NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Walden University NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING – Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.

How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.

How to Write the Body for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.

Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.

How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.

How to Format the References List for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.

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Sample Answer for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Using Patient-Generated Health Data to Manage Congestive Heart Failure

Scenario

The scenario I am considering involves a patient with congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF is a chronic and debilitating condition that can be difficult to manage effectively due to the complex nature of the disease (Rochester, 2019). In order to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients with CHF, it is essential to have access to data that can inform treatment and management decisions. Recent studies revealed that patient-generated health data (PGHD) could be used to monitor, assess, and manage CHF more effectively. PGHD is data collected from patients directly, such as through physical activity trackers, diet and nutrition journals, or patient-reported symptoms. Information collected could include the patient’s medical history, current medications, and other medical conditions that might influence the patient’s care. Data on current best practices for managing CHF and data on the effectiveness of different medications and therapies would be beneficial (Koshy et al., 2020). Access to this data would allow healthcare providers to make more informed decisions about the patient’s care, such as when to adjust medications or refer the patient to a specialist. It also allows for the comparison of different treatment strategies and the assessment of their effectiveness. It provides valuable insights into the efficacy of different treatment approaches, which could be used to inform practice guidelines and help to ensure that the patient receives the best possible care.

Description of Data and How it Could Be Collected

The data that could inform decisions about the patient’s care includes information on the patient’s medical history, current medications, and other medical conditions that influence the patient’s care. Additionally, data on current best practices for managing CHF and data on the effectiveness of different medications and therapies would be beneficial. Studies have shown that, depending on the severity of the CHF, lifestyle interventions may also improve patient outcomes and quality of life; therefore, data on the patient’s lifestyle and activities, such as physical activity and diet, could also be used (Kyriakou et al., 2020). This data could be collected from various sources, including the patient’s electronic health record (EHR), lab results, and other clinical data. The relevant information should be obtained from research studies and guidelines (Nagle et al., 2017). The data mentioned are accessible through electronic health records (EHRs), research databases, and other online sources that the Nurse leader was maybe aware of. To ensure that the data is accurate and up-to-date, it is essential to regularly update the sources of information, keep the data current, and be organized in a way that is easily accessible so that it can be quickly accessed and used when needed.

 Knowledge Derived and How Nurse Leaders Shall utilize it

The data collected could be used to learn how to manage CHF. This knowledge could inform practice guidelines, provide evidence-based care, and help ensure that the patient receives the best possible care. A nurse leader could use clinical reasoning and judgment to form knowledge from the data by analyzing the information and determining which strategies are most effective in managing the patient’s condition (McGonigle  & Mastrian., 2022). For example, the nurse leader could analyze the patient’s medical history, current medications, and other medical conditions that might influence the care plan and use this information to develop an evidence-based treatment plan. Moreover, the nurse leader could compare treatment strategies and assess their effectiveness. By using clinical reasoning and judgment to form knowledge from the data, the nurse leader could identify the best course of action for the patient and ensure that the patient receives the highest quality of care.

References       

Koshy, A. O., Gallivan, E. R., McGinlay, M., Straw, S., Drozd, M., Toms, A. G., Gierula, J., Cubbon, R. M., Kearney, M. T., & Witte, K. K. (2020). Prioritizing symptom management in the treatment of chronic heart failure. ESC Heart Failure, 7(5), 2193–2207. https://doi.org/10.1002/ehf2.12875Links to an external site.

Kyriakou, M., Middleton, N., Ktisti, S., Philippou, K., & Lambrinou, E. (2020). Supportive care interventions to promote health-related quality of life in patients living with heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 29(11), 1633–1647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2020.04.019Links to an external site.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nagle, L. M., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017). Evolving role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist. Studies in health technology and informatics. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28106600/Links to an external site.

Rochester, C. L. (2019). Patient assessment and selection for pulmonary rehabilitation. Respirology, 24(9), 844–853. https://doi.org/10.1111/resp.13616Links to an external site.

The phone rings on a busy Saturday afternoon and the pleasant voice of a registered nurse answers professionally, greeting the caller seeking advice and care. This could be a day for a typical for an ambulatory telephone triage nurse. The concept of telephone triage and consultation can be one of a registered nurse using evidence-based algorithms from electronic databases. The nurses, like most nurses, working in a progressive health care industry are using technology to counsel patients. According to McGonigue & Mastrian, (2022), “For information to be valuable, it must be accessible, accurate, timely, complete, cost-effective, flexible, reliable, relevant, simple, verifiable, and secure.” p.9. 

This information could be valuable to many leaders in the healthcare team. Accessibility would be easiest in form of electronic records and telephone recordings. McGonigue & Mastrian (2022), argue, “Computer science offers extremely valuable tools that when used skillfully, can facilitate the acquisition and manipulation of data and information by nurses, who then can synthesize the data into an evolving knowledge and wisdom base ”p. 35). Accurate and timely information could be an interest in nursing quality and control. One argument on how telephone triage could be cost-effective is that paying nurses to man the phone lines is cheaper than using inappropriate resources such as the emergency room to care that can be directed elsewhere. Flexibility, reliability, simple, verifiable and secure would require a more in-depth look into the nature of telephone triage and program development within a system, but the concept of triage nursing seems to be malleable to the interest of how the data would be used. 

An additional source of centralized evidence-based algorithm software program could also be used and from my research is being used in assisting the nurses to effectively triage the caller and ensure best practice standards. Documentation done by triage nurses would have data from the callers that are subjective and objective, the nursing assessment, and recommendations based on the call. 

From this data collection, multiple departments within healthcare could use this or would have an interest in this data collection. Intradisciplinary teams have an opportunity to look at how to retrieve data from electronic retrieval of health records or from recorded lines if those are being used.  An ambulatory nurse manager might be interested in using the data as a system educator of staff development and improvement strategy to support the training needs within their triage staff. A quality nurse might want to use this data to help in creating of protocol development and safety improvements for effective triage and outcomes. Ambulatory providers could use data to see the patient population’s interests and barriers to care and from there use it to modify their practices.  Health information technology departments within health care organizations could be supportive of this nursing department in implementing programs in making documentation more time efficient and detailed. Nursing leadership could use this as a cost-effective strategy. 

                All departments could build off one another and become temporary team members to gain knowledge and benefit in patient care and satisfaction. Emerging roles could be created as, “Teams are working across boundaries of organizations and will be organized around a particular patient.” (Nagale et al, 2017, p. 215).   Within most healthcare systems the mission and visions of these organizations are built on patient outcomes and patient centered care. An informatics nurse specialist could support patients, nurses, providers, and leaders with the interpretation of data analytics and therefore participate in applying new knowledge from data to wisdom. (Nauright et al., 1999) 

This hypothetical scenario of a nurse working at a telephone triage call center would benefit immensely from data access, problem-solving and the process of knowledge formation. In a real-time, scenario, I could see how this could impact patient care and outcomes on a global level and be a perfect role for a nurse informatics specialist to pilot. 

References 

Nauright,L.P.,Moneyham,L.& Williamson,J.1999. Telephone triage and consultation: An emerging role 

for nurses,Nursing Outlook, 47(5) , 219-226.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0029-6554(99)90054-4. 

Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017).  Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist Links to an external site. Links to an external site.. In J. Murphy, W. Goosen, &  P. Weber  (Eds.), Forecasting Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health (212-221). 

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. 

Also Read:

THE NURSE LEADER AS KNOWLEDGE WORKER

Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

THE IMPACT OF NURSING INFORMATICS ON PATIENT OUTCOMES AND PATIENT CARE EFFICIENCIES

BIG DATA RISKS AND REWARDS

HEALTHCARE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

LITERATURE REVIEW: THE USE OF CLINICAL SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES AND EFFICIENCIES

THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

THE ROLE OF THE NURSE INFORMATICIST IN SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

POLICY/REGULATION FACT SHEET

Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

It was great going through your post. Telehealth is a crucial part of our healthcare system, especially with technological advancement in the recent past. I agree with the benefits of telehealth, as your post indicated.It allows access to healthcare information in a swift manner. Technology helped telemedicine reduce congestion in hospitals as patients can easily access information via teleconference. It has also expanded the opportunities for the nurses who interact closely with the patients. 
Telemedicine is a sustainable type of healthcare and can open several doors for treatment for patients and practitioners. It saves time, and treatment is convenient and affordable for people who dread visiting the doctor and avoid going to the hospital. In addition, telehealth is helpful in diagnosis, administrative work, and professional and patient education. 
A study assessing the effectiveness of telehealth consultations discovered they could improve patient outcomes in certain areas. Telehealth may not help and completely replace traditional office visits — after all, many services and procedures can only be done in person — but it can reduce the need for them. Telehealth effectively reduces the spread of infectious diseases, especially in this Coronavirus (COVID-19) warfare. When other patients have an infectious disease, they can stay home and call their healthcare provider to get treatment. By staying at home, patients do not expose their illnesses to healthcare professionals and other patients. Patients also reduce the chances of contracting an infectious disease from another person or transmitting and spreading their own  while using telehealth services. 

References 

Aggarwal, A. (2017). Telepyschiatry: Current outcomes and future directions. International Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and Mental Health, 5. https://doi.org/10.12970/2310-8231.2017.05.07Links to an external site. 

Menage, J. (2020). Why telemedicine diminishes the doctor-patient relationship. BMJ, m4348. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4348Links to an external site. 

Stokel-Walker, C. (2020). Why telemedicine is here to stay. BMJ, m3603. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3603Links to an external site. 

Sample Answer 2 for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Hello everyone, 

            In this week’s discussion post, we are asked to think of a situation where access to information could improve nursing. I immediately thought of one scenario that would benefit both patients and nurses alike. The remainder of this post will give insight into how nurses can utilize informatics to help healthcare. 

            According to authors Dee McGonigle and Kathleen Mastrian, the term Nursing informatics is defined as a “Specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). As a registered nurse on a behavioral health unit (BHU), one of our jobs is to complete patient intakes on the outside and inside referrals. An inside referral includes individuals currently admitted on the medical side and those in our emergency department. Outside referrals are ones called in from various facilities surrounding us. 

These facilities include surrounding emergency departments (ED) of hospitals without a BHU onsite, psychiatric facilities that no longer have any beds available or cannot provide the level of care needed for a patient, or a state hospital that helps find bed placement for involuntary psychiatric patients. Currently, if a patient in our ED requires an inpatient stay and our unit does not have any beds available. We must call every surrounding facility; this entails calling each facility asking if they have beds open. Then sending our patient intake and labs (for medical clearance) and waiting for their provider’s decision on whether they may be admitted or not. 

          Having a state and surrounding statewide universal data collection for open psychiatric beds would be extremely helpful. I have spent countless hours calling 10-14 facilities and sending paperwork, only to have a facility report the patient was not appropriate for their unit. According to an article written in Psychiatric Services, “This contributes to ED crowding and often results in psychiatric “boarding,” a practice in which psychiatric patients whose condition merits hospital admission are held in the ED because no inpatient bed is available to admit them” (Pinals & Fuller, 2020). 

          However, if we had a universal psychiatric bed availability system for nurses to access, finding placement for patients would be a much smoother and more effective process. 2021: The State of Mental Health in America publication reported, “The estimated number of adults with serious suicidal thoughts is over 10.7 million—an increase of over 460,000 people from last year’s data set” (Reinert et al., 2020). Promptly locating an appropriate facility with an open bed is beneficial to these patients’ mental health and safety. While, open communication between various health systems saves time and money, and this benefits everyone. 

References 

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. (4th ed.) p. 8. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. 

Pinals, D. A., & Fuller, D.A. (April 2020) The vital role of a full continuum of psychiatric care beyond beds. Psychiatric Services. Vol. 71(7). Retrieved from https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.201900516 

Reinert, M., Nguyen, T., & Fritze, D. (2020). 2021: The state of mental health in America. Mental Health America. (p. 18). Retrieved from https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2021%20State%20of%20Mental%20Health%20in%20America_0.pdf 

Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Thank you for your informative post. Mental and psychiatric health is a recent and rising interest of mine, especially since the start of the pandemic. Pinals and Fuller state, “That access to psychiatric beds is a topic of national urgency and understatement” (2020). Mental health in the United States is an ongoing concern and the shortage of healthcare providers impacts all areas and specialties of care despite universal acknowledgment that mental health is imperative to overall well-being and the primary initiative regarding mental health should be to provide and implement necessary and appropriate resources for those in need (Allison et al., 2017). The idea of a standardized bed availability system could expedite much needed care for patients while alleviating some of the burden on healthcare providers to establish criteria, guidelines, and protocols for placement of psychiatric patients. I am interested in knowing how mental health crises and concerns would be evaluated and prioritized if a bed availability system were implemented. Additionally, would there be any concern regarding clinical integrity for clinicians who may feel desperate to place patients? 

References 

Allison, S., Bastiampillai, T., & Castle, D. (2017). Victoria’s low availability of public psychiatric beds and the impact on patients, carers and staff. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 191-192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867417721019  

Pinals, D. & Fuller, D. (2020). The vital role of a full continuum of psychiatric care beyond beds. Psychiatric Services, 71(7), 713-721. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900516 

Sample Answer 3 for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Nursing informatics has been evolving over the past several decades and is defined as “a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). There are many areas in the nursing profession where nursing knowledge is utilized by informatics specialists to improve workflow for medical staff as well as patient outcomes.  

I currently work in a neonatal ICU where our unit works closely with labor and delivery and the mother-baby unit. There are instances where infants are born to mothers who have the diagnosis of chorioamnionitis. These neonates are subject to develop early-onset sepsis that can occur within the first 72 hours of life. Early detection and the need for blood culture and antibiotics is determined by using an early-onset sepsis (EOS) calculator (Fowler et al., 2019). Depending on the score determines if the infant will require a blood culture, antibiotics, or even admission to the neonatal ICU for further observation. Currently, in the unit where I work, the calculator is used but the neonatologist or neonatal nurse practitioner must manually input the required data to compute a score. The required data needed would be incidence of early-onset sepsis, gestational age, highest maternal antepartum temperature, hours of rupture of membranes, maternal Group B Streptococci status, and type of intrapartum antibiotics, if given (Laccetta et al., 2021). If the calculator were part of the electronic health record and pulled data from the mother’s and infant’s chart it would save time and avoid any errors from manually inputting data. Having knowledge of the early-onset sepsis risk calculator score assists the provider in knowing if the neonate needs a blood culture drawn and antibiotics initiated. Studies have shown that utilizing the early-onset sepsis calculator has decreased unnecessary antibiotic exposure to uninfected infants (Fowler et al., 2019).  

References 

Laccetta, G., Ciantelli, M., Tuoni, C., Sigali, E., Miccoli, M., & Cuttano, A. (2021). Early-onset 

            sepsis risk calculator: A review of its effectiveness and comparative study with our  

            evidence-based local guidelines. Italian Journal of Pediactrics, 47(73), 1-15.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-021-01028-1

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of  

            knowledge (4^th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning 

Fowler, N. T., Garcia, M., & Hankins, C. (2019). Impact of integrating a neonatal early-onset 

            sepsis risk calculator into the electronic health record. Pediatric Quality and Safety, 6(4),  

            1-6. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000235 

Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Thank you for your discussion post.  

I agree that nursing informatics has evolved over the past several decades. Today, nursing informatics is applied in several areas, including electronic medical records, computerized provider order entries, decision support systems, among other applications. I agree that the early-onset sepsis (EOS) risk calculator is a tool that relies on informatics for quality improvement interventions. In their study, Stipelman et al. (2019, para. 26) examined the effectiveness of EOS calculators as HER-driven quality interventions and concluded that they reduced antibiotic orders “from pre-intervention (7%) to the final 6 months of phase 2 (1%, P < .001)”, with no increase in adverse events.  

As nurses an understanding that our profession greatly relies on data is essential. This calls us to support and embrace technological innovations and changes aimed at improving patient outcomes. According to Safi et al. (2018), resistance to new digital technologies in medicine is a significant barrier that derails the application and adoption of novel interventions. However, with sufficient evidence on perceived risks and benefits, we can facilitate more efficient execution of new technologies.  

References  

Safi, S., Thiessen, T., & Schmailzl, K. J. (2018). Acceptance and Resistance of New Digital Technologies in Medicine: Qualitative Study. JMIR research protocols, 7(12), e11072. https://doi.org/10.2196/11072 

Stipelman, C. H., Smith, E. R., Diaz-Ochu, M., Spackman, J., Stoddard, G., Kawamoto, K., & Shakib, J. H. (2019). Early-Onset Sepsis Risk Calculator Integration Into an Electronic Health Record in the Nursery. Pediatrics, e20183464. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-3464  

Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

I enjoyed reading your post, and I agree with you that “if the calculator were part of the electronic health record and pulled data….it would save time and avoid errors from manually inputting data.” Unfortunately, to date, there are still a few facilities/hospitals that are not on board with having all their information as part of the electronic health record.  

According to Alotaibi and Federico (2017), the use of health information technology improves “patients’ safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety” (p. 1173). However, mistakes are made from careless assumptions of information, omissions of verbally obtained patient information. Therefore, bringing awareness to these facilities that are lacking with technology advancement is essential.  

Nursing involvement with the implementation and development process is critical. Cipriano and Murphy (2011) recommend opportunities “to advance the use of health IT through nurses leading and diffusing collaborative efforts. Nurses are great team leaders, and it is time to step up to be among leaders in the conduct of research, redesign practices by working with developers in the design of products, purchase, implementation, and evaluation of health IT devices and systems to enable care” of patients (p.288).   

 References 

Alotaibi, Y. K., & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi medical journal, 38(12), 1173–1180. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631 

Cipriano, P. F., & Murphy, J. (2011). Nursing Informatics. The Future of Nursing and Health IT: The Quality Elixir. Nursing Economic$, 29(5), 286–282. 

Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

The scenario I am considering involves a patient with congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF is a chronic and debilitating condition that can be difficult to manage effectively due to the complex nature of the disease (Rochester, 2019). In order to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients with CHF, it is essential to have access to data that can inform treatment and management decisions. Recent studies revealed that patient-generated health data (PGHD) could be used to monitor, assess, and manage CHF more effectively. PGHD is data collected from patients directly, such as through physical activity trackers, diet and nutrition journals, or patient-reported symptoms. Information collected could include the patient’s medical history, current medications, and other medical conditions that might influence the patient’s care. Data on current best practices for managing CHF and data on the effectiveness of different medications and therapies would be beneficial (Koshy et al., 2020). Access to this data would allow healthcare providers to make more informed decisions about the patient’s care, such as when to adjust medications or refer the patient to a specialist. It also allows for the comparison of different treatment strategies and the assessment of their effectiveness. It provides valuable insights into the efficacy of different treatment approaches, which could be used to inform practice guidelines and help to ensure that the patient receives the best possible care.

Description of Data and How it Could Be Collected

The data that could inform decisions about the patient’s care includes information on the patient’s medical history, current medications, and other medical conditions that influence the patient’s care. Additionally, data on current best practices for managing CHF and data on the effectiveness of different medications and therapies would be beneficial. Studies have shown that, depending on the severity of the CHF, lifestyle interventions may also improve patient outcomes and quality of life; therefore, data on the patient’s lifestyle and activities, such as physical activity and diet, could also be used (Kyriakou et al., 2020). This data could be collected from various sources, including the patient’s electronic health record (EHR), lab results, and other clinical data. The relevant information should be obtained from research studies and guidelines (Nagle et al., 2017). The data mentioned are accessible through electronic health records (EHRs), research databases, and other online sources that the Nurse leader was maybe aware of. To ensure that the data is accurate and up-to-date, it is essential to regularly update the sources of information, keep the data current, and be organized in a way that is easily accessible so that it can be quickly accessed and used when needed.

 Knowledge Derived and How Nurse Leaders Shall utilize it

The data collected could be used to learn how to manage CHF. This knowledge could inform practice guidelines, provide evidence-based care, and help ensure that the patient receives the best possible care. A nurse leader could use clinical reasoning and judgment to form knowledge from the data by analyzing the information and determining which strategies are most effective in managing the patient’s condition (McGonigle  & Mastrian., 2022). For example, the nurse leader could analyze the patient’s medical history, current medications, and other medical conditions that might influence the care plan and use this information to develop an evidence-based treatment plan. Moreover, the nurse leader could compare treatment strategies and assess their effectiveness. By using clinical reasoning and judgment to form knowledge from the data, the nurse leader could identify the best course of action for the patient and ensure that the patient receives the highest quality of care.

Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE APPLICATION OF DATA TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

Medication errors claim thousands of lives every year. Even with today’s technology, such errors are still occurring at a fast rate. According to the (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, 2019), medication errors can occur in many ways, such as prescribing and entering medication in the computer, preparation, dispensing, and when the patient is given the medication.

Data Collection and Use

Collecting and analyzing data can be beneficial in the prevention of medication errors. Many strategies can be used to help prevent medication errors, but some of these take time to obtain proper data. When a medication error happens, there needs to be a root cause analysis that will tell you exactly what happened when the medication error occurred. Was whoever made the error distracted? Did they have a high patient ratio?

Once the data is collected, a plan can be developed to guide the nurse manager in preventing future errors. With new EMAR technology, audits can be performed to see if the guidelines are being followed consistently. One example is the bar code scanning system. According to Naidu & Alicia, BCMA and the EMAR can be two ways that help increase medication safety for those who are hospitalized. 2019.  The nurse will scan the patient’s armband, perform the six rights, then scan the medication. If the medication is not for that specific patient, the error or red flag will pop up and not let you continue with the administration. Some software will not allow you to override the error. Software such as this will allow nurse managers to perform audits showing which nurse is scanning the patients and their medication.

Once the information is obtained, it can be placed on the quality improvement board, which can be placed on the unit, showing a percentage of how well the plan works and how these percentages can be improved.

References:

Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. (n.d.). Working to reduce medication errors. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-consumers-and-patients-drugs/working-reduce-medication-errors

Naidu, M., & Alicia, Y. L. (2019). Impact of bar-code medication administration and electronic medication administration record system in clinical practice for an effective medication administration process. Health, 11(05), 511–526. https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2019.115044

Automated medication dispensing units (AMDUs) are widespread on hospital units. AMDUs bridge computer technology and nursing science. Medication dispensing units pull data from patients’ electronic medical records to display available medications and scheduled or PRN administration times. The benefits of these dispensing units grant nurses access to a variety of frequently used medications without requiring pharmacy staff for each administration, thus improving staff workflow. AMDUs also use decision-support mechanisms requesting two nurses to verify return or waste of high-risk medications, such as narcotics. As a result, studies have shown that AMDUs reduce medication administration time (particularly for new medication orders), improve drug diversion prevention, and helps with pharmacy stock management. However, there are scenarios when nurses are unable to retrieve medications even though it is prescribed for a patient. Either due to medication shortages, staffing shortages, or policy-based restrictions, these delays impact patient outcomes and satisfaction (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022; Craswell, et al., 2020).

I work on an orthopedic/trauma medical-surgical unit. We are a pain management unit. In addition to existing chronic conditions of high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and heart failure, all the patients are in acute pain. And, as such, nurses frequently administer narcotics, steroids, and NSAIDs around the clock to help manage pain. When are there “pain management” patients – those who require oral and IV narcotics every two to three hours – pain medications are quickly depleted. This was the scenario last week when there were three patients prescribed between 2 mg to 8 mg of oral hydromorphone every 4 hours. Every shift after nurses called for Pyxis to be restocked, they either retrieved medications from other units – diminishing their supply – or called the provider for an alternative. This caused a delay in care and took valuable time away from nurses. Although the AMDU retrieves medication data from the EMR, processes data on the amount of the medication available on the unit and then disseminates this data to the pharmacy for refills, there were still major gaps in service.

Learning from this experience, nurse leaders can recommend to the Nurse Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee a system improvement that would send the pharmacist an alert when a medication is ‘low – needs to be refilled within the next 2 hours” and a “critical low – needs to be refilled within the next 30 minutes to 1 hour”. Nurses also tend to call for the Pyxis to be refilled when a medication is completely out. Instead, using clinical reasoning and judgement, our unit should choose a threshold for certain high-demand medications below which a refill call is made to pharmacy to prevent running out of a medication. This is an ongoing issue. With constant hospital staffing shortages, computer systems and informatics can help increase efficiency and patient outcomes with this issue (Craswell, et al., 2020; Sweeney, 2017).

NURS 6051 Week 2 Assignment Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet

Agenda Comparison Grid Assignment Template for Part 1 and Part 2 

Different presidents have different agendas on health care issues and concerns when they are elected into the Oval Office. These concerns become presidential agendas because of their effects on public health and individual’s wellbeing. The opioid crisis remains a national public health concern with presidents making it part of their presidential agendas and seeking Americans’ support to tackle it. Positioning the opioid crisis as a presidential agenda is essential in getting solutions to issue because of its devastating effects on health outcomes and quality of life (Robeznieks, 2021). The essence of this comparison grid is to compare how current and previous administrations have handled the Opioid crisis. The paper in its three parts discusses the concern and offers analysis and a brief its significance and the role of nurses in setting agenda for healthcare issues. Use this Agenda Comparison Grid to document information about the population health/healthcare issue you selected  

Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid  

Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis  

Part 3: Narrative 

The opioid crisis is a serious public health issue or concern that affects the nation and needs long-term interventions. As demonstrated, the current Biden administration and the previous administrations of Presidents Trump and Obama continue to develop strategies and interventions to address the issue through enacting legislations, making declaration that the epidemic is a national emergency. The opioid crisis is a n important healthcare issue because of the adverse effects that it creates to the entire population. Close to 90,000 Americans lose their lives each year due to this epidemic while many individuals and communities bear the brunt of the economic and social impacts that the situation creates in their lives, homes and communities (Wen & Sadeghi, 2020). Therefore, it is an important issue that should always inform any president and presidential candidate. The opioid crisis is a public health issue and one that requires the implementation of evidence-based practice interventions.   

Nurses are a critical component of healthcare delivery and interact more with patients and health populations than other health professionals. As such, they advocate for their patients and colleagues for better care delivery, welfare, and attainment of optimal care outcomes. As patient advocates and frontline care providers, they play a critical role in setting agenda for healthcare issues because they understand the extent of these matters and their effects on patients. Nurses’ role includes implementing evidence-based practice interventions, providing culturally-competent care and addressing health emergencies and diseases; especially epidemics and pandemics (Robeznieks, 2021). The inclusion of nurses in agenda setting ensures that they present issues which impact patients and hinder the delivery of patient-centered care, especially in communities with serious incidences of opioid overdose. Therefore, the role of nurses includes having an expertise perspective as they are professionals who understand the concerns that impact patients and their families.  

Conclusion 

The Opioid crisis remains a national health issue and concern that requires all administration, especially at the federal, too develop interventions to mitigate its prevalence. As illustrated in this analysis, nurses and other providers should develop a collaborative approach to address the current opioid crisis that has been exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, practitioners and other stakeholders must offer support to government to develop better interventions to reduce the prevalence of the issue.  

References 

Department of Health and Human Services. 5-Point Strategy to Combat the Opioid Crisis.  

Ellerbeck, A. (2020). The Health 202: Biden will also have the opioid epidemic to deal with amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

Felter, C. (2021). The U.S. Opioid Epidemic. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-opioid-epidemic 

Frank, R. G. & Haffjee, R. L. (2019). The Trump Administration’s Actions to Address the Opioids Public Health Crisis–Reply. JAMA  

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/opioids/biden-administration-boosts-access-overdose-prevention-treatment 

https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/hhs-response/index.html  

https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/202103110230 

Lancet, 396(10259):1316-1318. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32113-9.  

Psychiatry, 2019;76(1):101-102. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.2761 

Robeznieks, A. (2021). Biden administration boosts access to overdose prevention, treatment.  

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2021). With Pandemic Worsening the Mental Illness and Addiction Crisis, Biden Administration to Provide Nearly $2.5 Billion to States, Territories for Treatment, Prevention Aid  

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2017). SAMHSA Reaffirms Efforts to Address the Public Health Emergency on the Opioid Crisis. https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/201710260100 

The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/16/health-202-biden-will-also-have-opioid-epidemic-deal-with-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/ 

Wen, L. S. & Sadeghi, N. B. (2020). The opioid crisis and the 2020 US election: crossroads for a national epidemic.  

Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet 

It may seem to you that healthcare has been a national topic of debate among political leaders for as long as you can remember. 

Healthcare has been a policy item and a topic of debate not only in recent times but as far back as the administration of the second U.S. president, John Adams. In 1798, Adams signed legislation requiring that 20 cents per month of a sailor’s paycheck be set aside for covering their medical bills. This represented the first major piece of U.S. healthcare legislation, and the topic of healthcare has been woven into presidential agendas and political debate ever since. 

As a healthcare professional, you may be called upon to provide expertise, guidance and/or opinions on healthcare matters as they are debated for inclusion into new policy. You may also be involved in planning new organizational policy and responses to changes in legislation. For all of these reasons you should be prepared to speak to national healthcare issues making the news. 

In this Assignment, you will analyze recent presidential healthcare agendas. You also will prepare a fact sheet to communicate the importance of a healthcare issue and the impact on this issue of recent or proposed policy. 

To Prepare: 

• Review the agenda priorities of the current/sitting U.S. president and at least one previous presidential administration. 

• Select an issue related to healthcare that was addressed by two U.S. presidential administrations (current and previous). 

• Consider how you would communicate the importance of a healthcare issue to a legislator/policymaker or a member of their staff for inclusion on an agenda. 

• Use your Week 1 Discussion post to help with this assignment. 

The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Comparison Grid, 1-Page Analysis, and 1-page narrative) with a title page. This is an APA paper. Use 2-3 course resources and at least 2 outside resources. 

Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid 

Use the Agenda Comparison Grid Template found in the Learning Resources and complete the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid based on the current/sitting U.S. president and the previous president, and their agendas related to the population health concern you selected. Be sure to address the following: 

• Identify and provide a brief description of the population health concern you selected. 

• Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue. 

• Identify the allocation of resources that the presidents dedicated to this issue. 

Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis 

Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid on the template, complete the Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis portion of the template, by addressing the following: 

• Which administrative agency (like HHS, CDC, FDA, OHSA) would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected and why is this agency the most helpful for the issue? 

• How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the presidential agenda? How does it stay there? 

• An entrepreneur/champion/sponsor helps to move the issue forward. Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/champion/sponsor (this can be a celebrity, a legislator, an agency director, or others) of the healthcare issue you selected and why would this person be a good entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor? An example is Michael J. Fox is champion for Parkinson’s disease. 

Part 3: Fact Sheet 

Using the information recorded on the template in Parts 1 and 2, develop a 1-page fact sheet that you could use to communicate with a policymaker/legislator or a member of their staff for this healthcare issue. Be sure to address the following: 

• Summarize why this healthcare issue is important and should be included in the agenda for legislation. 

• Justify the role of the nurse in agenda setting for healthcare issues. 

By Day 7 of Week 2 

Submit your final version of Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis, and Part 3: Narrative. 

Submission and Grading Information