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Class, just to clarify substantive posts. The minimum word count should be no less than about 75 words so about 5 sentences at least. Substantive posts must be more than an agreement of another classmate's or professor’s post, but you can add information that you've learned through your studies with scholarly sources within 2018-2022.

Post 5:

A problem I have seen in nursing is an increase in adolescent depression. Mental Illness in adolescents is a serious public health concern that is on the rise in the US. A dramatic shift in adolescent risks and behaviors during the 21st century threatens adolescents' mental well-being more than ever. Adolescents make up 12% of the US population, with 30% reporting symptoms of depression each year. Adolescent mental well-being is multidimensional and includes many risks that make this group vulnerable.  Adolescents are a vulnerable population and are susceptible to mental health issues by nature. Nurses have a crucial role in assessing vulnerable populations in all healthcare settings. Engaging in formal and informal assessments that can identify adolescents at risk for mental illness saves lives. Nurses must first understand the complexity of the many risk factors contributing to mental illness, the impact of early recognition, and the use of valid assessment and screening tools. Nurses must be educated on the needs of vulnerable populations as well as mental illness and suicidal behaviors and utilize every opportunity to identify mental health issues. When assessing patients, nurses must be aware of specific findings that identify adolescents with symptoms of mental health issues or increased risk. All nurses should have the knowledge to assess and intervene, even if they are not trained mental health professionals. Nurses are perfectly positioned to get to know patients and their families, learn their history and family dynamics, and provide education and resources (Farley, 2020). Utilizing nursing research to address this concern can help recognize those at risk and reduce the amount of adolescents suffering from mental illness.

Farley, Holly R. EdD, RN. Assessing mental health in vulnerable adolescents. Nursing: October 2020 - Volume 50 - Issue 10 - p 48-53 doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000697168.39814.93

Post 6:

Nursing research is one of the critical pillars of nursing practice. Nursing research is a valuable source of evidence for addressing problems in nursing practice. One such problem is patient falls. A patient fall is described as an unplanned descent to the floor with or without injury to the patient (Schwendimann et al., 2018). Falls have a significant impact on patients. Many patients sustain injuries. These injuries cause pain and suffering, prolong the length of hospital stay, and add to the cost of care. Further, the healthcare organization can face legal liability for the injuries or loss sustained. According to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, about 700,000-1,000,000 hospitalized patients fall annually (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2022).

There are many factors that contribute to patient falls. They include medications, unfamiliar environment, poor lighting, lack of guard rails, disease symptoms such as dizziness, and so forth. The different factors make it difficult to locate a single effective solution to the problem of falls. However, nursing research plays a vital role in addressing these contributing factors. For instance, some evidence supports the effectiveness of purposed hourly rounding. Improving the patient care environment through the use of guard rails, non-slippery floors, and proper writing can help. In addition to that, it is vital to screen all the patients for the risk of falls to assist with their management (Schwendimann et al., 2018). Undertaking all these measures will help a lot in improving patient outcomes. Fewer cases of patient fall will be reported, improving patient safety and outcome.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2022).  https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/falls

Schwendimann, R., Bühler, H., De Geest, S., & Milisen, K. (2018). Falls and consequent injuries in hospitalized patients: effects of an interdisciplinary falls prevention program. BMC health services research, 6, 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-6-69