Discussion post replies

Instructions: The response is a substantive interaction that builds on the ideas of others, delving deeper into the discussion question and course content in response to a colleague. The response includes one reference from a professional peer-reviewed scholarly journal and meets activity criteria.

Topic:

· Discuss how the advanced practice nurse can reduce health disparities in underserved communities through interprofessional collaboration among healthcare team to design evidence-based health promotion intervention/program.

Respond to Sheika

Every bedside nurse or acute care provider has encounter and taking of at least one patient that keep being readmitted for the same condition; they are often referred as “frequent flyer”.  Even though frequent flyer only counts 5-8% of all hospitalized patients, they represent 12- 28 % of all admissions (Huang et al., 2020). Patients’ readmission multiple times a year is often costly to the hospital, and it can create a negative perception about the facility. Because of the exorbitant expenses, several arrangements like care coordination, case management transitional care intervention, hospital discharge management plans and even physical activity have been put in place to reduce unplanned readmission (Huang et al., 2020).

     Nurse practitioners work in organizations that serve neighborhoods with a high minority population; advance practice nurse, including nurse practitioners, frequently administer and manage nurse-managed health centers, which offer a wide range of services to patients, including complex disease care, regardless of their capacity to pay (Poghosyan & Carthon, 2017).Advance practice nurses need to be familiar of the categories of frequent flyers; they are often the elderly (presence of comorbidities), the low socioeconomic (lack of financial or access to quality care) and the psychiatric population (stigmatized by society) that are part of this predicament. Other ways they can reduce health disparities is by gathering more information through effective communication and avoiding using medical jargon, taking initiative to becoming more knowledgeable and to consistently following up with the referral such as social workers and case management patients (Huang et al., 2020.  Under their care, Practice nurses can incorporate social workers and case management in the plan of care. Moreover, they need to create environment that promote individualized holistic care. A diabetic patient with food insecurity could be provided with information about wheel-on -cart, or discounted prescription medication from case management for instance to better manage this ailment.

 

References

Huang, M., van der Borght, C., Leithaus, M., Flamaing, J., & Goderis, G. (2020). Patients’ perceptions of frequent hospital  

     admissions: a qualitative interview study with older people above 65 years of age. BMC Geriatrics, 20(1), N.PAG. https://doi.org  (Links to an external site.)

     /10.1186/s12877-020-01748-9

Poghosyan, L., & Carthon, J. M. B. (2017). The untapped potential of the nurse practitioner workforce in reducing health disparities. 

     Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, 18(2), 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154417721189

Respond to Ann-Kae

It has been well established that interprofessional teams are the best way to service patients. Within much of the population, including the aging population, there are many multifaceted illnesses and comorbidities that one patient is dealing with. Often times a diabetic patient in crisis will also be dealing with kidney injuries or cardiovascular injuries as well and will need acute treatment. With these additional healthcare concerns, the patient will also need education for dietary concerns and exercise as well. This is just an example, but more often than not, a patient will need focus in more than just one area (Karam et al., 2018). The Advanced Practice Nurse can help with this issue, especially in underserved communities where there is an increase in general of healthcare disparities. Getting involved politically to push for service in these communities specifically, where there is less access to treatment, and bringing advanced skills to these areas can help this population to have improved healthcare outcomes and skilled healthcare teams to advance the education of self-care, prevention, and healthcare promotion in these areas. Forming boards to ensure fair treatment regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and religion can help to ensure a fair and unbiased service for each community (Churchwell et al., 2020).

References

Karam, M., Brault, I., Van Durme, T., & Macq, J. (2018). Comparing interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration in healthcare: A systematic review of the qualitative research. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 79(1). 70-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2017.11.002

Churchwell, K., Elkins, M. S., Benjamin, R. M., Carson, A. P., Chang, E. K., Lawrence, W., Mills, A., Odom, T. M., Rodriguez, C. J., Rodriguez, F. , Sanchez, E., Sharrief, A. Z., Sims, M., & Williams, O. (2020). Call to action: Structural racism as a fundamental driver of health disparities: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 142(1), e452-e468.  https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000936

Respond to Genesis

Establishing a common goal within the healthcare team can help reduce health disparities and support patient choices, and thus trust and harmony is formed. In addition, collaboration is vital for improving health disparities in the underserved communities. according to Bhatt and Bathija (2018), vulnerable communities tend to lack access to primary healthcare services, linguistic barriers, low health literacy and education level, and live-in unsafe environment. It is therefore important to have several key players involved in patients’ health to mitigate all those factors that prevent patients from obtaining great healthcare. Each member is the patient’s life play an important role. For instance, the nurse practitioner can enlist the help of a social worker to find safe housing for patients. Saloner et al. (2019) mention that community health centers tend to assist patient who suffer from chronic illnesses who tend to have a lot of health disadvantages. These community health centers have a lot of experience in dealing with these barriers, therefore the nurse practitioner can also enlist their help to assist in navigating these underserved communities.

References:

Bhatt, J., & Bathija, P. (2018). Ensuring access to quality health care in vulnerable communities. Academic Medicine, 93(9), 1271–1275.  https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000002254 (Links to an external site.)

Saloner, B., Wilk, A. S., & Levin, J. (2019). Community health centers and access to care among underserved populations: A synthesis review. Medical Care Research and Review, 77(1), 3–18.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558719848283 (Links to an external site.)

 Reply

Instructions: The response is a substantive interaction that builds on the ideas of others, delving deeper into the discussion question and course content in response to a colleague. The response includes one reference from a professional peer-reviewed scholarly journal and meets activity criteria.

Topic:

· Locate and share a technological device or technology that focuses on health promotion and disease prevention.

· Describe how the advanced practice nurse could utilize this technological device or technology to shape the very definition and nature of nursing practice.

Respond to Lissette Rivera

Almost everything we do is technology-based. Applications and devices have been developed to help with health promotion and disease prevention. However, the NP needs to evaluate each patient and assess what forms of technology they can access before implementing any technology-based health tracking system in an underserved community. For diabetes, Platano is an application designed to help diabetic patients in an underserved community keep track of what they eat and their blood sugar. Mamykina et al. (2019) explain Platano is a diabetic self-monitoring application that helps with self-reporting and accountability. According to the study, Mamykina et al. (2019), "Findings suggest Platano was well-received and viewed as a supporting tool for diabetes self-management among underserved urban adults." If this application has a way to send messages or positive affirmations, it might continue to help keep the patients on track. An application such as Platano can help the NP see the patients' progress, management of their diabetes, and assess areas that need improvement.

 

References

Mamykina, L., Almonte, A., Sepulveda, J., Heitkemper, E., Mitchell, E. G., Burgermaster, M., & Juul, F. (2019). P28 Qualitative study: user experiences with Platano, a dietary self-monitoring app for underserved patients with type 2 diabetes. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 51, S44–S45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2019.05.404

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