Advancing Nursing Practice

Why is evidence-based practice (EBP) important to the nursing profession? Discuss how evidence-based practice is being integrated into clinical practice. Provide an example from your nursing practice, experiences, or the literatureWhat are clinical guidelines and why are they important to clinical nursing practice? How do you believe the use of evidence-based practice and clinical guidelines are changing nursing practice? In what ways do patients benefit from the use of EBP? Reply to other students (at least two) and describe your current practice related to their clinical question and evidence-based practice findings/conclusions

Q2

Discussion 5.2: Nursing Home Compare 

Go to the Medicare.gov website (http://www.medicare.gov/) and search under the Quality Care Finder for Nursing Home Compare – type in your zip code (76549)Detail the results you found for 5 nursing facilities in your area and how they compared based on the overall rating, health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. Do you believe this an accurate snapshot comparing facilities in your area? Would this information impact where you might place a loved one if he/she needed skilled nursing care? How do you think this tool would impact quality improvement within nursing facilities?

Reflect on the concepts of informatics and knowledge work as presented in the Resources. Consider a hypothetical scenario based on your own healthcare practice or organization that would require or benefit from the access/collection and application of data. Your scenario may involve a patient, staff, or management problem or gap.

1. In this Discussion, you will consider a scenario that would benefit from access to data and how such access could facilitate both problem-solving and knowledge formation.

To Prepare:

Reflect on the concepts of informatics and knowledge work as presented in the Resources.

Consider a hypothetical scenario based on your own healthcare practice or organization that would require or benefit from the access/collection and application of data. Your scenario may involve a patient, staff, or management problem or gap.

Part 2:

Assignment: The Nurse Leader as Knowledge Worker

The term “knowledge worker” was first coined by management consultant and author Peter Drucker in his book, The Landmarks of Tomorrow (1959). Drucker defined knowledge workers as high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal training, to develop products and services. Does this sound familiar?

Nurses are very much knowledge workers. What has changed since Drucker’s time are the ways that knowledge can be acquired. The volume of data that can now be generated and the tools used to access this data have evolved significantly in recent years and helped healthcare professionals (among many others) to assume the role of knowledge worker in new and powerful ways.

In this Assignment, you will consider the evolving role of the nurse leader and how this evolution has led nurse leaders to assume the role of knowledge worker. You will prepare a presentation with an info graphic to educate others on the role of nurse as knowledge worker.

Reference: Drucker, P. (1959). The landmarks of tomorrow. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

To Prepare:

Review the concepts of informatics as presented in the Resources.

Reflect on the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.

Consider how knowledge may be informed by data that is collected/accessed.

The Assignment:

Explain the concept of a knowledge worker.

Define and explain nursing informatics and highlight the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.

Develop a simple infographic to help explain these concepts.

NOTE: For guidance on infographics, including how to create one in PowerPoint, see “How to Make an Infographic in PowerPoint” as presented in the Resources.

Present the hypothetical scenario you originally shared in the Discussion Forum. Include your examination of the data that you could use, how the data might be accessed/collected, and what knowledge might be derived from that data. Be sure to incorporate feedback received from your colleagues’ replies.

To Prepare
· Review the interactive media piece in this week’s Resources and reflect on the types of drugs used to treat pediatric patients with mood disorders.
· Reflect on situations in which children should be prescribed drugs for off-label use.
· Think about strategies to make the off-label use and dosage of drugs safer for children from infancy to adolescence. Consider specific off-label drugs that you think require extra care and attention when used in pediatrics.
Write a 1-page narrative in APA format that addresses the following:
· Explain the circumstances under which children should be prescribed drugs for off-label use. Be specific and provide examples.
· Describe strategies to make the off-label use and dosage of drugs safer for children from infancy to adolescence. Include descriptions and names of off-label drugs that require extra care and attention when used in pediatrics.
http://cdnfiles.laureate.net/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6521/05/mm/decision_trees/week_02/index.html
 
Please open the link and on the bottom, there is decision point. Click on the medication. It will tell you patient results after 4 weeks. If patient symptoms still there try another medication. You have to have three decision which is three different medication. At the end patient symptoms should get better.
For example, I click Zoloft 25mg, patient symptoms no change so on the bottom you have three options to increase the dose 37.5mg or 50mg or change the medication. I will send you a sample what I did in the past. Also please don’t forget to cover the yellow highlight.

There are many news items published every day that relate to infectious disease, including updates on infectious disease incidence and prevalence, newly emerging or resurging  disease outbreaks, scientific breakthroughs, and research study findings. When communicating information about infectious disease, it is important to consider culture and the appropriate strategies for engaging and communicating with diverse populations.  
              In this Assignment, you will a find a current news item on an infectious disease topic and prepare a paper describing the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health information about the risks associated with the infectious agent in the selected news item, and a strategy to communicate the risk of the infectious agent to a specific cultural group.

Find a news item published in the last 30 days that interests you and that relates to the public health burden of infectious disease. Research the pathophysiology and epidemiology of the infectious disease and a population that may be disproportionally impacted by this disease. Prepare a 4 to 5 page paper that includes the following: 

An APA style title page, including your name, date, course and section, and title 
APA style headings for each section below

Describe the cause of the infectious disease that is in the news item you chose (identify the organism, route of infection, host or environment, person to person transmission, vectors, etc) 
Describe the health risk from this infectious disease (morbidity, mortality, outcomes) and how it may be prevented
Describe the overall importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content. Support your answer 
Choose a specific cultural group that may be disproportionally impacted by this disease and explain what you believe is the most effective way to communicate risk and prevention information related to the organism and provide examples 
Describe how you would assure that your selected communication strategy is demonstrating appropriate cultural competence for this population 

Cite the sources within your text in APA style 
Include an APA formatted reference list at the end of your paper. 

Note: The title page and References page do not count towards the paper’s page requirement.