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HCS316 Culture Diversity and Health & Illness HW 5

HCS316 Culture Diversity and Health & Illness HW 5

You have been asked to organize a community health fair at a local public school. The health fair will provide information and education on the following topics related to health promotion:

• Immunizations
• Importance of healthy diet and exercise
• Avoidance of tobacco, drugs, and alcohol
• Responsible sexual behaviors (use of condoms, risk of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, and concerns related to early unintended pregnancies)
• Injury and violence prevention (motor vehicle crashes, firearms, poisonings, suffocation, falls, fires, and drowning)

The volunteers who will be manning the stations are from the health care community (doctors, nurses, dieticians, and social workers). You want to ensure that the team members take into consideration the familial health traditions, personal beliefs and the values of the people who will be attending the health fair. In a three- to four-page paper (excluding title and reference pages), address the following points:

• Identify potential areas where health care providers’ culture may influence the treatment approach/recommendations which may be in conflict with the health belief of a community member’s culture and practices. Describe the differences.
• Describe the role, if any, social control will play in the development of the educational materials presented.
• Recommend potential strategies that the health care team can use when faced with a cultural practice that conflicts with the medical model.
• Recommend strategies to increase community participation and enhance the relationships/partnerships between the medical community and members of the culturally diverse community.

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Also Read: 

HCS 316 Diversity in Health & Illness Essay 7

HCS316 Culture Diversity and Health & Illness HW 5 Instructions

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized.

Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the
• Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

• Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
• Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF A PATIENT WITH CROHNS DISEASE

Crohn’s disease is a chronic bowel inflammatory disease. Some people may be symptom-free while others can have severe chronic symptoms. Crohn’s disease can sometimes cause life-threatening complications. Necessary information would need to be obtained from the patient through a health assessment and diagnostic tests. It is a chronic illness that does not have a cure and requires advanced care and ethical issues consideration. The information from the patient also plays a vital role in the management of Crohn’s disease.

Management of Crohn’s Disease requires an expert level of knowledge from a dedicated Nurse Specialist. The nurse should educate the patient to enhance confidence in the treatment plan. This increases drug persistence and adherence rates.  The nurse should advise the patient on the use of biosimilars to reduce the cost of treatment. Reassurance and ensuring patient comfort minimizes anxiety, enhances patient collaboration and promotes patient healing. Mental, emotional support in the form of empathy, showing care and giving a sense of security to this patient whose self-care is compromised.

Diagnosis of Crohn’s disease requires a comprehensive evaluation of biological, clinical, and psychosocial aspects of the disease. In a study by Lightner (2018) in the Bowel Inflammatory Diseases, the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease is often made after the completion of cross-sectional imaging. Laboratory tests are useful for diagnosing Crohn’s disease, assessing disease activity, monitoring response to therapy, and identifying complications. Symptoms of Crohn’s illness are fatigue, blood in the stool, anal drainage in the event of fistulas and abdominal pain. These symptoms, however, are not disease-specific.

There is no clear clinical feature that helps in the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. The nurse should assess for complications/red-flag signs. These are bleeding, weight loss and anemia. The nurse should assess for diarrhea, fever, fatigue, abdominal pain and blood in the stool. The nurse assesses the skin, joints and eyes for extra-intestinal symptoms. The nurse also assesses the level of anxiety and depression. They are the most common psychosocial problems in Crohn’s disease.

Management of Crohn’s disease is a complex process. Complex diagnostic methods are required. This makes management expensive. It is a chronic illness requiring palliative care. Health care providers should pay attention to the psychosocial needs of the patient and consider the patient’s financial status when determining the method of management.

References

• Lightner, A. L. (2018). Duodenal Crohn’s disease. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 24(3), 546-551. https://academic.oup.com/ibdjournal/article-abstract/24/3/546/4863718
• Lichtenstein, G. R., Loftus, E. V., Isaacs, K. L., Regueiro, M. D., Gerson, L. B., & Sands, B. E. (2018). ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Crohn’s disease in adults. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 113(4), 481-517. https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Fulltext/2018/04000/ACG_Clinical_Guideline__Management_of_Crohn_s.10.aspx?context=FeaturedArticles&collectionId=2
• Torres, J., Bonovas, S., Doherty, G., Kucharzik, T., Gisbert, J. P., Raine, T., … & Biancone, L. (2020). ECCO Guidelines on Therapeutics in Crohn’s Disease: medical treatment. Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, 14(1), 4-22. https://academic.oup.com/ecco-jcc/article-abstract/14/1/4/5620479

Health Behavior Sample Paper

Evaluating the effectiveness of the program

Evaluating the effectiveness of the program is an important operation that will help in determining the intervention methods utilized to have any impact in addressing the social problem of drug use. The evaluation plan will measure how successful the intervention plan is and the accomplishments that the program has achieved. The evaluation will examine the benefits that the program has on the drug issue, its progress and overall outcomes. This will be important in determining if the intervention should be continued or if there are additional measures that need to be included in the intervention plan.

In evaluating the effectiveness of the programs, different evaluation tools will be used that include surveys, observation, focus groups and interviews. Surveys entail examining the behaviour of a group before and after the intervention has been implemented (Abadie & Cattaneo, 2018). In this case, the group shall be examined before the intervention program on young substance abusers is conducted and after the intervention has been implemented. The surveys shall be used to examine the behavioural change in terms of the prevalence of substance use among young adults, trends of abuse, and their attitudes towards substance abuse. This shall help in determining if the intervention program has had any impacts.

Observation method shall be used in examining alcohol consumption among adults. This measure is vital as it enables researchers to observe the participants in their natural settings hence increased accuracy (Guyadeen & Seasons, 2018). Alcohol consumption among the adults shall be examined for a period of six months to determine if the intervention program had any impact in reducing alcohol consumption in this group. This measure will observe the amount of time the adult spent in alcohol consumption, their alcohol consumption levels to note any change and listen to their talks concerning the topic of alcohol consumption. Observation shall also be used to examine the effectiveness of the emotional and social skills education on young people. Observation shall be done on how young people manage their emotions and how they apply their social skills in resisting substance use.

Focus groups will study the reactions of the young people and the impact the intervention plan had on both the young people and the adults involved in the program. A group of three to five individuals shall be used in this measure. Focus groups are an effective measure that helps in gathering data quickly ion the effectiveness of an intervention (Guyadeen & Seasons, 2018). The identified focus group shall be engaged in direct and open headed questions. Their response will help in determining how the group was impacted by the intervention program, thus determining how effective it was to the targeted audience.

Interviews shall also be carried out on a sample of the participants to determine how effective the program was. Participants shall be picked randomly to avoid bias. The identified participants shall be asked questions concerning what they think about the program. What they have learned from the program and how effective they found the program to be in behavioural change as well as improving their knowledge on the subject t matter. The advantage of using this measure is that it offers a chance for participants to explain better in their views regarding the issue (Abadie & Cattaneo, 2018). They also provide in-depth information as open headed questions are used.

Determining Program Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the program shall be assessed by determining the drug use prevalence rates among both the young people as well as the adults. A reduced drug and substance use rate shall indicate that the intervention program was a success. Additionally, this shall be determined through observing the response from both the young people and the adults regarding the program. This will include observing the behaviour change, the relationship between children and their parents shall also be observed to determine if the program was effective or not. An improved relation and connection indicate that the home visiting technique was effective

References

• Abadie, A., & Cattaneo, M. D. (2018). Econometric methods for program evaluation. Annual Review of Economics, 10, 465-503. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080217-053402
• Guyadeen, D., & Seasons, M. (2018). Evaluation theory and practice: Comparing program evaluation and evaluation in planning. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 38(1), 98-110. doi.org/10.1177/0739456X16675930

Work plan

Monitor progress of the intervention plan

Ensure successful implementation of the intervention plan

Analyze program outcomes

Make interventions where necessary

Improve program effectiveness

Interviews

Focus groups

Behavior management and modification Home visits

Emotional and social skills education

Classroom management

Health Care and Policy DL-MSN2 DQ

Health Care and Policy DL-MSN2 DQ

• Make a principal work with more than 300 words and more than 2 references no older than 5 years.
• Make 2 independent works, each one between 100 and 150 words, and its references, too
• Then in total 3 independent works,1 principal, and 2 small ones.
• APA 6 edition is required and strictly perfect.

Textbook added and NOT can be used as a reference.

Reflect on the current roles of advanced practice nurses in healthcare as the care providers at the front line of disease management and health promotion in primary care and many other specialty settings. What are some effective tactics for APN strategic positioning regarding pay equality?

Should APNs position themselves as lower-cost providers who provide better care or push for comparable worth, same service, and same pay?

Below is an article that provides great practical information highlighting how provider productivity is calculated in the clinical setting, which is important to know as future nurse practitioners.

• Calculating Your Worth: Understanding Productivity and Value- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4093517/

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Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care Seventh Edition Diana J. Mason, Ph.D., RN, FAAN Rudin Professor of Nursing Co-Director of the Center for Health, Media, and Policy School of Nursing Hunter College City the University of New York, New York Deborah B. Gardner, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, FNAP Health Policy and Leadership Consultant, LLC Honolulu,

Hawaii Freida Hopkins Outlaw, Ph.D., RN, FAAN Adjunct Professor Peabody College of Education Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee Eileen T. O’Grady, Ph.D., NP, RN Nurse Practitioner and Wellness Coach McLean, Virginia 2 Table of Contents Cover image Title page Copyright About the Editors Contributors Reviewers Foreword Preface What’s New in the Seventh Edition? Using the Seventh Edition Acknowledgments Unit 1 Introduction to Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care

Chapter 1 Frameworks for Action in Policy and Politics Upstream Factors Nursing and Health Policy Reforming Health Care Nurses as Leaders in Health Care Reform Policy and the Policy Process Forces That Shape Health Policy The Framework for Action Spheres of Influence Health Health and Social Policy Health Systems and Social Determinants of Health Nursing Essentials Policy and Political Competence 3 Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 2 An Historical Perspective on Policy, Politics, and Nursing “Not Enough to be a Messenger” Bringing Together the Past for the Present: What We Learned From History Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources.

Chapter 3 Advocacy in Nursing and Health Care The Definition of Advocacy The Nurse as Patient Advocate Consumerism, Feminism, and Professionalization of Nursing: the Emergence of Patients’ Rights Advocacy Philosophical Models of Nursing Advocacy Advocacy Outside the Clinical Setting Barriers to Successful Advocacy Summary Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 4 Learning the Ropes of Policy and Politics Political Consciousness-Raising and Awareness: the “Aha” Moment Getting Started The Role of Mentoring Educational Opportunities Applying Your Political, Policy, Advocacy, and Activism Skills Political Competencies Changing Policy at the Workplace Through Shared Governance Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 5 Taking Action: How I Learned the Ropes of Policy and Politics Mentors, Passion, and Curiosity

Chapter 6 A Primer on Political Philosophy Political Philosophy The State 4 Gender and Race in Political Philosophy The Welfare State Political Philosophy and the Welfare State: Implications for Nurses Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 7 The Policy Process Health Policy and Politics Unique Aspects of U.S. Policymaking Conceptual Basis for Policymaking Bringing Nursing Competence Into the Policymaking Process Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 8 Health Policy Brief: Improving Care Transitions Improving Care Transitions: Better Coordination of Patient Transfers among Care Sites and the Community Could Save Money and Improve the Quality of Care1 References Online Resources

Chapter 9 Political Analysis and Strategies What is Political Analysis? Political Strategies Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 10 Communication and Conflict Management in Health Policy Understanding Conflict The Process of Conversations Listening, Asserting, and Inquiring Skills Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 11 Research as a Political and Policy Tool So What is Policy? What is Research When It Comes to Policy?

The Chemistry between Research and Policymaking 5 Using Research to Create, Inform, and Shape Policy Research and Political Will Research: Not Just for Journals Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 12 Health Services Research: Translating Research into Policy Defining Health Services Research HSR Methods Quantitative Methods and Data Sets Qualitative Methods Professional Training in Health Services Research Competencies Fellowships and Training Grants Loan Repayment Programs Dissemination and Translation of Research Into Policy Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 13 Using Research to Advance Health and Social Policies for Children Research on Early Brain Development Research on Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities Advancing Children’s Mental Health Using Research to Inform Policy Research on Child Well-Being Indicators Research on “Framing the Problem” Gaps in Linking Research and Social Policies for Children Nursing Advocacy Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 14 Using the Power of Media to Influence Health Policy and Politics Seismic Shift in Media: One-to-Many and Many-to-Many The Power of Media Who Controls the Media? Getting on the Public’s Agenda Media as a Health Promotion Tool Focus on Reporting Effective Use of Media Analyzing Media 6 Responding to the Media Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 15 Health Policy, Politics, and Professional Ethics The Ethics of Influencing Policy Reflective Practice: Pants on Fire Discussion Questions Professional Ethics Reflective Practice: Foundational Nursing Documents Personal Questions Reflective Practice: Negotiating Conflicts between Personal Integrity and Professional Responsibilities Personal Question U.S. Health Care Reform Reflective Practice:

Accepting the Challenge Personal Question Reflective Practice: the Medicaid 5% Commitment—an Appeal to Professionalism Discussion Question Reflective Practice: Your State Turned Down Medicaid Expansion Personal Question Reflective Practice:

Barriers to the Treatment of Mental Illness Personal Question Ethics and Work Environment Policies Mandatory Flu Vaccination: the Good of the Patient Versus Personal Choice Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources Unit 2 Health Care Delivery and Financing

Chapter 16 The Changing United States Health Care System Overview of the U.S. Health Care System Public Health Transforming Health Care Through Technology Health Status and Trends Challenges for the U.S. Health Care System Health Care Reform Opportunities and Challenges for Nursing Discussion Questions References 7 Online Resources

Chapter 17 A Primer on Health Economics of Nursing and Health Policy Cost-Effectiveness of Nursing Services Impact of Health Reform on Nursing Economics Discussion Questions References

Chapter 18 Financing Health Care in the United States Historical Perspectives on Health Care Financing Government Programs The Private Health Insurance and Delivery Systems The Problem of Continually Rising Health Care Costs The ACA and Health Care Costs Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 19 The Affordable Care Act: Historical Context and an Introduction to the State of Health Care in the United States Historical, Political, and Legal Context Content of the Affordable Care Act Impact on Nursing Profession: Direct and Indirect Overall Cost of the Aca Political and Implementation Challenges Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 20 Health Insurance Exchanges: Expanding Access to Health Care What is a Health Insurance Exchange? Exchange Purchasers Other Health Insurance Options Federal or State Exchanges State-Based EXCHANGES Development of the Exchanges Establishing State Exchanges The Federal Exchange Rollout

: ACA Setback New York’s Success Story The Oregon Story Exchange Features 8 Marketplace Insurance Categories Role of Medicaid Nurses’ Roles with Exchanges Consumer Education State Requirements Include Aprns in Exchange Plans Assessing the Impact of the Exchanges and Future Projections Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 21 Patient Engagement and Public Policy: Emerging New Paradigms and Roles Patient Engagement Within Nursing Patient Engagement and Federal Initiatives The VA System: an Exemplar of Patient-Centered Care From Patient Engagement to Citizen Health Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 22 The Marinated Mind: Why Overuse Is an Epidemic and How to Reduce It Commonly Overused Interventions Reasons for Overuse Financial Incentives as the Major Cause of Overuse The Marinated Mind Physician and Nurse Acknowledgment of Overuse Public Reporting to Reduce Overuse Journalists Advocate for More Transparency About Overuse Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 23 Policy Approaches to Address Health Disparities Health Equity and Access Policy Approaches to Address Health Disparities Evaluating Patient-Centered Care Summary Discussion Questions References Online Resources 9

Chapter 24 Achieving Mental Health Parity Historical Struggle to Achieve Mental Health Parity Implications for Nursing: Mental Health Related Issues and Strategies Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 25 Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling: A Proposal to Modernize Women’s Benefits1 Benefits for Women Strengthening the Program Changes We Oppose Strengthening Financing Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 26 The Politics of the Pharmaceutical Industry Globalization Concerns Values Conflict Direct to Consumer Marketing Conflict of Interest Education Gifts Samples Conclusion Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 27 Women’s Reproductive Health Policy When Women’s Reproductive Health Needs are Not Met Why Do We Need Policy Specifically Directed at Women? Women’s Health and U.S. Policy Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 28 Public Health: Promoting the Health of Populations and Communities The State of Public Health and the Public’s Health Impact of Social Determinants and Disparities on Health Major Threats to Public Health Challenges Faced by Governmental Public Health 10 Charting a Bright Future for Public Health Discussion Questions References Online Resources

Chapter 29 Taking Action: Blazing a Trail…and the Bumps Along the Way—A Public Health Nurse as a Health Officer Getting the Job: More Difficult Than You Might Think Creating Access to Public Health Care in West New York On-the-Job Training Political Challenges Safe Kid Day Arrives Nurses Shaping Policy

Health Care Delivery System Assignment 5

Health Care Delivery System Assignment 5

You are a home health care nurse scheduled for a home visit to your patient, a retired account payable clerk who is seven days postsurgical with a new colostomy.

Your patient lives with her husband, who is involved in her care; they compile a list of questions between visits to ask upon your arrival at their home.

1.During this visit, the patient had questions regarding her colostomy equipment and stoma care; her husband had questions regarding his current medication regimen. Both of them express concerns over recent changes in their healthcare coverage.

a. What data in the scenario are pertinent?
b. Outline your nursing care responsibilities as the home health care nurse, in this scenario. Compare and contrast these responsibilities with those found in the acute care setting.
c. What would be your recommendation for the husband’s medication questions?
d. What is the home health care nurse’s role and responsibilities related to the challenges of health care reform?

2. You are a nursing student attending clinical at a large, urban university hospital where you engage in direct patient care with clinical instructor supervision. At the nurses’ station, you overhear various nurses addressing patient care needs, including an RN requesting consults with a physical therapist, a respiratory therapist, a dietitian, and a social worker. Another nurse discusses the potential

need for palliative or hospice care consults for a patient. You observe a physician assistant approach the nurse with a list of written orders.

a. Outline the roles of the various licensed health care workers mentioned in this scenario.
b. Compare and contrast palliative and hospice care. What is the major difference between the two?
c. As a nurse, what is your responsibility regarding physician assistant (PA) orders?

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You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

Health Care Policy Assignment 6

Health Care Policy Assignment 6

Examine how might nurses and nursing organizations improve policies to encourage the judicious use of antibiotics in humans? Identify the correlation between global disease surveillance and domestic disease surveillance, and the significant role the family nurse practitioner plays.

Health Policy and Law Assignment Instructions

Write a 4-6 page policy proposal and practice guidelines for improving quality and performance associated with the benchmark metric underperformance you advocated for improving in Assessment 1.

In advocating for institutional policy changes related to local, state, or federal health care laws or policies, health leaders must be able to develop and present clear and well-written policy and practice guideline proposals that will enable a team, a unit, or an organization as a whole to resolve relevant performance issues and bring about improvements in the quality and safety of health care. This assessment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes.

As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you have a valuable viewpoint and voice to bring to discussions about policy development, both inside and outside your care setting. Developing policy for internal purposes can be a valuable process toward quality and safety improvement, as well as ensuring compliance with various health care regulatory pressures. This assessment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes

Requirements for Health Care Policy Assignment

The policy proposal requirements outlined below correspond to the scoring guide criteria, so be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, be sure to note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence.

Explain the need for creating a policy and practice guidelines to address a shortfall in meeting a benchmark metric prescribed by local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.

What is the current benchmark for the organization and the numeric score for the underperformance?
How is the benchmark underperformance potentially affecting the provision of quality care or the operations of the organization?

What are the potential repercussions of not making any changes?
What evidence supports your conclusions?

Recommend ethical, evidence-based practice guidelines to improve targeted benchmark performance prescribed by applicable local, state, or federal health care policy or law.

What does the evidence-based literature suggest are potential strategies to improve performance for your targeted benchmark?

How would these strategies ensure performance improvement or compliance with applicable local, state, or federal health care policy or law?

How would you propose to apply these strategies in the context of Eagle Creek Hospital or your own practice setting?

How can you ensure these strategies are ethical and culturally inclusive in their application?

Analyze the potential effects of environmental factors on your recommended practice guidelines.

What regulatory considerations could affect your recommended guidelines?

What resources could affect your recommended guidelines (staffing, financial, and logistical considerations, or support services)?

Explain why particular stakeholders and groups must be involved in further development and implementation of your proposed policy and practice guidelines.

Why is it important to engage these stakeholders and groups?

How can their participation produce a stronger policy and facilitate its implementation?

Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.

Proofread your proposal, before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your proposal.

Use paraphrasing and summarization to represent ideas from external sources.

Be sure to apply correct APA formatting to source citations and references.

Example Assessment: You may use the Assessment 2 Example [PDF] to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Policy Proposal Format and Length

It may be helpful to use a template or format for your proposal that is used in your current organization. The risk management or quality department could be a good resource for finding an appropriate template or format. If you are not currently in practice, or your organization does not have these resources, many appropriate templates are freely available on the Web.

Your policy should be succinct (about one paragraph). Overall, your proposal should be 4 to 6 pages in length.

Health Care Policy Example Paper

A Patient’s profile brief helps organizations understand and know their patients well through the collection of their psychographic and demographic data. By using psychographic parameters, such as buying and spending habits, companies can streamline their operations in line with the desires and interests of their patients for maximum profitability. A good patient profile brief must define each patient’s psychographic and demographic profile, inform an appropriate patient relationship management system, and provide an efficient technique for measuring patient satisfaction.

Policy Proposal and Practice Guidelines

A patient profile brief is essential for healthcare facilities as it provides them with critical information about quality. Healthcare facilities can best get to know their patients by using parameters such as psychological graphics, demographics, preferences, and patient information. An effective patient profile brief should also encompass patient satisfaction metrics, a method for managing patient relationships, and the psychographic and demographic profile of the patients.

Patient Demographics and Psychographics

Patient psychographic information pertains to patients’ values, buying and spending habits, and hobbies. It explains why individuals make purchases. In this aspect, organizations need to evaluate patients’ underlying interests, feelings, and opinions to optimize business decisions (Milat & Li, 2017). For example, marketing strategies are influenced by the type of group being targeted. Psychographic evaluation of patients is important because businesses package their services or products around their patients’ needs and desires, hence making more sales.

Strategies to Improve on the chosen Benchmark.

Modern businesses value the idea of patient relationship management as a technique for managing the interactions between them and their patients. The idea is to analyze the history between these organizations and their patients to improve relationships by focusing on patient retention and building trust and loyalty to boost sales. The idea is to have a deep relationship with patients that go beyond financial transactions.

The key method modern organizations use to manage relationships between themselves and their patients is through CRM systems (Soll, R. F., & McGuire, 2019). The CRM systems adopted by these organizations can collect and compile data from different sources of communication, such as telephones, websites, emails, and social media, among other channels. After gathering crucial information about their patients and their purchasing trends, the organizations devise an appropriate approach to manage their relationship with their patients to improve sales.

One of the most important CRM tools is quality check. In this approach, the strategy is to attract patients to visit a business using the company’s internet content rather than having marketers vying for patients. One reason this approach is considered one of the most effective CRM tools is that having patients visit Healthcare facilities is a sign of interest. Once interest has been aroused, the organization can then move on to find out the interests and desires of these potential patients.

After this, a patient profile can be created with both demographic and psychographic information. CRM tools help healthcare facilities to increase efficiency. CRMs are also crucial because organizations use them to make vital decisions about pricing, dealing with patients’ tastes and preferences, and manage relationships between them and their patients based on their history and current trends.

Another important CRM tool is the patient relationship management approach. This approach gives the management and departments or organizations an integrated platform where they can share the view of all patients (Soll, R. F., & McGuire, 2019). It also helps organizations stay connected to their patients through dedicated and social media websites. Social media provides one of the best platforms for capturing patients’ data and interacting with them. This is important because organizations can collect patient information that they can use to streamline their operations to the needs and desires of their patients rather than taking a general approach to sales.

Patient Satisfaction Metrics

Successful organizations extend their efforts beyond offering essential services to patients. They aggressively engage in finding out the measure of satisfaction of their patients. To this end, such organizations use patient satisfaction metrics to gauge how much their patients are satisfied with their products and services. Measuring the level of patient satisfaction is an important activity for businesses because it reveals the level of trust and loyalty patients have in a business.

Patient satisfaction is essential for the retention and capturing of new potential patients (Ray-Barruel et al., 2017). Research has it that when patients have trust in healthcare facilities, they become loyal, meaning that the business is assured of current and future business with such patients. Furthermore, satisfied patients are more likely to recommend the business to other patients, spend more money on the organization, and buy more frequently.

Patient satisfaction scores and social media monitoring are two examples of important metrics which can be used to measure the level of patient satisfaction. In the case of the latter, companies can come up with a rating score for each patient based on the level of satisfaction. It helps organizations evaluate the level of loyalty of their patients. On the other hand, social media monitoring can help organizations observe the sentiments and feelings of patients towards their products or services. This is important because organizations can use such sentiments and feelings to streamline their operations following their patients’ desires and interests, attracting more sales.

Creating a patient profile brief is critical because it allows Healthcare facilities to focus their attention and energy on areas where they are likely to improve the quality of services they provide. Additionally, it is important because it helps businesses streamline their operations in line with their patients’ interests and desires, creating loyalty and profitability. Organizations that collect and analyze patients’ demographic and psychographic information have a better chance of success than their competitors (Ray-Barruel et al., 2017).

A good patient profile brief does not stop at gathering demographic and psychographic information of patients but also entails putting in place an efficient patient relationship management tool focused on giving the best possible service as well as retention of patients. Further, a good patient profile brief must have patient satisfaction metrics that are used to measure the level of trust, loyalty, and satisfaction that patients have in a business.

Conclusion

Clinical Guidelines and new policies are critical tools that inform clinical practice, especially regarding patient assessment, treatment plan design, and discharge conditions. First, the approach is essential in impacting the quality of healthcare offered to patients. Through EBP critical guidelines, patients enjoy numerous advantages, among them being benefiting from enhanced decision-making by nurses. Conversely, nurses also gain immensely from leveraging EBP critical guidelines , enabling them to offer the best care quality, avoid committing clinical errors and achieve enhanced patient outcomes.

References

Milat, A. J., & Li, B. (2017). Narrative review of frameworks for translating research evidence into policy and practice. Public Health Research & Practice, 27(1), e2711704. https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp2711704

Ray-Barruel, G., Ullman, A. J., Rickard, C. M., & Cooke, M. (2018). Clinical audits to improve critical care: part 2: analyse, benchmark and feedback. Australian Critical Care, 31(2), 106-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2017.04.002

Soll, R. F., & McGuire, W. (2019). Evidence-based practice: improving the quality of perinatal care. Neonatology, 116(3), 193-198. https://doi.org/10.1159/000496214

Health Care Informatics Sample Paper

The Advantages and Drawbacks of Electronic Health Record (EHR)

Electronic health record (EHR) aids caregivers to provide patients with better care by offering accurate, complete, and up-to-date patient information (Shickel et al., 2017). It enables quick access to patient data, thereby creating an avenue for more efficient care. By providing accurate and specific information about an individual, it minimizes the chances for errors that might arise due to mix-up in patient records.

This ensures the safety of patients and invites a more positive outcome. Among the advantages of EHR include providing a platform that makes it easy for caregivers and clinicians to pull up patient records instantly. Further, it allows secure transfer of patient data from one clinician to the other, thereby reducing medical errors, providing safer care, and allowing providers to issue correct diagnosis.

By allowing the storage of patient records electronically, EHR influences the outcome of a diagnosis as well as the prescription. However, there are some limitations to its usage. Some of these limitations include confidentiality and security concerns, financial issues, workflow changes, and loss of jobs due to its adoption. When a facility decides to adopt EHR, it is likely to encounter some implementation costs. Physicians will have to be taught how to feed paper charts electronically. Procuring the requisite hardware and software will require some significant investment. Additionally, there are maintenance costs involved now and again.

Adoption of EHR as A DNP-Prepared Nurse

As a leader in a healthcare facility that has switched to the use of EHR, there are changes that one has to anticipate. For instance, I will have to train my healthcare team on how to use EHR effectively. A magnet-care hospital varies from a rural regional clinic in many ways. For instance, a magnet-care facility involves the systematic implementation of checklists, clinical guidelines, financial incentives, disciplinary measures, and electronic health records.

All of these things require greater managerial oversight, unlike in the case of a facility that uses a rural regional clinic management system. Further, a magnet-care hospital in a busy metropolitan area is likely to have continuous workflow, and that means EHR will aid greatly in reducing the workload due to its efficiency. EHR will also assist in accurate record storage of the numerous patients, which will eventually lead to correct diagnosis and prescription, and hence patient safety.

Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)

Ten years ago, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) was not a popular thing in the healthcare sector. However, the HITECH Act aided its rapid entry into the health realm (Korb-Savoldelli et al., 2018). Often, computerized physician order entry is paired with clinical decision support systems (CDSS) to offer better care by preventing incorrect order entry and medical errors. In the USA, wrong prescription, and administration of medication account for a considerable proportion of errors in the health sector, hence the need for pragmatic intervention.

Embedding CDSS and CPOE into EHR aids in eliminating adverse drug events (ADEs), thereby improving medical outcomes (Gold et al., 2017). With CPOE, a licensed individual can enter orders directly into the EHR system, which results in minimized errors and eliminates ambiguous orders.

Some of these errors occur due to wrong abbreviation use and illegible handwriting. CDSS work in the same way. To enhance the effectiveness of CDSS, I would avoid over-reliance on the systems since it could lead to the elimination of important staff in a facility. Considering the case of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the major problem relates to the fact they often have several co-morbidities that necessitates the use of about five medications consisting of around ten or more doses. CPOE and CDSS technologies would aid in providing the right and timely prescriptions in this area.

References

• Gold, R., Cottrell, E., Bunce, A., Middendorf, M., Hollombe, C., Cowburn, S., & Melgar, G. (2017). Developing electronic health record (EHR) strategies related to health center patients’ social determinants of health. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 30(4), 428-447. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2017.04.170046
• Korb-Savoldelli, V., Boussadi, A., Durieux, P., & Sabatier, B. (2018). Prevalence of computerized physician order entry systems–related medication prescription errors: A systematic review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 111, 112-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2017.12.022
• Shickel, B., Tighe, P. J., Bihorac, A., & Rashidi, P. (2017). Deep EHR: a survey of recent advances in deep learning techniques for electronic health record (EHR) analysis. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 22(5), 1589-1604. DOI: 10.1109/JBHI.2017.2767063

Health History Assignment for Tina Jones Shadow Health

Health History Assignment for Tina Jones Shadow Health

Complete the History Assignment for Tina Jones before completing the discussion question. Your response to the discussion questions will be based on the findings in the Shadow Health assessments.

You must submit the assessment to receive credit for the activity. Assessments that have not been submitted cannot be verified as complete.

In the health history, Tina informed you about her acute foot pain resulting from her infected wound. After your assessment, identify four SMART goals for Tina based on the findings with two evidence-based practice nursing interventions for each. How will you know if your intervention worked? If you were to perform this exam within tight time constraints, what tasks, questions and assessments would be priorities for Tina? Include a minimum of two references to support your evidence-based plan. Support your discussion and opinions with facts, relevant examples from personal nursing practice, and at least two citations from the reading or peer-reviewed professional nursing literature. Remember to use APA 6th edition formatting for all discussion posts and reference citations.

Assignment: Health History – The Art of History Taking and Putting All Together w/Information Processing – Unit 2-3

Directions:

Please refer to your Shadow Health Platform.

This Comprehensive Assessment provides the opportunity to plan and conduct a full health assessment on a patient in a single clinic visit.

After completing this Shadow Health Assessment the student should be able to:

• Document accurately and appropriately:
• Document subjective data using professional terminology.
• Document objective data using professional terminology.
• Demonstrate clinical reasoning skills:
• Use clinical reasoning to plan the organization of a comprehensive exam.
• Gather subjective and objective data. Have an Assessment and Plan of Care.
• Differentiate between variations of normal and abnormal assessment findings. Including a list of differential diagnosis.
• Select and use the appropriate tools and tests necessary for a comprehensive assessment.
• Reflect on personal strengths, limitations, beliefs, prejudices, and values.
• Develop strong communication skills.
• Interview the patient to elicit subjective health information about her health history.
• Ask relevant follow-up questions to evaluate patient condition.
• Demonstrate empathy for patient perspectives, feelings, and sociocultural background.
• Identify opportunities to educate the patient.

To view the Grading Rubric for this Assignment (include unit 2 Assignment), please visit the Grading Rubrics section of the Course Home.

Assignment Requirements:

Before finalizing your work, you should:

• be sure to read the Assignment description carefully (as displayed above);
• consult the Grading Rubric (under the Course Home) to make sure you have included everything necessary; and
• utilize spelling and grammar check to minimize errors.

Your writing Assignment should:

• follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.);
• be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful;
• display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics; and
• use APA 6th Edition format as outlined in the APA Progression

Reflection: Taking a Health History

In the process of building the health history of the patient, I used both principles from science and art concepts of care. The process was similar to a job interview apart from the purpose of the information derived from answering the questions. This interviewing aimed at assessing the risks and social determinants of health so that an accurate and reliable health history could be established. Therefore, hard questions or questions deemed as sensitive or personal were necessary.   

Experiences

Developing the script for the interview required both critical and reflective thinking to incorporate goal-oriented questions while at the same time minding the outcomes of the questions on the patient. The inclusion of the ‘hard’ questions was the critical step. Translating the evidence from clinical literature to suggest personal and direct closed questions was the first step towards developing. Teenage pregnancy impacts both the teenager and parents, guardians, or the custodian economically and socially. To the teenager, the health burden of adolescent pregnancy increases due to the imbalance between the physiological demands and available physical and physiological body supply in that age group. Therefore, holistic care should take into account these factors.

In the process of developing a health history, I targeted the questions toward establishing additional risks that could worsen these imbalances in biophysical and physiological imbalances in demand and supply. I also focused the interview on establishing a ground for planning for prenatal and postnatal care interventions and evaluation. Including the emotional outcomes of the health problem for the patients was guided by the idea that during the teenage period, physiological and social outcomes can cause body image and mood outcomes. Therefore, I believe that I maximized opportunities to plan holistic care through this history-taking.

Asking the Questions

Asking the questions would require setting the patient in the right mind and mood. Difficulties with had questions are related to the patient and clinician’s perceived impacts on the self-image. Fear of breaking the trust between the clinician and the patient also complicates asking hard questions. The clinician will target hornet answers and build a reliable health risks profile. The patient can withhold honest responses to the questions due to a lack of trust that the clinical will maintain confidentiality or may judge them (Nasirian et al., 2018). Therefore, reassurance and active listening are some of the strategies that would improve the outcomes of the actual interview. 

The positioning with the patient, the body language, facial expressions, the tone of the questions, and the tone of the clinician’s responses are critical in establishing authentic and truthful responses from the patient (Ball et al., 2018). The presence of a guardian in the interview suggests they would be useful for corroborative health history, but may also limit the patient’s confidence in responding to sensitive questions. Therefore, the environment in terms of noise levels, lighting, and presence of third parties are key concepts I may consider when redoing the interview differently (Flugelman, 2021).

In sum, the development of the interview is artistic and scientific. Merging scientific and interpersonal interaction principles to achieve a reliable health history was the critical underpinning of the interview script development. To achieve different outcomes, environmental considerations would be key in influencing the authenticity and reliability of patient responses and establishing a therapeutic relationship.

References

Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2018). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). Mosby.

Flugelman, M. Y. (2021). History-taking revisited: Simple techniques to foster patient collaboration, improve data attainment, and establish trust with the patient. GMS Journal for Medical Education, 38(6), Doc109. https://doi.org/10.3205/zma001505

Nasirian, M., Hosseini Hooshyar, S., Haghdoost, A. A., & Karamouzian, M. (2018). How and where do we ask sensitive questions: Self-reporting of STI-associated symptoms among the Iranian general population. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(8), 738–745. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2018.18

Health Care Professional Work Force Matrix

Part 1. Demographics for your own area (state, county, or region – your choice)

(name and location)

(name and location)

Part 2: Do these facilities meet the needs of your community? In your own words, explain why or why not. What is your recommendation for sustaining or improving the health care services offered in your area?

What I have learned from the statistics above is that Louisiana is well represented by all categories of medical care. Concerning hospitals, my area has many hospitals averaging about 1 hospital per square mile. The wider Louisiana has about 4.65 million people which makes it one of the densely populated cities in the United States of America. An average of 1 hospital per square miles means that the ratio of hospitals and the population is averagely matched.

Concerning primary care facilities, my area, New Orleans Louisiana has 55 active primary healthcare facilities spread across the city. Compared to the population of New Orleans, this number is low which means that some populations have poor access to primary health care facilities due to geographical distance (Glick et al., 2018). There is limited competition in this area due to the few numbers of primary care facilities in the New Orleans region.

On Mental facilities, Louisiana has about 15 mental facilities serving a population of 4.6 million people. This number is not proportional considering the rising cases of mental problems in New Orleans (Felker-Kantor, 2019). This means that the area needs more mental facilities to cater to the rising number of mental disabilities in the state. There is little competition in this industry because there are only 15 mental facilities in the whole of New Orleans.

Regarding pharmacies, New Orleans has numerous pharmacies serving its population. There are about 3 pharmacies per square mile in New Orleans meaning that every resident irrespective of the location can easily access a pharmacy. Furthermore, several pharmacies operate 24-hours meaning that getting medication from pharmacies is not a problem in New Orleans. Concerning dentists, New Orleans is served by an adequate number of dentists (Paige et al., 2018). Most dental practices are concentrated in the town or city center which means that for some members of New Orleans to see a dentist, they have to commute to the city. In the city center, competition is fierce while in the outskirts of the city, the competition is not too much.

To conclude, my area is well served by primary care facilities, nursing facilities, hospitals, and pharmacies. However, there is a need to increase the number of mental health facilities in the area. Currently, my area has only 15 mental care facilities serving a city of 4.6 million. Due to the rising cases of mental disorders in the city, it is prudent to have more specialized facilities to take care of the city’s mental health. Regarding Primary care, the city needs to have more primary care facilities as the existing ones are too few to cater to the needs of the members of New Orleans.

References

• Glick, J. L., Andrinopoulos, K. M., Theall, K. P., & Kendall, C. (2018). “Tiptoeing around the system”: Alternative healthcare navigation among gender minorities in New Orleans. Transgender Health, 3(1), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2018.0015
• Felker-Kantor, E.A., Wallace, M. E., Madkour, A. S., Duncan, D. T., Andrinopoulos, K. & Theall, K. (2019). HIV Stigma, Mental Health, and Alcohol Use Disorders among People Living with HIV/AIDS in New Orleans. Journal of Urban Health, 96(), 878–888. doi:10.1007/s11524-019-00390-0
• Paige, J. T., Fairbanks, R. J. T., & Gaba, D. M. (2018). Priorities related to improving healthcare safety through simulation. Simulation in Healthcare, 13(3S), S41-S50. https://doi.org/10.1097/sih.0000000000000295

NRS 434 Health Illness Continuum Discussion

Benchmark – Human Experience Across the Health-Illness Continuum

The Health-illness continuum, sometimes called the wellness-illness continuum, illustrates the concept of wellbeing, including mental and emotional aspects of health. It was first described in 1972 by a physician, Dr. John W. Travis. Some items of literature refer to this continuum simply as the healthcare continuum. Graphically, this continuum’s main paradigms include optimal wellness, neutral point, illness, or even death.

Nurses apply the concepts from the healthcare continuum to manage and care for their patients. Towards the right of the continuum, patients’ condition improves as they strive to achieve wellness. Moving towards the left direction means that the patient’s health deteriorates and the chances of loss of life are likely. Nursing care, therefore, revolves around pushing the patients’ condition towards the right-hand side direction in the continuum.

Importance of Understanding Health-Illness Continuum in My Care Provision

Definition of health varies with various perspectives. The client’s understanding of health and illness may be discrete such that the delineation of optimal health from illness is identifiable. From my perspective, health and illness exist in a continuum such that the absence of illness does not necessarily mean health. This understanding is relevant to my care provision because all patient care services that I would provide must be targeted towards moving the patient health status towards the right of the continuum.

In the current digital society, clients have access to health and health-related information from various sources alongside care professionals’ advice (Hilty, Turvey & Hwang, 2018). However, the authenticity of this information cannot be ascertained. The application of this information to their lifestyles is vital in health promotion and maintenance. It is, therefore, my role as a nursing care provider to sieve this kind of information so that the patient applies the appropriate information to appropriate health practices.

The understanding of the factors that influence health is critical in deciding the kind of care that care professionals give to the clients. The knowledge on determinants of health is essential not only to healthcare providers but also to the patients. Typically, the public perceives the nurse as the promoter of life and healing in care provision. However, our roles and responsibilities go beyond health promotion. Alongside health promotion, I, as a nurse, should promote illness prevention at the individual and community or group levels.

Nursing interventions, therefore, target patients at all stages of the health-illness continuum and aim at moving all of them towards the optimal health direction. Therefore, the promotion of human dignity and value restoration is the overall endpoint intention of nursing care. Nurses can make this possible through modification of the physical environment, mental health and thought processes, and the social ways of life (Svalastog et al., 2017).

Overall State of Health Reflection

The status of a person in the wellness-illness continuum is a labile situation that is not fixed in any of the paradigms. The shifts in paradigms are influenced by external or intrinsic factors, or both. However, the absence of illness does not suggest wellness (Rovesti et al., 2018). The balance between wellness and illness is therefore indeterminate. The shift from optimal health, neutral point, to illness and back is not unidirectional and therefore reversible. However, the end-of-life situations are mostly irreversible and can only be sustained palliatively.

My current overall status of health oscillates in between optimal health and neutral point. My behaviors and lifestyle majorly determine my given position in the continuum. Social behaviors such as occasional beverages, alcoholic or nonalcoholic, intake predispose my status to shift to the left of the continuum. Whatever, we do for fun, pleasure, or recreation is to some extent responsible for disease in our lifetime. Illness is in most cases determined by the presence of disease symptoms and signs. Occult etiologies in disease pathogenesis exist in almost everyone but cannot be used to classify them as ill.

Options and Resources Available for Health Sustenance

Health maintenance and promotion are products of timely health prevention. Prevention of health progression towards the left of the continuum or the illness side helps in sustaining quality human health. Noteworthy is that prevention resources tend to vary extensively depending on the stage of prevention. Primary prevention targets individuals with optimal health and neutral point. This is the group where I belong.

Resources for primary prevention include behavior change, adequate health education, immunizations, and safe health practices. This type of prevention works well for this group because they are at risk of acquiring ill-health involving preventable conditions at some point in their lives. Secondary prevention resources are appropriate for exposed individuals who may have developed ill-health but have not been ascertained yet. For this group, screening is required to identify the problem and prevent further progression in the illness direction of the health-illness continuum.

Conclusion

The Health-illness continuum is a model used by clinicians to explain, describe and provide care to their clients. The health status of an individual may change at any time depending on extrinsic and intrinsic influencers of health. For this reason, timely prevention is the main resource to improve the negative paradigm shift in the continuum of healthcare. As a nurse, I not only endeavor to provide quality health and wellness guidance to my patients, but I also aspire to lead a life that guarantees me good health.

References

• Hilty, D.M., Turvey, C. & Hwang, T. (2018). Lifelong Learning for Clinical Practice: How to Leverage Technology for Telebehavioral Health Care and Digital Continuing Medical Education. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20(15). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0878-y
• Rovesti, M., Fioranelli, M., Petrelli, P., Satolli, F., Roccia, M. G., Gianfaldoni, S., Tchernev, G., Wollina, U., Lotti, J., Feliciani, C., & Lotti, T. (2018). Health and illness in history, science and society. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 6(1), 163–165. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2018.056
• Svalastog, A. L., Donev, D., Kristoffersen, N. J., & Gajovi?, S. (2017). Concepts and definitions of health and health-related values in the knowledge landscapes of the digital society. Croatian Medical Journal, 58(6), 431–435. https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2017.58.431