Week 4 replies

490 replies week 4 to do

APA, References, due date 11/29/2020

Discussion

COLLAPSE

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Watch the video Health Determinants: A Framework for Reaching Health People 2020 Goals. Reflect on a patient experience where you encountered a health disparity that was a determinant to the patient’s health. In hindsight, was there an opportunity where you should have acted to help eliminate this but did not? Explain. What would you do differently next time you encounter a similar situation?

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Reply 1 :

My discussion: Hello,

            To reflect on a patient's experience, where I faced a health disparity in health inequality that was patient's health determiner was my encounter, as a clinical nurse with a 56- year old patient who was suffering from type 2 diabetes and the patient was an African American. In this situation, the health disparity that was a determining factor for the health of the patient was his lack of health education. Health education is critical as it enhances an individual's health conditions by teaching the strategies and habits of preventing diseases and remaining healthy (Yarui, & Yan, 2017). Education makes people responsible for their health management as a community. Health education not only provides basic health knowledge but also influence people's behaviors and ways of life. Importantly, education focuses on various aspects of human life and not only physical health, as it seeks to address other concerns like sexual health and mental illness. 

           Yes, there was an opportunity, and I should have helped to eliminate this, but sadly I did not. I should have counseled and educated the patient about the important changes in lifestyle, something I am planning to do in the near future, as at that moment, I had limited time handling other patients. I will trace the patient and teach him about the importance of a healthy diet, physical activity, proper sleep, and weight management ways to help improve his general health and prevent diseases and improve the general health. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the best decision for any individual to enhance the community population's health.

Professor question : Thank you for this great response Greter! You have demonstrated the ability to carefully evaluate your growth and development as a professional nurse and discuss the steps you will implement in the event that a similar situation were to take place. Taking the time to reflect upon your practices, and improve upon them takes great humility and maturity. Thank you for sharing this experience and providing your peers with a great learning opportunity.  When reflecting upon this situation, what strategies could have been utilized to educate the importance of early education and patient follow up to your peers within your specific care setting? (Let's assume the unit was fully staffed and the team had time to educate patients). 

Reply 2:Ayrin

Early in the year, I encountered a patient that was obese which contributed to her type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. This was contributed by the patient's behaviour. The patient resided in an area where he did not have access to a park where he could go for walks. Additionally, his job demanded that he sat on a desk from 8 to 5 therefore limiting is physical exercise. His diet was also centred on junk food that he ordered from a food truck outside his workplace. At the time I only prescribed medication that would reduce and help control his high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Many public health and health care interventions focus on changing individual behaviours such as diet, and physical activity (Schwartz et al., 2019). Upon review of the situation, I would handle it differently. I would encourage the patient to change their diet to consist of more fruits and vegetables and reduce his intake of foods and drinks with high fat and sugar content.

I would also encourage the patient to ensure that each meal is a balanced diet consisting of carbohydrates proteins and vitamins. It will also be key that the patient to track the number of calories he consumes on a daily basis (Evert et al., 2019). This means that he should reduce his frequency of ordering junk food and cook his own food and even carry it to work. Since the patient stays in close proximity with where he works, I would encourage him to take the longest route to work which will contribute to more physical exercise and lead to weight loss. Additionally, the patient can enrol in recreational activities such as dancing and swimming classes as soon as restrictions due to COVID-19 have been eased. This will significantly contribute to his weight loss.