Brandon Sparrer

Health Planning Project Part 1 & 2

NURS 462 – Community Health Nursing I

NURS 472 – Community Health Nursing II

 

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to utilize the Health Planning Model to improve aggregate health and to apply the nursing process to the larger aggregate within a systems framework.

 

Student Approach to Assignment

This assignment lead my group and I to provide care to an underserved population within the Norfolk area that partnered with a youth organization to increase health and wellness through provision of a safe and creative space for individuals within the middle and high school years.  Our initial assessment of the community highlighted a lack in appropriate nutrition sources, often referred to as a food desert.  While partnering with this group we sought to increase nutritional health through utilizing nutrition workshops that encouraged healthy eating to prevent chronic illness while also producing cost-effective snacks that teenagers and family members would reach for.  Ultimately, our efforts yielded successful data when compared to our established goal of increasing nutrition knowledge by 20% between nutrition teaching engagements. 

 

Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio

These works truly details my group’s efforts in bettering the health and wellness of a community in the Hampton Roads locale.  Additionally, these assignments demonstrate my understandings concerning care provision in culturally diverse communities.  Furthermore, these pieces validate my ability to participate in a team-based approach to establishing a specific goal.  Predetermined curriculum goals are displayed here:

 

Critical Thinking

• Revises actions and goals based on evidence rather than conjecture

  • During our second semester we began trying to provide nutrition education through gardening modalities; however, as we neared the halfway point, we found that this was not necessarily providing adequate knowledge retention concerning nutrition by the students.  At this point we revised our approach to include nutritional teaching during a snack-making section which allowed students to analyze their snack’s nutrition as it sat in front of them. 

• Engages in creative problem solving

  • As we went about our second semester we encountered one student who refused to eat any sort of fruit or vegetable prepared at home or elsewhere.  Upon hearing this we began to produce snacks such as peanut butter sushi which consisted of a whole wheat tortilla, peanut butter and hazelnut spread, and banana pieces in the center.  After describing all of the ingredients included he decided to try it and ultimately found it enjoyable, saying he would eat it again.

 

Nursing Practice

• Applies appropriate knowledge of major health problems to guide nursing practice

  • After determining that nutrition was a major complication for a considerable amount of individuals living within our assigned community, we reviewed and researched material concerning both hypertension and type II Diabetes Mellitus.  Throughout our Summer and Fall semester we incorporated facets of these conditions into our teachings to allow recipients of our information the opportunity to determine what to avoid to decrease the potential for acquiring these conditions.  

• Establishes and/or utilizes outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of care

  • At the beginning of our fall semester we established goals to see nutrition knowledge increase by 20% between pretest and posttest questionnaire exposure throughout the semester.  Furthermore we sought to have five students report sharing recipes or their knowledge of nutrition with friends or family members.  Ultimately, both of these outcome measures were accomplished through utilization of healthy snack making and nutrition discussion.

 

Communication

• Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of media

  • To communicate most effectively during our time in the community clinical setting we communicated information through numerous mediums including lecture-based presentation, small group conversation, poster presentations, art projects and individual screenings.  Each of these modalities catered towards numerous variants in the population such as the screenings for the adult population during a summer block party, and the small group conversation and art projects for the teenagers we worked with.

• Accesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance patient and professional communication

  • During our nutrition teachings we utilized a cookbook catered to children and adolescents so the meals were easily prepared.  Additionally, we consulted our nutrition textbook to assure that our prescribed snacks aligned with recommended dietary allowances for adolescents.  While consulting these resources we were able to determine appropriate words to use while explaining information to the teenagers and leaders.

 

Teaching

• Provides relevant and sensitive health education information and counseling to patients, and families, in a variety of situation and settings

  • Over the Summer at the community block party we provided blood pressure screenings and emphasized the importance of properly managing the condition through diet, exercise, and medication.  We also encouraged many to consult medical services for assistance in acquiring food and medication at cheaper costs by consulting social work and health care providers.  On another note, throughout the rest of the semester we engaged in conversations concerning the positives associated with gardening to the students and discussed the importance of proper eating to curtail the chance of acquiring type II Diabetes Mellitus later in life.  Therefore we communicated health information in public places, outside with the teenagers and leaders, and inside with more intimate conversations.

• Evaluates the efficacy of health promotion and education modalities for use in a variety of settings with diverse populations

  • We evaluated the efficacy of our teaching modalities by providing individuals with pretest and posttest activities to discern whether information was retained or discarded.  These were administered before and after our snack preparation and nutrition discussion with the teenagers and leaders at the facility.  Additionally, at the Summer block party we provided nutrition discussion followed by a nutrition related poster game to evaluate the retention of information in relation to the proper servings associated with the “choose my plate” recommendations.

 

Research

• Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of nursing research

  • In my first semester community health paper we discussed one particular piece of information involving the nutritional choice trends of adolescents compared to their knowledge of nutrition; whereas, in my final semester we highlighted a nursing report that included numerical research data that ultimately reflected the concepts that related the connectivity between one’s environment and weight or BMI status.  In doing this, we had to correlate the data found in the second report to the general description that adolescents tend to choose unhealthier foods when they are less educated regarding nutrition.  This allowed us to synthesize that adolescents who are uneducated concerning nutrition will have an elevated weight and BMI when additional environmental factors are included. 

• Applies research-based knowledge from nursing as the basis for culturally sensitive practice

  • I applied research-based knowledge by formulating pretest and posttest designs to determine the success to which my group and I were communicating information.  While designing these I was sure to communicate information within a fifth-grade reading level whenever applicable to increase potential understanding for the demographic being tested.

• Shares research findings with colleagues

  • At the conclusion of our second semester of community health nursing we presented our research regarding the “Effectiveness of Health and Nutrition-based Education on an Adolescent Population in Norfolk, Virginia” at a poster presentation fair between my peers, junior nursing school students, and faculty within the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs.

 

Leadership

• Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements strategies to meet those goals

  • Upon arriving at the facility during one of our initial visits, we conversed with our community partners to determine the needs that they have noticed in the teenagers at the facility.  We were ultimately made aware of numerous health promotion activities ranging from nutrition to safe-sexual practices.  After conversing with the partners we settled on nutrition being our main focus and establishing that a 20% average growth throughout the semester’s end would yield acceptable to our goal of seeing students nutritional knowledge increase.

• Organizes, manages, and evaluates the development of strategies to promote health communities

  • Throughout the semester I formulated multiple pretest and posttest surveys to assess the acquisition of knowledge from our cohort.  Furthermore, I established constant communication with my group members to assure that content was being managed appropriately throughout the semester.  Every week we reconvened to determine our progress towards our goals of elevating nutritional knowledge amongst the teenagers and leaders in our cohort.

 

Culture

• Considers the impact of research outcomes and, the effects of health and social policies, on persons from diverse backgrounds

  • While participating in community health clinical, we synthesized that our findings highlight a flaw in regard to access and availability of healthy foods.  We ultimately concluded that involvement in political practices by encouraging tax breaks on nearby grocery stores would yield elevated health and nutrition outcomes as foods would be more available to inhabitants in the local neighborhoods.  Additionally, we noticed that traffic patterns were dangerous because no crosswalks were present to cross the street.  Public policy and advocacy would promote installing such safety devices to not only safe money on medical bills assuming an accident happens, but more importantly keeping individuals and families safe.

 

Honor Code

 

“I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member of the academic community, it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.”

 

• Brandon Sparrer

• February 11, 2020

• Signature: Brandon Sparrer