nursing essay

nursing essay

3

Nursing Essay

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An aspect of healthcare that I would like to enhance is access to mental health services, with a particular emphasis on underprivileged and rural areas. The dimension of mental health has not received any attention in healthcare, whereas it is an essential element for general well-being. Too frequently, those with mental health issues are stigmatized or have to deal with an incoherent and underfunded system. This absence of available care is a factor in increased rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, or even suicide. Rural and poorer areas are particularly disadvantaged because there are usually mental health professionals based in cities who cannot assist vast numbers of people (Nawrath et al., 2024, p.11). In addition, many insurance plans provide little coverage for mental health, and even today, some providers do not accept mental health insurance. Social effects of unaddressed mental health problems are enormous, ranging from reduced workforce productivity to higher crime rates, over-stressed emergency departments, and greater impact on criminal justice and foster care systems. Fixing mental healthcare access is a moral and pragmatic necessity: improving it can save taxpayers' money on health expenses and drastically improve life outcomes in all demographics.

If I had the opportunity to enhance access to mental health care, I would use a wide and multi-tiered approach to policy reform, education, engagement, and use of technology. The first and most important would be the promotion of more federal and state funding to extend the mental health workforce, especially in the communities that need the service most but lack it due to the lack of it. To incentivize teachers to enter and stay in the fields, I would offer specific scholarship programs with term benefits of loan forgiveness to students who study in psychiatry, psychology, counselling, and social work, and to prioritize those who agree to work in the high-need regions. Repeatedly, efforts of policy have to prioritize implementation of mental health parity laws to enforce insurance firms to offer equal coverage for mental health services as opposed to physical health treatments, thereby making therapy, psychiatric services, and medications cheaper and convenient (Ward, et al., p.843). On the social level, I would implement programs for mental health in schools, workplaces, and local health facilities that entail early intervention, mental health education, peer-led support, and screening. Such initiatives would normalize mental health care and identify the warnings before they advance to severe outcomes. To target the rural and remote population, I would invest in extending telehealth services that enable an individual to attend psychiatry consultations and therapy without traveling miles. These virtual services can fill the gaps in space and logistics in care. In addition, I would initiate culturally sensitive public awareness campaigns that would focus specifically on the stigmas of mental illness, especially in communities of color, immigrants, and conservative communities. Through relatable messaging, community leaders and social media platforms, these campaigns could change the public attitude and have more people come forward asking for help without fear of finding themselves subject to judgment. Lastly, the cooperation of healthcare providers, governmental departments, educational institutions, and not-for-profit organizations would be necessary to ensure that policies were implemented and changed to accommodate changing needs in time. The consolidated effort can transform the present disjointed mental health system into an inclusive and equitable system where the focus would be on the well-being of a person, irrespective of their origin or circumstances.

Work Cited

Nawrath, Maximilian, et al. "Exploring uncharted territory: Do urban green spaces support mental health in low- and middle-income countries?" Environmental research 194 (2021): 110625. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001393512031522X

Ward, Charles. "Health Insurers' Response to Current Mental Health Parity Laws." J. Corp. L. 47 (2021): 843. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/jcorl47&section=32