addition to the proposed changes for the prevention and elimination of Tuberculosis, a
proposed change is to begin giving the Tuberculosis vaccine in the United States more regularly.
ANALYSIS OF A U.S. HEALTH CARE POLICY 5
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018), the only contraindications
for the tuberculosis vaccine include immunosuppression and pregnancy. Furthermore, the
vaccine is usually not recommended simply because the prevalence of Tuberculosis in the United
States is low. However, if everyone got the vaccine, which has already been created and has had
great results, the incidences of Tuberculosis would drop even lower. The preventative treatment
location.
Conclusion
Tuberculosis is a tragic infectious disease and through this policy, prevention and
elimination of the disease can rapidly progress. Furthermore, the United States has the resources
to equip nurses and health care workers in controlling the transmission of the disease. In
addition, there is a vaccine available in the United States to prevent Tuberculosis, however, its
use is not highly encouraged, which ought to be changed in the future of disease prevention. This
paper provided a summary of a Health Care Policy, it identified major stakeholders involved, it
considered the positive and negative aspects, the impact on nursing care and finally it proposed a
References
American Public Health Association. (2018). The global prevention and elimination of tuberculosis
health-policy-statements/policy-database/2019/01/28/global-prevention-and-elimination-of-
tuberculosis
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Fact sheets: BCG vaccine. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/prevention/bcg.htm
St. Joseph’s University. (2011). Health care reform: Duties and responsibilities of stakeholders.
stakeholders/