COMMENT AUDRE

I NEED A POSITIVE COMMENT BASED IN THIS ARGUMENT..BETWEEN 100-120 WORDS

Two theories involved in the implementation of change are Lewin’s theory and Lippitt’s theory.

The three stages of Lewin’s theory include:

Unfreezing: the time when change is needed

Moving: when change is initiated

Refreezing: after change is implemented and balance is restored

Lippitt’s theory involves seven phases:

Diagnose the problem

Assess motivation and capacity for change

Assess the change agent’s motivation and resources

Select progressive change objective

Choose appropriate role of the change agent

Maintain change

Terminate the helping relationship

(Mitchell, 2013).

Both theories involve a framework for the assessment, implementation, and evaluation of change, but Lippitt’s theory follows the nursing process and involves a more in-depth and detailed assessment, motivation, and evaluation of the change (Mitchell, 2013).

I feel that either theory could be used in the implementation of my EBP project, but Lippitt’s theory is more in depth and comprehensive which makes for a better plan. The stage that is the most important to me is selecting the progressive change objective, or developing a plan. The plan should include details such as timelines, deadlines, and responsibilities (Classroom.com, n.d.). This is similar to the individual success plan we did in week 1 to help us make our plan and follow through. Having a structure for the change and how to implement it make the task of change seem achievable.

My mentor states that she has used these theories many times, but without knowledge of following a specific theory. Being that Lippitt’s theory closely resembles the nursing process, this is probably one she has instinctively followed.

References

Classroom.com. (n.d.). How to apply Lippitts theory of change in nursing. Retrieved from Classroom.com:

Reflection Pulse check Reply – (1)

Please reply with one reference to the following post.

Week 5 Reflection Pulse check

This course expanded my knowledge about the historical evolution of the advanced practice nursing, and the stages of growth, evolution and changes it went through. Many challenges Nurse Practitioners have faced and struggled to become recognized as important and effective healthcare professionals working in clinical and nonclinical settings (Tariman &Szubski, 2015).

Advanced Practicing Registered Nurses (APRNs) in advance clinical setting, administration, informatics and research, each got a duty to make a difference in not just nursing but in healthcare. APRNs as primary care providers provide preventive care and education, diagnose and treat illness, manage chronic conditions. Others educate coming future nurse and train them on becoming good caring RN’s. Informatics develop and update health system for your easier access. Some take administrative positions; some continue making difference by making policies.

Some APRNs continue improving nursing via research and evidence-based practice, researching new methods to promote health and to prevent disease, quality improvement and how to increase safety standards, which will lead to excellent care.

Collaboration is defined as Healthcare professional assuming complementary role in working, cooperating, problem-solving, and carrying a treatment plan together, as evidenced by physicians, nurses and other health professionals (Reeves et al.,2017).  It important to understand the importance of effective communication, having the ability to listen, understand and send a massage in understandable form depending of the recipient’s age, educational status and mental ability. It’s essential to apply what we learned about democratic leadership, involve and listen to everyone, this will make communication and collaboration more effective.

Reference

Reeves, S., Pelone, F., Harrison, R., Goldman, J., & Zwarenstein, M. (2017).

Interprofessional collaboration to improve professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6).

Tariman, J. D., & Szubski, K. L. (2015). The evolving role of the nurse during the cancer

treatment decision-making process: a literature review. Clinical Journal of Oncology

Nursing, 19(5).

APA Inflammatory Bowel Disease

 Inflammatory Bowel Disease 

Case Study The patient is an 11-year-old girl who has been complaining of intermittent right lower quadrant pain and diarrhea for the past year. She is small for her age. Her physical examination indicates some mild right lower quadrant tenderness and fullness. Studies Results Hemoglobin (Hgb), 8.6 g/dL (normal: >12 g/dL) Hematocrit (Hct), 28% (normal: 31%-43%) Vitamin B12 level, 68 pg/mL (normal: 100-700 pg/mL) Meckel scan, No evidence of Meckel diverticulum D-Xylose absorption, 60 min: 8 mg/dL (normal: >15-20 mg/dL) 120 min: 6 mg/dL (normal: >20 mg/dL) Lactose tolerance, No change in glucose level (normal: >20 mg/dL rise in glucose) Small bowel series, Constriction of multiple segments of the small intestine Diagnostic Analysis The child’s small bowel series is compatible with Crohn disease of the small intestine. Intestinal absorption is diminished, as indicated by the abnormal D-xylose and lactose tolerance tests. Absorption is so bad that she cannot absorb vitamin B12. As a result, she has vitamin B12 deficiency anemia. She was placed on an aggressive immunosuppressive regimen, and her condition improved significantly. Unfortunately, 2 years later she experienced unremitting obstructive symptoms and required surgery. One year after surgery, her gastrointestinal function was normal, and her anemia had resolved. Her growth status matched her age group. Her absorption tests were normal, as were her B12 levels. Her immunosuppressive drugs were discontinued, and she is doing well. 

Critical Thinking Questions 

1. Why was this patient placed on immunosuppressive therapy? 

2. Why was the Meckel scan ordered for this patient? 

3. What are the clinical differences and treatment options for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease? (always on boards) 

4. What is prognosis for patients with IBD and what are the follow up recommendations for managing disease? 

Week 1 Discussion reply

Please reply with one reference to the following post:

Week 1 Discussion

Nursing revolves around the patient, the nurse, the patient’s health, and the environment. Therefore, these four concepts are known as the metaparadigms of nursing. There are many additional concepts that come to mind when I think of nursing. As a registered nurse, I feel as if collaboration and advocacy are two additional concepts that are relevant to my personal practice.

Collaboration is defined as “working with others in a way that promotes/encourages each person’s contributions toward achieving optimal/realistic patient/family goals” (Butts & Rich, 2018). In my opinion, working in the healthcare field truly requires amazing teamwork. A patient cannot heal purely by the medications the nurse gives them every morning. They must walk with physical therapy to get stronger, they must get their breathing treatments from the respiratory therapist, their labs have to be drawn by the phlebotomist, the radiologists must read their x-rays, and the physician must speak to/evaluate the patient each day to ensure that his/her goals are being met. Thankfully, I work in an environment where collaboration is welcomed. As the nurse, physicians often ask my opinion, as I have a closer relationship to the patient. Collaboration is most successful when there is active communication regarding patient care, and the correct resources are used to optimize patient outcomes (Butts & Rich, 2018).

Advocacy is the second concept that I feel is relevant to my personal practice. According to Butts and Rich (2018), advocacy is defined as “working on another’s behalf and representing the concerns of the patient/family and nursing staff.” On a daily basis, I find myself advocating for my patients. I do this by keeping the entire healthcare team informed, providing assistance or getting them in touch with the correct people to get them assistance, and providing professional nursing care. Working on an orthopedic unit, I most often find myself advocating for my patient regarding their pain. As nurses, we are taught that “pain is what the patient says it is.” If I feel as if my patient does not have adequate pain control, I am quick to call the physician. By advocating for my patients, I want to ensure that they get the proper care to optimize their health and outcomes.

Reference

                Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2018). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (3rd ed.).

Communications, Marketing & Public Relations

  

Week 6: communications, Marketing & Public Relations 

Week 6: Health Literacy and Marketing

1. To realize a person-centered health care system, the ACA and the HITECH Act, two federal laws, promote new health care service delivery models and health information technologies that emphasize teams and people’s engagement in information seeking, decision making, and self-management. These changes reflect the growing priority of health literacy.

—Koh, Baur, Brach, Harris, & Rowden (2013, p. 1).

As a health care administrator, you might be responsible for ensuring that communications from your agency and materials developed by your agency adhere to best practices on health literacy. Understanding the health literacy needs of your target audience or community will influence the approaches you might take to ensure that information is clearly articulated and effectively understood. While health literacy may present a definite challenge for health care administrators to address, understanding how to promote effective health literacy is essential to an agency’s visibility and commitment toward fulfilling the health service needs of their target population.

This week, you examine health care administrator consequences for health literacy in communications. You explore the importance of health literacy in influencing services for health care delivery and consider the health literacy of target audiences. You also examine strategies health care administrators might implement to tailor health communications based on differing levels of health literacy for target audiences.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

· Analyze consequences for health care administrators in relation to health literacy in communications

· Analyze health literacy in influencing services and programs for health care delivery

· Analyze implementation of health care administrator solutions

· Analyze health literacy of target audience

· Evaluate strategies to tailor messages for target audience 

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

· Parker, J. C., & Thorson, E. (Eds.). (2009). Health communication in the new media landscape. New York, NY: Springer.

Chapter 1, “The challenge of Health care and Disability” (pp.3-19)

Chapter 11, “Health Literacy in the Digital World” (pp. 303–320)

· Heinrich, C. (2012). Health literacy: The sixth vital sign. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24(4), 218–223. Note: Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

· Jibaja-Weiss, M. L., Volk, R. J., Granchi, T. S., Neff, N. E., Robinson, E. K., Spann, S. J., … Beck, J. R. (2011). Entertainment education for breast cancer surgery decisions: A randomized trail among patients with low health literacy. Patient Education and Counseling, 84(1), 41–48. Note: Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

· Zoellner, J., You, W., Connell, C., Smith-Ray, R. L., Allen, K., Tucker, K. L., … Estabrooks, P. (2011). Health literacy is associated with healthy eating index scores and sugar-sweetened beverage intake: Findings from the rural lower Mississippi delta. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 111(7), 1012–1020. Note: Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Health literacy [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is minutes.

This is the download transcript: 

Health Literacy

Program Transcript 

Chanel F. Agnes: Health literacy is the ability of a person to be able to obtain, process, as well as understand, health information to take care of their health. Health literacy are a little bit different terms. So in 2003, the National Center for Education Statistic did a survey of the literacy of all Americans, and one part of that survey was looking at just the literacy of Americans. And the definition of literacy is the ability to read, write and understand English, as to be able to do basic computational skills to carry out a job. 

Now the difference with the health literacy is that health literacy is a different set of skills, a different set of knowledge that most people aren’t born into learning or they’re not taught in school. So it’s a whole different set of skills, a whole set of information. So for example, someone who has just developed diabetes, and you’re trying to explain to them the mechanism of how this disease state occurs, and you talk to them about the pancreas and beta cells that secrete insulin, this is not common knowledge that someone who’s just functioning in society would already know. 

There are a number of different examples of revealing low literacy in patients. For example, if a patient goes into to see their primary care provider, and the primary care provider recommends getting a Colonoscopy, One barrier to the patient actually taking that recommendation and getting it done is their normal activities of going to work and interacting in society, so that’s new information.

So first of all, it’s important for the provider to clearly communicate what that test is, how that test is done, where that test is done, where that test is performed, as well as the risks and benefits of doing the procedure, for the patient to feel comfortable enough to make that decision to say yes, or even decide that they will not get the test done. Then there are a number of steps that the patient has to go through to successfully get the test done. So the next step would be that the provider would say “You need to pick up GoYTellY” – and that’s one of the names for the solution, and basically it’s used to kind of clean out the colon before the test is done. And then, eight hours before the procedure, you should have nothing to eat or drink by mouth. And then maybe they’ll give them some instruction about not taking certain medications before the procedure. So the provider has given them at least three or four steps, three or four things to do, in relation to getting this test done. 

So maybe the patient feels confident about going to the pharmacy to fill the prescription. So they pick up the prescription, and here’s another point where communication is very important. Is the pharmacist communicating clearly and completely how the solution should be taken? Can it be taken with regular food? Should it be taken without foods, with or without foods, with or without medications? It’s important to communicate that to avoid any negative adverse effects. 

So although promoting something as simple as a Colonoscopy, it seems simple on the surface, there a number of different steps that the patient has to follow, a number of different areas of knowledge and skills that it draws on, and it’s important that we don’t assume that everyone is easily able to do this. Also, repetition is very good, and asking the patient if they understand the information that was provided, because it can get pretty complicated. 

So there’s a method that’s called the teach-back-method, what it does is it just helps to assess the level of comprehension. So maybe the provider might ask “Now, I have given you a lot of information about what you need to do to get this colonoscopy done. Now, tell me, in your own words, if I was your wife at home, how you would communicate this to your wife about the procedure that needs to be done, and then listen to how the patient is communicating that information, and then twerking it where they may have gotten the information a little wrong. So that’s an excellent way to assess level of comprehension. 

Culture is a very important part of health literacy. And actually, it’s something that helps to- I guess it helps to shape our level of literacy. So for example, if we look at a person who recently emigrated from another country. They’ve grown up in a culture where the health practices maybe very different than the way that we practice here in the United States. For example, they may have very strong spiritual beliefs, and they may believe that actually poor health comes from a poor spiritual state, or that poor health may come from something negative that they did in their lives. So if a health care provider or health system does not appreciate those difference in cultures, there is where you really begin to see some disparities in how health care is received. 

So the public health leaders have an awesome opportunities to close that divide where patients who have low health literacy will be able to more easily navigate the health care systems through different initiatives that they may develop. It’s important to note that health literacy is not just a patient problem, but it’s actually a health system problem. So while a patient’s level of health literacy may be impacted by their cultural beliefs, these have been associated with low health literacy, but also on the health care side, how easy is it to navigate the health care system? How well are the providers communicating with the patients? And also, are we providing in education in terms of self –management when patients have chronic disease state? 

So if a public leader would like to develop an initiative or campaign, it’s important to consider the diversity of Americans. As time goes on, and we get older, the population will become more diverse. And actually, one of the minorities, the Hispanic population, will actually become the majority in this country. So it’s very important that public health leaders appreciate that change in diversity in the country, as the years go on. Everyone does not receive information in the same way. So some people may be acculturated to receive information verbally. Some may be able to understand information a little easier looking at diagrams, et cetera. But it’s important to be able to understand what is the easiest way for patients to receive information, also understanding culturally, what are their health beliefs, because really what you want to do is you want to work within that health belief to bring in that scientific base, that evidence-based medicine, to work together to have a plan that works well for the patient, not only using the best evidence-based medicine, but also acknowledging their different cultural beliefs. So for example, if someone comes from a culture that use alternative medicine, such as for example acupuncture, asking the patient, “what are the usual ways that you receive help, or what are the usual ways that you go about the healing process,” and using that, again, as a part of your plan, your strategy, your recommendation, and negotiating with the patient to see what would be the best strategy that they’re most comfortable with, and also you’re providing the best care. 

There are a number of ways to assess for health literacy. For the informal assessment of health literacy, one of the ways is that, and you can do this whether you’re in a very busy setting, for example, a community pharmacy versus in a primary care provider office, where you may have a little bit more time to interact with the patient, but just asking some simple questions, “Are you having trouble with understanding the medication labels? Or you may ask the patient, “Do you know the list of medications that you’re taking?” And this is usually very telling someone who has health literacy because many times the response are, “I take exactly what the doctor told me to take. Don’t you have it in your computer?” So this is a common response that we get. And sometimes they maybe a little frustrated, because we ask it very often, because we want to make sure that we’re giving the medication accurately. But many times it is, indicative that they have low health literacy, and they’re really not sure of what medications they’re taking. 

Another telling question is if you ask the patient, “What are you taking the medication for? And the patient says, “I don’t know”. Again, they may give you a similar answer, “I will take whatever the doctor gives me, “again, that’s another sign of low health literacy. In a primary care doctor’s office, an example of an informal assessment technique might be the need to just give them a form to fill out. And they may have a lot of blank spaces, and that may clearly demonstrate that they don’t understand some of the questions that have been listed there. Other ways to assess is just looking for red flags. So this may not even require you to ask information. So you may notice that a patient is very often missing appointments, and this could be that they don’t understand how to reschedule appointments. So maybe after a visit, you may say, “talk to the receptionist and reschedule your appointment for three months with a primary care doctor, and then four months later, I like to you to meet with a nutritionist, and then two months after that, you should make an appointment with your cardiologist”. So although to us, if we are often working in the health care system, it’s very simple, to a patient it gets a little bit complicated. 

One example of the formal assessment tools that I mentioned is the REALM. And what this tool does, it assesses word recognition, but they’re health-related words. And the nice thing about this tool is that it can be done very quickly, it only takes about two to three minutes to complete. With this tool, what it does is that it assesses word recognition, so the patients ability to say the words. And again if you’re not been in the health care system for a while, you’re not familiar with a lot of these terms, it can get pretty difficulty to say the words, because it starts out with some pretty simple terms, and then it gets a little complicated towards the end. Now, the tools is assessed based on grade level. So it’s assessed from third grade level up to adult up to about eight or ninth grade. And know the patient’s grade level with doing this tool helps us to understand what the best tools to use for patient education are. So this is actually something that would be good if you’re going to be working with the patient for a long period of time. 

The problem with the REALM is that it does not assess comprehension of the words. It just asks the patient to say the words. And based on the level of complexity, you’ll get an idea of their level of health literacy, so really not a complete tool. Another tool is actually a little bit more in depth then the REALM is the TOHLA. And this tool actually assesses level of comprehension. So on the test, the patient is given a number of sentences and they need to fill in the blank with …. They have a selection of four options. And to complete the sentence, they need to fill it with a term. This is able to assess health literacy from the area of comprehension, because all of the information is related to health care concepts, using more words such as x-ray or diagnostic test. So then you’re able to assess a little bit more how well the patient is able to comprehend health information, and this is very important, again, when patients access the health care system, maybe usually health insurance cards. If they really don’t understand how to use the cards that is indicative of a low level of comprehension with using health information. So this tool is a little longer. It probably takes about 15 to 20 minutes, so it’s often used in clinical trials to assess the health literacy, but I think this tool is important for public health educators, because if you’re doing assessments of outcomes for a specific intervention, it’s a very nice way of standardizing the assessment of health literacy for those who are participating in the study. Now the example is the Newest Vital Sign. And actually, this is the newest screening tool that’s been promoted to assess level of health literacy. And the nice thing about this tool is that it is able to assess different parts of literacy. So it assesses word recognition. It also assesses comprehension, but it also assesses the patient’s ability to do some basic computations, based on a prescription label or a diet label, so on a box of cheerios or whatever. 

If the patient is able to look at that label and then be able to compute maybe what is a normal serving size, it’s a few skills that need to go into that. For example, if you’re using a liquid medication and you need to count how many milliliters you need to take, that requires you to be able to do some computation. And some patients may not be able to demonstrate that skill, although it seems as if they understand if you ask them. So I think those three tools are a nice example of different types of assessing health literacy, different types of instruments to assess health literacy, but it’s also important to recognize that the limitation is that they’re not a complete recognize that the limitation is that they’re not a complete assessment. Another part of the health literacy that probably no formal tool can assess is, again, the patient’s ability to put all of the information together. So it really, again, is down to the patient-provider communication skills, and how we’re communicating health information, and make sure that we’re having on going patient education for health promotion. 

Health literacy: Additional Content Attribution 

Music: Creative Support services

Los Angeles, CA

Dimension Sound Effects Library- Newnan, GA 

Narrator Tracks Music Library- Stevens Point, WI 

Signature Music, Inc

Chesterton, IN- Studio Cutz Music Library 

Carrolton, TX. 

Discussion Part 

Discussion: Health Literacy and Marketing

1. Janet is the health care administrator at a major hospital who is tasked with addressing an issue with recent prescription requests of a particular drug and complaints of overdoses in patients seen in the last three months. This issue is a top priority, not only for patient safety, but also because this prescription drug has received extensive marketing and promotion in the hospital over the past three months. Patients are now complaining that the marketing that promotes the prescription drug as being extremely safe is a direct lie. After speaking with several of the patients and providers of care, Janet has requested copies of each prescription ordered for the patients who have been screened.

After poring over hundreds of prescription orders, Janet has arrived at three conclusions. All overdoses occurred in one department with four providers who primarily see and treat patients that are non-native English speakers and who do not have family members or relatives at home to assist with providing care. Specifically, Janet notices that the issue is linked with the directions on the quantity of medication administered and that this quantity has been misinterpreted by the patients who have suffered an overdose. With a solution in mind, Janet is calling the department and pharmacy to implement a fix to avoid potential overdoses within the next few hours.

In what ways might health literacy account for the issues described in the scenario? What considerations should you keep in mind as a health care administrator to ensure that marketing of programs or services are consistent with the health literacy levels of your target population?

For this Discussion, review the resources for this week. Reflect on potential consequences that health care administrators might face when developing communications that do not account for health literacy in target audiences. Then, consider how health literacy might influence decisions that health care administrators might make when proposing services or programs for health care delivery.

By Day 3

· Post a brief explanation of the consequences health care administrators might face when developing communications that do not account for health literacy in target audiences. Explain how health literacy might influence the decisions health care administrators make when proposing services and programs for health care delivery. Be specific and provide examples. 

By Day 5

Continue the Discussion and suggest a possible solution health care administrators might implement to address the consequences described by your colleagues.

Submission and Grading Information:

Grading Criteria: To access your rubric

Week 6 Discussion Rubric: Post by Day 3 and respond by Day 5.

To participate in this Discussion: Week 6 Discussion 

Assignment Part: Assignment: Impact of Health Literacy on Marketing Plan

1. Person-centered health care means people have both the knowledge required to make decisions about their care and the support of providers and family who respect their needs and preferences.

—Hurtado, Swift, & Corrigan (2001)

“In what ways might health literacy affect an agency’s marketing plan to promote health care services or health care delivery?”

2. Before marketing a health care service or program, health care administrators must first consider the target audience that will most likely use the service or program. In identifying the target audience, the health care administrator also must determine the health literacy of the target audience and devise strategies to market the service or program appropriately within this respective target audience. Therefore, the ability of the target audience to decipher the health message, determine the service or program being offered, and identify how to best access this service or program represents the important considerations that inform how the message should be communicated.

3. For this Assignment, consider what impact the health literacy of your intended target audience might have on your plan. Reflect on how you will determine your target audience’s health literacy and what considerations you will need to address in your plan.

Note: The completion of this Assignment will consist of the elements necessary for Component 4 of your Final Project.

The Assignment (2–5 pages) 

· Describe the health literacy of your target audience for your marketing plan.

· Explain how your marketing plan will address the health literacy of your target audience.

· Describe two strategies you might take to best tailor the messages in your marketing plan to promote uptake within your target audience and explain why.

By Day 7

Submit your Assignment.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

· Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK6Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.

· Click the Week 6 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.

· Click the Week 6 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.

· Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK6Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.

· If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.

· Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

comment eve

I NEED A POSITIVE COMMENT BASED IN THIS ARGUMENT..BETWEEN 100-120 WORDS

Substantial evidence has now been provided that stakeholder involvement is essential for management effectiveness in clinical research and implementation of new proposals. Feedback from stakeholders has critical value for research managers in as much as it alerts them to the social, environmental, and ethical implications of research activities. Additionally, those who are directly affected by program development and clinical research, the patients, their families, and others, almost universally have a strong motivation to be involved in the planning and execution of new program changes. Stakeholders are the customers, suppliers, the general public, and any other group, which are likely to be affected by the organization’s ultimate decisions. The process of incorporating the ideas and input from these groups has been termed “stakeholder engagement.” It reflects an increasingly accepted attitude that organizations not only have an ethical obligation to involve the participation of stakeholders in their collective activity but also in so doing their overall organizational effectiveness will be enhanced (Pandi-Perumal, Akhter,  Zizi,  Jean-Louis,  Ramasubramanian, Freeman,  & Narasimhan, 2015).  The process of identifying, engaging stakeholders must begin well in advance so that dialog is seen to play an important part of project implementation; no decisions should be already made before commencing stakeholder engagement on project-related issues. Stakeholder engagement is intended to help administrators fully realize the benefits of applying community and patient interest in hospital programs, and to ensure that research and program changes benefit those who are most directly affected. The stakeholder focus group is a communication medium through which the opinions of individuals or groups of individuals who are impacted by the research can be elicited. Focus groups can also serve to clarify each stakeholder’s role and responsibilities, as well as promoting an overall understanding of the project requirements. Such processes also provide stakeholders with an environment in which they can express their opinions and feel that they have been heard (Pandi-Perumal, Akhter,  Zizi,  Jean-Louis,  Ramasubramanian, Freeman,  & Narasimhan, 2015).

Pandi-Perumal, S. R., Akhter, S., Zizi, F., Jean-Louis, G., Ramasubramanian, C., Freeman, R., & Narasimhan, M. (2015). Project Stakeholder Management in the Clinical Research Environment: How to Do it Right. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 6, 71. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00071

Week14_Disc_Yuri

Please reply to this post with a minimum of two paragraphs with two references, APA Style, and no plagiarism. 

-The management of acute and chronic pain often includes opioid therapy. In both the acute and chronic pain settings, however, opioids have several disadvantages including risk of nausea and vomiting, somnolence, constipation, respiratory depression, androgen deficiency, physical dependence, and tolerance. Opioid medications also carry a risk of abuse or addiction by either the patient or non-medical users. For these reasons, consideration of non-opioid strategies for pain management is beneficial. While opioids will certainly continue to have a place in pain management despite their disadvantages, the use of non-opioid medication options may limit the amount of opioid necessary or even result in improved pain control. In fact, given that the majority of both acute and chronic pain is thought to be complex and multi factorial, a multi modal analgesic approach is ideal for management. Acetaminophen is typically considered first-line therapy for chronic pain conditions, including osteoarthritis (OA) and chronic pain associated with total knee arthroplasty. However, many times patients are treated inappropriately with opioids instead.

Acetaminophen is considered first-line treatment for many pain conditions because of its safety advantages. Compared with other analgesics available, acetaminophen is associated with very few adverse events and is considered safe to use chronically. Healthcare providers strive to “first do no harm.  Therefore, for most chronic pain conditions, a trial of acetaminophen should be used and monitored for effect before initiating other analgesics, including opioids. However, acetaminophen is not without risks. Safety concerns associated with acetaminophen include serious liver damage if ingestion is greater than the recommended total daily dose of 4,000 mg. Long-term high doses of acetaminophen and accidental overdose from inadvertently consuming multiple acetaminophen products are the leading causes of acute liver failure in the U. S. For this reason it is important that the patients who are utilizing acetaminophen chronically for pain are educated on proper dosing and administration, and are aware of any other acetaminophen-containing products they may use. The disadvantage of acetaminophen is that it often cannot provide a sufficient analgesic effect and does not exert a specific anti-inflammatory effect, causing many patients to discontinue or switch therapies.

REFERENCES

Dowell D, Haegerich TM, Chou R. CDC guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain United States, 2016. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2016; 65(1):1-49.

COMMENT ZOE

I NEED A POSITIVE COMMENT BASED IN THIS ARGUMENT..BETWEEN 100-120 WORDS

A clinical problem I am seeing during my practicum is the readmission rates. These readmission rates could be due to a variety of underlying issues such as language barriers, failure to understand discharge teaching, insufficient time to adequately provide discharge instructions or noncompliance. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have put fourth measurements to help decrease hospital readmission rates. The CMS defines readmission as “an admission to a subsection hospital with in 30 days of a discharge from the same or another subsection hospital” (CMS, 2017). Three main diagnosis that were identified by CMS for having high readmission rates are, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia (CMS, 2017). In my experience working on the cardiac unit there are many times we see patients readmitted for heart failure due to a failure to comply with their medication regimen. The increased readmission rates have an effect on nursing.     Two nursing implications of increased readmissions, specifically related to heart failure are improved knowledge and instruction about heart failure, and coordinating care after the patient has been discharged. Nurses must be further educated on the process of heart failure and how to better educate their patients prior to discharge. This can mean further education for nurses and increased time spent by the hospital to provide the education for the staff. The coordination of care post discharge is important to decrease the readmission rate for heart failure patients. A way to encourage patients to follow discharge instructions is to check in with them on a regular basis after discharge, this might be done through a phone call or a visit. I know that my hospital was trying to implement a process when an RN will call the patient at different intervals following discharge to check in with the patient. I think that both furthering an RN’s education about heart failure and implementing a system in which patients are checked in with after discharge could reduce the readmission rates of heart failure patients.       Reference:     Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). (2017). Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). Retrieved from:   https://www.cms.gov/medicare/medicare-fee-for-service payment/acuteinpatientpps/readmissions-reduction-program.html

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND NURSING RESEARCH

      

Write a paper (2,000-2,500 words) in which you apply the concepts of epidemiology and nursing research to a communicable disease. Refer to “Communicable Disease Chain,” “Chain of Infection,” and the CDC website for assistance when completing this assignment.

Communicable Disease Selection

  1. Chickenpox
  2. Tuberculosis
  3. Influenza
  4. Mononucleosis
  5. Hepatitis B
  6. HIV
  7. Ebola
  8. Measles
  9. Polio
  10. Influenza

Epidemiology Paper Requirements

  1. Describe the chosen communicable disease, including causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment, and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence). Is this a reportable disease? If so, provide details about reporting time, whom to report to, etc.
  2. Describe the social determinants of health and explain how those factors contribute to the development of this disease.
  3. Discuss the epidemiologic triangle as it relates to the communicable disease you have selected. Include the host factors, agent factors (presence or absence), and environmental factors. Are there any special considerations or notifications for the community, schools, or general population?
  4. Explain the role of the community health nurse (case finding, reporting, data collection, data analysis, and follow-up) and why demographic data are necessary to the health of the community.
  5. Identify at least one national agency or organization that addresses the communicable disease chosen and describe how the organizations contribute to resolving or reducing the impact of disease.
  6. Discuss a global implication of the disease. How is this addressed in other countries or cultures? Is this disease endemic to a particular area? Provide an example.

A minimum of three peer-reviewed or professional references is required.

Module 6 Discussion #1 comment

commen on thoese 2

1- Richard Lennon    

 

After reviewing the article “First the Flood, Now the Fight” multiple times, I was unable to find clearly defined examples of horizontal or vertical integration in the article based off the definitions and examples we learned in the assigned video.  Horizontal integration is when a company or organization acquires a similar company or organization in the same industry or field.  The closest example to horizontal integration in the article occurred after the storm when FEMA oversaw and managed around 700 contractors and employees during the recovery process.  Vertical integration is when a company or organization acquires a company that operates either before or after the acquiring company or organization in the production process.  There was no clear demonstration of vertical integration that I found in this article.

 

Inter-organizational coordination after Katrina was poor and inconsistent at best.  It was stated in the article that “current and former officials at all levels blame FEMA workers’ inexperience with eligibility rules, weaknesses in U.S. disaster laws and inconsistent treatment by Congress for much of the wrangling”.  I think the biggest problem was that the destruction that Katrina caused was so geographically widespread, that FEMA had to divide their personnel and resources up amongst a much larger area then originally planned for.  Spreading their personnel out like this to cover a larger area is where I believe a lot of the problems happened, because it then forced them to have less experienced personnel operate in roles/capacities that they would otherwise not normally operate in because they were the only available resources at the time.  This could have been one of the causes for the repeated disputes amongst local governments and FEMA representatives due to the improper interpretation of rules and disaster laws by FEMA representatives.   

 

Horizontal recovery is something that I believe we in Emergency Management will revisit on many occasions.  A form of temporary horizontal integration is something that occurs during most disaster recoveries.  After a disaster, FEMA or a local emergency management agency usually takes over coordinating and leading the recovery effort.  During this time, they also take control of available rescue and recovery organizations to use in whatever way to carry out the organization’s goal and overall mission.  This is different than the corporate world where a company is taken over forever, whereas in the disaster recovery setting it is appropriate for this to occur on a temporary basis

2-Doug Harper    

Not having any formal education in Business Administration, but having an understanding of macro and micro economics to be honest I had heard of vertical and horizontal integration as it relates to business. Saying that the video presented really did a great job of “dumbing it down”, and did make it easier for me to understand. Taking the same concept and applying it to Emergency Management I tried to explain it to myself in simple terms. I came up with my definition(s) and my response below:

(1) Vertical integration: How a community interacts with the different levels of government. Basically local/municipal government officials deal with the state/province, then with the federal government. Each of the three levels of government communicates with each other. Much like in the fire service when Fire gets together with our EMS partners, and the PD we use the term “Unified Command”. The system works during an emergency as each agency sends a senior representative or the specialized staff (think of a Haz-mat call, you would want the Haz techs to be present during the meeting). We collectively determine a strategy, then devise the tactics to respond to the incident at hand. Depending on nature of the call, the lead agency is defined by the type of call. For example PD would be the lead for a bomb call, or report of possible terrorism event and use of say sarin gas. For a school bus overturned with mass casualties it may indeed be EMS, and for say a fire at a petrol facility Fire would be the lead. The take away is each agency plays a key role. Much like each level of government will have a part to play during a disaster.

To bring the above into context of the 1993 Midwest floods the level of vertical integration was great. Extreme I may say, This event was across 534 counties across 9 states and required $4.2B of direct federal aid. Also to be noted was the successful federal buyout program to remove families from rebuilding on the floodplain (this was studied in prior EMGT 6603). The States had a direct role as well as was seen as Missouri took up this program and had successful results. The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) played a direct role in administering the program for the residents of Missouri. This once again shows vertical integration in regards to EM. 

As for strengths and weaknesses I see the idea of “turf wars” being the largest hindrance and EM Managers must be cognative of and deal with as soon as they become aware of a dysfunctional arrangement beginning to take hold. On the other hand if an “expert” is needed, I feel confident within the vertical integration model one will be found whether from the state/province or federal government. Think of mutual aid extreme.

To strengthen and build on a best practice system, to make the response better once again I feel relationship building 101. Not during an event, but prior to a disaster the local EM Managers need to communicate, attend professional symposiums, visit, call, and provide periodic updates as to the happenings of their local community with state/provincial and federal persons who would be called upon during an event. In other words pre-planning by being able to know not just how to do something, but who will we call.

(2) Horizontal integration: How the community interacts with the additional resources available to them during the recovery phase (short term and long term). I think of groups/agencies such as The Red Cross, Salvation Army, local community groups whether informal (think convergent groups) or groups such as The Rotary Club or The Kinsmen Club (Canada), faith based groups, local BIA’s (Business Improvement Associations), local Ratepayer groups (if the entire community is completely destroyed such as from a wild fire or tornado this may not be practical) to name a few. This type of integration I think of as everyone is a “partner” and brings something to the table and are to be treated as equals.

As for horizontal integration I turn to the American Red Cross. I do so as many groups I am sure played a role but from this exert from my research shows the response was admirable: Since 1992, the American Red Cross (ARC) has recruited social workers and other mental health professionals to serve in the Disaster Mental Health (DMH) program, and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has partnered with them to support recruitment. In the aftermath of disasters, DMH volunteers support co-workers, survivors, and relief partners with identification of mental health needs (psychological triage), promotion of resilience and coping skills (psychological first aid, psychoeducation, public health messaging, and consultation), and targeted interventions (referrals, crisis intervention, casualty support, and advocacy) (http://www.socialworker.com/extras/social-work-month-2017/american-red-cross-expands-eligibility-for-disaster-mental-health-progra/). I found it ironic as one of our classmates in a Discussion paper talked about sending mental health care workers to a disaster scene during the PDA phase. It appears the ARC has a formal plan already in place with their DMH program. They were sent in during the 1993 floods.What an example of horizontal integration indeed.

The one issue when dealing with horizontal integration is the EM Manager must maintain oversight still. Think of having a strong IC (Incident Commander) in place. The IC makes the decisions, but goes to his/her resources and develops an effective IAP (Incident Action Plan). The resources in this case are our partners within the community (and of course the people themselves). On the opposite side of the spectrum, when you work with other community partners they feel they have a direct input into the decision making. Bring key players to the table/game and engage them, and the results will pay dividends I feel. 

To conclude EM Managers will use both concepts during recovery of vertical and horizontal integration. We need to work with locals and all the way up to federal and even international agencies. Think of having a “Rolodex” at your finger tips when needed, vs going to Google or worse the Governments “phone book” on who you are going to call. In other words pre-planning by being able to know not just how to do something, but who will we call.

1.Characterize the level of horizontal and vertical integration observed, including their effect on specific outcomes. 

 

2.Strengths and weaknesses in inter-organizational coordination should be described. 

3.What could be done to strengthen inter-organizational coordination, both vertically and horizontally, based on the information obtained from lectures and assigned readings. 

4.Summarize how vertical and horizontal integration may impact other topics discussed up to this point in the course that were not addressed in the case study provided.