Course Reflection Nursing and the Aging Family.

Guidelines

PURPOSE

The purpose of this assignment is to provide the student an opportunity to reflect competencies acquired through the course Nursing and The Aging Family.

COURSE OUTCOMES

This assignment provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:

– The students will identify the physiological process of aging.

– The students will be able to differentiate the adaptive human response to the aging process.

– The student will be able to manage and care older adults and their families.

REQUIREMENTS

1. The Course Reflection will be graded on Original paper (NO plagiarism), quality of self-assessment, use of citations, use of Standard English grammar, sentence structure, and overall organization based on the required components as summarized in the directions and grading

2. The length of the reflection is to be within three to six pages excluding title page and reference pages.

3. APA format is required with both a title page and reference page. Use the required components

of the review as Level 1 headers (upper and lower case, centered):

Note: Introduction – Write an introduction but do not use “Introduction” as a heading in accordance with the rules put forth in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (2010, p. 63).

a. Course Reflection

b. Conclusion

PREPARING YOUR REFLECTION

The BSN Essentials (AACN, 2008) outline a number of healthcare policy and advocacy competencies for

the BSN-prepared nurse. Reflect on the course Nursing and The Aging Family readings, discussion threads, and applications you have completed across this course and write a reflective essay regarding the extent to which you feel you are now prepared to:

1. “Conduct comprehensive and focused physical, behavioral, psychological, spiritual, socioeconomic, and environmental assessments of health and illness parameters in patients, using developmentally and culturally appropriate approaches.

2. Recognize the relationship of genetics and genomics to health, prevention, screening, diagnostics, prognostics, selection of treatment, and monitoring of treatment effectiveness, using a constructed pedigree from collected family history information as well as standardized symbols and terminology.

3. Implement holistic, patient centered care that reflects an understanding of human growth and development, pathophysiology, pharmacology, medical management, and nursing management across the health illness continuum, across the lifespan, and in all healthcare settings.

4. Communicate effectively with all members of the healthcare team, including the patient and the patient’s support network.

5. Deliver compassionate, patient centered, evidence-based care that respects patient and family preferences.

6. Implement patient and family care around resolution of end of life and palliative care issues, such as symptom management, support of rituals, and respect for patient and family preferences.

7. Provide appropriate patient teaching that reflects developmental stage, age, culture, spirituality, patient preferences, and health literacy considerations to foster patient engagement in their care.

8. Implement evidence-based nursing interventions as appropriate for managing the acute and chronic care of patients and promoting health across the lifespan.

9. Monitor client outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of psychobiological interventions.

10. Facilitate patient centered transitions of care, including discharge planning and ensuring the caregiver’s knowledge of care requirements to promote safe care.

11. Provide nursing care based on evidence that contributes to safe and high-quality patient outcomes within healthcare microsystems.

12. Create a safe care environment that results in high quality patient outcomes.

13. Revise the plan of care based on an ongoing evaluation of patient outcomes.

14. Demonstrate clinical judgment and accountability for patient outcomes when delegating to and supervising other members of the healthcare team.

15. Manage care to maximize health, independence, and quality of life for a group of individuals that approximates a beginning practitioner’s workload

16. Demonstrate the application of psychomotor skills for the efficient, safe, and compassionate delivery of patient care.

17. Develop a beginning understanding of complementary and alternative modalities and their role in health care.

18. Develop an awareness of patients as well as healthcare professionals’ spiritual beliefs and values and how those beliefs and values impact health care.

19. Manage the interaction of multiple functional problems affecting patients across the lifespan, including common geriatric syndromes.

20. Understand one’s role and participation in emergency preparedness and disaster response with an awareness of environmental factors and the risks they pose to self and patients.

21. Engage in caring and healing techniques that promote a therapeutic nurse patient relationship.

22. Demonstrate tolerance for the ambiguity and unpredictability of the world and its effect on the healthcare system as related to nursing practice.” (pp. 31-32).

Reference:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN]. (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate education

for professional nursing practice. Washington, DC: Author.

How can you evaluate your own leadership skills and behaviors? You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership. In this Discussion, you will complete Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment. This assessment will identify your personal strengths, which have been shown to improve motivation, engagement, and academic self-conference. Through this assessment, you will discover your top five themes—which you can reflect upon and use to leverage your talents for optimal success and examine how the results relate to your leadership traits.

To Prepare:

To take the Assessment, visit http://walden.gallup.com. Using the Guidance Document Resource(s) for the Strengths Finder assessment, follow the instructions for setting up an account. If the link does not work, please copy and paste the link into your web browser.

Please Note: This Assessment will take roughly 30 minutes to complete.

• Once you have completed your assessment, you will receive your “Top 5 Signature Themes of Talent” on your screen.
• Click the Download button below Signature Theme Report, and then print and save the report. We also encourage you to select the Apply tab to review action items.

NOTE: Please keep your report. You will need your results for future courses. Technical Issues with Gallup:
If you have technical issues after registering, please contact the Gallup Education Support group by phone at +1.866-346-4408. Support is available 24 hours/day from 6:00 p.m. Sunday U.S. Central Time through 5:00 p.m. Friday U.S. Central Time.

• Reflect on the results of your Assessment, and consider how the results relate to your leadership traits.

By Day 3 of Week 5

Post a brief description of your results from the StrengthsFinder assessment. Then, briefly describe two core values, two strengths, and two characteristics that you would like to strengthen based on the results of your StrengthsFinder assessment. Be specific.

the result of strenghtfinder attached

Assignment 1: Application – Best Practices

For over 20 years, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study has conducted research trials to examine factors that impact risks and development of conditions that impact women such as heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women. Health care providers use results from these trials to develop guidelines for delivering care to patients. In your role in clinical settings, you must be familiar with these guidelines, and you must be aware that through clinical practice, guidelines frequently evolve and change. Often, what is considered a best practice today might not be a best practice in the future. For this Assignment, you compare guidelines outlined in the WHI study to current best practices for assessing and managing conditions.

By Day 7 of Week 11

To Prepare:

• Review the Women’s Health Initiative website in this week’s Learning Resources. Select one disorder presented in this study.
• Locate a research article focused on women’s health issue that you have learned about on the Women’s Health Initiative project. Be sure that the research article you select is from a reputable source.
• Discuss the best practices presented in the article about the health issue. Explain if there are any differences in the literature about best practices about health issue.
• Explain whether you think the current best practices in the article you selected should be used in clinical practice. Support your position with evidence-based research.

To Complete:

Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:

• Describe the disorder you selected from the Women’s Health Initiative study.
• Explain the current best practices for assessing and managing this disorder as suggested in the research article you selected.
• Compare the best practices presented in the WHI study to the current best practices presented in the article. Explain how the differences in best practices might impact women’s health.
• Explain whether you think the current best practices in the article you selected should be used in clinical practice. Support your position with evidence-based research.

Nursing Theory Analysis Paper

Overview/Description:

The purpose of this assignment is to describe, evaluate and discuss application of a nursing grand or mid-range theory. This assignment also provides the learner an opportunity to connect theory and research to nursing phenomena. Learners will develop an 8-10 page paper (excluding the title page and references) using APA style to address the elements listed below.

Choose one theory from the following:

1- Modeling and Role Modeling Theory – Erickson, Tomlin, and Swain

2- Health as Expanding Consciousness – Margaret Newman

3- Nursing Process Theory – Ida Jean Orlando

Theory/Author Name and Background

1. Select a Grand or Mid-Range Theory that is appropriate to your practice setting.

2. Describe the theorist’s background in detail and discuss how their experiences have impacted the theory development.

3. Examine crucial references for the original and/or current work of the theorist and other authors writing about the selected theory.

4. Identify the phenomenon of concern or problems addressed by the theory.

Theory Description

1. Explain whether the theory uses deductive, inductive or retroductive reasoning. Provide evidence to support your conclusion.

2. Describe the major concepts of the theory. How are they defined? (theoretically and/or operationally) Is the author consistent in the use of the concepts and other terms in the theory?

3. Interpret how the concepts are defined. Implicitly or explicitly?

4. Examine the relationships (propositions) among the major concepts.

Evaluation

1. Identify explicit and implicit assumptions (values/beliefs) underlying the theory. On what assumptions does the theory build?

2. Examine if the theory has a description of the four concepts of the nursing metaparadigm. If so, how are they explained in the theory? If the metapardigm is not explained, what elements do you see as relevant to the theory and why?

3. Discuss the clarity of the theory. Did it have lucidness and consistency?

Application

1. Examine how the theory would guide nursing actions.

2. Describe specifically how you can use this theory in your area of nursing (Practice, Education, Informatics or Administration).

Download the Theory Critique Template.

APA Style/Format

ABDOMINAL ASSESSMENT

Subjective:

CC: “My stomach hurts, I have diarrhea and nothing seems to help.”

HPI: MT, 45 yo WM, complains of having generalized abdominal pain that started 3 days ago. He has not taken any medications because he did not know what to take. He states the pain is a 5/10 today but has been as much as 9/10 when it first started. He has been able to eat, with some nausea afterwards.

PMH: HTN, Diabetes, hx of GI bleed 4 years ago

Medications: Lisinopril 10mg, Amlodipine 5 mg, Metformin 1000mg, Lantus 10 units phs

Allergies: NKDA

FH: No hx of colon cancer, Father hx DMT2, HTN, Mother hx HTN, Hyperlipidemia, GERD

Social: Denies tobacco use; occasional etoh, married, 3 children (1 girl, 2 boys)

Objective:

VS: Temp 99.8; BP 160/86; RR 16; P 92; HT 5’10”; WT 248lbs

Heart: RRR, no murmurs

Lungs: CTA, chest wall symmetrical

Skin: Intact without lesions, no urticaria

Abd: soft, hyperactive bowel sounds, pos pain in the LLQ

Diagnostics: None

Assessment:

Left lower quadrant pain

Gastroenteritis

Directions for assignment ( all aspects of instructions to be included). 

1. Analyze the subjective portion of the note.

2. List additional information that should be included in the documentation.

3. Analyze the objective portion of the note.

4. List additional information that should be included in the documentation.

5. Is the assessment supported by the subjective and objective information? Why or why not?

6. What diagnostic tests would be appropriate for this case, and how would the results be used to make a diagnosis?

7. Would you reject/accept the current diagnosis? Why or why not? Identify five possible conditions that may be considered as a differential diagnosis for this patient.

8. Explain your reasoning using at least four different references from current evidence-based literature.

9. Identify at least five possible conditions that may be considered in a differential diagnosis for the patient.