Community Health Intro Page
Purpose of the Assignment: The purpose of this assignment is to utilize the Health Planning Model to improve aggregate health and to apply the nursing process to the larger aggregate within a systems framework.
Student Approach to Assignment: While completing this assignment I was able to work with my research team and we got to come up with a topic that we were passionate about and that our aggregate (the homeless population in Virginia Beach) desperately needed help with. We went with hypertension which is a huge issue that are aggregate faces and without control can lead to serious complications and even death later down the line.
Reason for Inclusion of the Assignment in the Portfolio: I have included this assignment because this is a great showcase of not only how research can help us to further improve patient health and outcomes but also showcases my ability to work in a team which is a huge part of the nursing field. This paper is a representation of how hard work and dedication to a topic that you are passionate about can make a difference, even if it is a small one.
Domain 1: Knowledge for Nursing Practice
- End of Program Outcome 2: Demonstrate social responsibility as a global citizen who fosters the attainment of health equity for all.
- In this paper we had a patient aggregate that was comprised of the homeless living in Virginia Beach. We saw firsthand while working with them the disparities that they faced with receiving adequate healthcare and we wanted to change that. We focused on hypertension since that seemed to be a large need for most of the population and we came up with a plan to help them better understand and control their blood pressure through automatic blood pressure cuffs.
- End of Program Outcome 3: Articulates an understanding of how human behavior is affected by culture, race, religion, gender, lifestyle, and age.
- In this paper we see how being homeless affects how one behaves. You learn to survive more than you live. Many of our aggregate as seen in our paper must focus on packing light and making survival a priority which pushes their health to that back burner. This is why for our research project we made it a point to give them something small and easy to carry that could also help them learn to stay healthy.
- End of Program Outcome 5: Maintains an awareness of global environmental factors that may influence the delivery of health care services.
- In this paper we discuss environmental factors that affect our aggregate. For our project we wanted our members to be able to write down their blood pressure and when they took them so that we could better keep track of the progress and data. We know that since they live outside, they are open to the elements, rain or shine. Due to this we made sure to laminate the books so that they would not get wet.
Domain 2: Person-Centered Care
- End of Program Outcome 6: Communicate effectively with individuals
- In this paper you can see that we communicated effectively within our group as we worked together to write our research paper and put our plans into action. We also talked with our aggregates and those at PIN ministry who helped us execute our research project.
- End of Program Outcome 18: Educate individuals and families regarding self-care for health promotion, illness prevention, and illness management.
- In this paper we see how my team and I educated our aggregate on hypertension and how they could better care for it. We taught them how to monitor their blood pressure and educated them on taking their medication on time and even if they feel they don’t need it.
- End of Program Outcome 19: Provides teaching to patients and/or professionals about health care procedures and technologies in preparation for and following nursing or medical interventions.
- In this paper we see how my team and I educated not only our patients, but also our fellow professionals on the procedures to follow in preparation for our interventions.
Domain 3: Population Health Descriptor
- End of Program Outcome 8: Applies appropriate knowledge of major health problems to guide nursing practice.
- In this paper we discuss hypertension and the role it plays within the homeless community. We researched how it led to many comorbidities and can seriously affect their quality of life. Due to this research, we were able to come up with a project to help those within the homeless community better track and care for their hypertension.
- End of Program Outcome 20: Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements strategies to meet those goals.
- In our research in order to be able to implement our research project we partnered with PIN ministry and ODU Community Cares to be able to meet our goals.
- End of Program Outcome 21: Assess the priorities of the community and/or the affected clinical population.
- As seen in our research we thoroughly researched through communication with our partners and aggregate as well as our own research about what health disparities our aggregate faces.
- End of Program Outcome 22: Demonstrate effective collaboration and mutual accountability with relevant stakeholders.
- As seen in our paper you can see how we formed a mutual and effective partnership with all those we worked with. We understood that we all had a stake in this and we wanted it to go as smoothly as possible while keeping safety as our main priority.
- End of Program Outcome 23: Prioritize patient-focused and/or community action plans that are safe, effective, and efficient in the context of available resources.
- As seen in our paper it was our priority to make sure that all of our plans were safe, effective, and efficient. We wanted to make sure that our research was going to help our aggregate and not harm them. We made sure that we only used available resources and if we didn’t have the resources that we needed to perform our research safely then we acquired it.
Domain 4: Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline
- End of Program Outcome 24: Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of nursing research
- In this paper you can see that we have cited all our sources and even conducted a literature review to showcase the different research articles that we used and how they helped us with our project.
- End of Program Outcome 37: Considers the impact of research outcomes and the effects of health and social policies on people from diverse backgrounds.
- In this paper we showcase that although our aggregate, are all homeless they are all from different backgrounds. Some are newly homeless, some have education while others don’t, and some are working while others are not. Our research shows that no matter what the person’s background health can affect everyone. We did see that because our aggregate has the main background of being homeless, they are more at risk of health decline due to not being able to receive the same treatment as those who have money or insurance.
- End of Program Outcome 28: Communicates scholarly findings with colleagues.
- In this paper we discussed our findings not only within our group, but we also discussed it with our partners at PIN ministry, our faculty, our aggregate, and our other students during our showcase. Our aggregate was the first to learn about the project and research as they helped us to collect data.
- End of Program Outcome 27: Evaluates research that focuses on the efficacy and effectiveness of nursing interventions.
- In this paper we used a lot of research and most of it helped us to learn the most effective ways to better help our aggregate stay healthy. We learned about the ways in which hypertension affected the homeless and ways in which they could be better treated. This is how we learned about the automatic blood pressure cuffs helping the homeless.
Domain 5: Quality and Safety
- End of Program Outcome 11: Performs therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety techniques.
- In this paper we learned about the proper ways to use an automatic wrist blood pressure cuff. To assist our participants, we taught them how to use it properly and we gave them the batteries to use it. We did a quality control check on all the machines before we gave them out to make sure that they all worked as they should.
- End of Program Outcome 15: Delegates and supervises the nursing care given by others while retaining accountability for the quality of care provided.
- As seen in our paper before we could trust the other healthcare providers at PIN to educate our patients while we were off site, we first watched them educate a patient by themselves. We made sure that they were educating them how we wanted to as we were the ones accountable for the education of the patients since it was our research project.
Domain 7: Systems-Based Practice
- End of Program Outcome 4: Recognize the impact of health disparities and social determinants of health on care outcomes.
- In this paper we researched and learned about how the homeless community faces many healthcare disparities. Many cannot get transportation to appointments, do not have money to pay out of pocket or even for copays, and many do not have insurance to help them. This leads to a drastic health decline within the community and is a major setback for them as they try and get back on their feet.
- End of Program Outcome 34: Demonstrates evidence of participation in Interprofessional Education (IPE) activities.
- In this paper we discuss that in order for our teaching to be given to our aggregates we had to first teach other members of PIN. This includes the DNP students and the faculty so that they could give out and teach our education on the days that we were not there.
- End of Program Outcome 35: Describe the impact of healthcare cost and payment models on the delivery, access, and quality of care.
- In this paper we discuss how many of our aggregate cannot receive healthcare due to the lack of funding. It costs too much to pay out of pocket and even with insurance care can still be expensive. It is also noted that in some cases those who are unable to pay get a lower quality of care due to not being able to pay for “better” care. For many of the hospitals it costs a lot of money to treat patients, which leads to them not being able to treat as many patients. This lowers access and quality of care especially to our aggregate.
Domain 8: Informatics and Healthcare Technologies
- End of Program Outcome 39: Demonstrates skills in using technology, informatics, and communication devices to deliver care using remote technology.
- In this research study you will find that remote technology was used to our advantage. Having zoom meetings, researching topics, communicating with partners, and being able to use technology to our advantage helped us reach our goals. We often had zoom meetings so that we could reach those who were not in our physical presence. We sent material back and forth to have it completed such as sending our education off to have it translated into Spanish.
- End of Program Outcome 40: Use evidence-based patient teaching materials, considering health literacy, vision, hearing, and cultural sensitivity.
- In this paper we knew that our aggregate had a wide range of health literacy and health conditions. Due to this we made sure to make our teaching simple, provide it in multiple languages, provide the teaching verbally, and make it large enough for those with vision trouble to read it.
Domain 9: Professionalism
- End of Program Outcome 41. Apply principles of professional nursing ethics and human rights in patient care and professional situations.
- In this paper we discuss our project and how it is meant to help our aggregate and improve their health. This cannot be forced upon them and so we made sure before giving out supplies that we educated them and gave them the opportunity to agree or decline to participate. We also made them aware that at any time they were allowed to leave the project and had no obligation to help us at all. It was completely up to them how little or how much they wished to participate.
- End of Program Outcome 42: Advocates for professional standards of practice using organizational and political processes.
- In this paper we partnered with PIN ministry. To fulfill our research project, we made sure to not only go through ODU’s organizational processes, but also PIN Ministries organizational processes as well. In this way we made sure that we were up to standard with both organizations and were following all of the protocols.