Health professionals have been the target of unprecedented vision in our history. The contributing factors are well known: the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to restart activity or the largest vaccination campaign in the modern era. Not forgetting the previously existing structural challenges, such as an aging population or the need to develop the NHS into a model of integration of care.
Workers have long since received the attention they deserve, but more than just appreciation is needed. If we are to be prepared for the health challenges that emerge, we need not only to redefine jobs and improve salaries, but also to decentralize decision-making, empower middle management and redefine the social roles of health. A greater appreciation for nursing indicates the path to health governance with greater fairness and a greater focus on people.
Health care is provided through multidisciplinary teams, in nearly all contexts, whether in vaccination centers, emergency rooms, primary health care or hospitalization. However, the distribution of power within these teams is completely unequal and reflects the cultural and social capital that each of the professions has accumulated, more than the specific knowledge of each component.
This reality is a cross-section of all health systems. However, it is more intense in countries like ours, where there is no advanced nursing practice, which has more responsibilities and shares. The import of the model of care in place in the Anglo-Saxon countries would translate into an increase in the skills of professional nurses. Regarding the nursing prescription, it is not intended to replace the work of other health professionals, but rather to improve the accessibility and availability of health care.
We know that the health results, provided by this Responsibility Partnership System, are identical to the results obtained through a system imbued with the model in which we work. Thus it will be possible to evolve into a safe and easy-to-use solution that optimizes existing resources and contributes to healthcare accessibility. The Joint Commission, possibly the largest international organization accrediting healthcare providers, identifies that communication failure linked to a strict hierarchy is the cause of clinical errors, some of which are serious or even fatal.
The World Health Organization recognizes that there are structural factors that shape choice and advancement in health leadership. Just as sharing responsibilities in caregiving improves health outcomes, so the same notion applied in management and leadership will undoubtedly have a similar effect. With the advantage that it will better prepare the entire health ecosystem for future challenges, from programmed recovery, care integration, digital transition, and green health, without forgetting to control the covid-19 pandemic.
Nursing has a central role to play. It was coordinated for discussion and how to listen to the various health authorities. When seen as being equal, the acquired communication and analysis skills are more likely to be used to improve the health status of the population along with the community. The epidemic has changed the way health is promoted and interacted with society. Fighting misinformation on social networks has become more important than face-to-face contact with users. Many health professionals have successfully adapted and assumed this role. Now, it is imperative for schools to keep up with the new trends in health communication.
To control the epidemic and boost the entire health ecosystem, we need to redefine the social roles of every health profession. Not only in practice, as health outcomes tend to be better, but also make the level of strategic management more equitable. This is the best generation of nurses ever built, and not taking advantage of the old and rigid social contracts, it would be a big waste and sadness.
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