Answer

The Nurse’s Role in Program Design and Implementation

In the interview below, “I” marks the interviewer while “R” represents the interviewee.

I: What health program have you engaged in within your practice as a registered nurse (RN)?

R: As a healthcare practitioner, one often works on various programs. However, the one that most stands out is The Safe and Drug-Free Recovery program. This is a recovery and counseling program that focuses on offering a drug-free recovery system for alcoholics while also serving as an intervention program for potentially relapsing patients. It focuses on helping the individual to cope with stressor events and being self-sufficient for long-term productivity with regards to drug and alcohol abstinence.

I: What is the cost, financial or otherwise, of the program?

R: The cost often tends to vary. The government subsidizes the cost of care particularly with regards to rehab through national and state-funded health insurance programs. However, it is important to note that these programs; that is, the Medicaid and Medicare programs do not wholly cater for the entire cost but instead partially cover them. They may cover such aspects of the rehabilitation process such as detox, inpatient treatment care, mental care services, recurrent addiction treatment, and addiction medications. However, we also consider individuals who are unable to use these programs or are simply ineligible for coverage by offering a $14 a week program or a monthly option of $56 as well as a discounted $650 annual payment option. This is to specifically assist those who are financially restrained but are willing to take up assistance.

I: Who is your target audience?

R: The program is primarily designed to assist any person suffering from alcohol and drug addiction or is suffering from drug abuse-based relapse. We also offer an additional care package for persons/families living with addicts and habitual drug users by training them on appropriate care and intervention mechanisms to support the affected individuals since addiction is a problem that affects us in one way or another as a society.

I: What are the projected outcomes of the program?

R: The program was designed with various outcomes in mind, these are: that the participant(s) should establish a healthy lifestyle upon successfully completing the program, That the program promotes mass education and awareness of management and support of addicts within society, That the program creates a reduced dependency on medication as a rehabilitation technique for recovering addicts and to ensure that the recovering patients are self-sustainable in the long-run in mitigating relapse.

I: What is the role of the Nurse in providing input for the design of this healthcare program? Can you provide examples?

R: As a member of society and as a healthcare professional, I interact a lot with others and hence offer critical input towards the design of the healthcare program. Nurses coordinated with counselors to offer therapeutic care to families with persons suffering from habitual drug and alcohol abuse. The nurses offered education on ideal support mechanisms for addicts. Drawing on the experience from interacting with patients, the nurses offered patient feedback. This is particularly vital in re-evaluating the efficacy of the program as a rehabilitation tool as well as its ability to realize the outcomes of the program. Feedback from the patients indicated that there was a need for more one-to-one sessions with the counselor, we also gathered that there was increased demand for more evening Yoga sessions.

I: What is your role as an advocate for your target population for this healthcare program?

R: As a nurse, I not only have a responsibility to the people but also, to the American government. I am tasked therefore as an adviser to the state, to provide feedback on relevant intervention techniques for use within the state-governed treatment and care centers. I am also responsible as a curriculum developer of intervention methodologies to test the efficacy of government proposals and policies by analyzing the effectiveness of programs such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) in assisting patients in the recovery process as well as mitigating against substance abuse.

Do you have input into design decisions? How else do you impact design?

R: Yes, I do. I gather feedback from the program’s participants and their families. This helps in re-evaluating the efficacy of the program as a care and treatment option in the long-run. I also serve as a curriculum developer by using the feedback given to construct interventions that support and aid in the recovery of the patients.

I: What is the role of the Nurse in healthcare program implementation?

R: The nurse acts as a supervisory officer by analyzing the functionality of the program and its effectiveness. He/she provides feedback on the efficacy of the program as a long-term non-medicated care and treatment option while also coordinating with other healthcare professionals in the provision of care. The nurse develops interventions to aid participants to cope with various side effects such as withdrawal.

I: How does this role vary between the design and implementation of healthcare programs? Can you provide examples?

R: The Nurse in program design is an outsider who brings in or rather, contributes to the program by offering input whereas the nurse as an implementer serves as an initiator and a medium through whom the program depends on to run effectively. The role of the nurse in program design includes; offering program management advice and feedback, and developing a curriculum that is more target-based, that is, the curriculum for in-school participant must be different from that of working adult patients. As the initiator, the Nurse offers service to the patient by providing care and developing individually-tailored intervention mechanisms.

I: Who are the members of a healthcare team that you believe is most needed to implement a program? Can you explain why you think this?

R: From a personal level, I believe every participant within the program is important in their own respect, I, however, think that nurses are an invaluable asset in ensuring program efficacy as they not only engage more in-person with the patients but also are responsible in the care and management of life-threatening as is side effects such as withdrawal.