ATTACHED BELOW: Respond to the 4 colleagues post with suggestions of how to help and/or confirmation of similar issues/questions. No references are required.

Describe the findings associated with malignant skin changes (for example: persistent sores, lump or swelling, bleeding lesions, etc.)

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Learning Activity Content

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Health Promotion in Practice

Since the time of Florence Nightingale, nurses have recognized that they address the spiritual needs of their patients, but this still remains one of the most nebulous aspects of nursing care. When asked about providing spiritual care, most nurses know that they “do it,” but they have difficulty describing what “it” is. Even though major nursing and health care organizations emphasize the importance of nurses addressing the spiritual needs of patients, assessment questions are usually limited to obtaining information about a patient’s religious affiliation. Similarly, interventions often focus on initiating referrals to chaplains or other spiritual advisors for patients who have a religious affiliation. This approach may be adequate for some patient care situations, but it does not necessarily address the need for a spiritual connectedness that all humans experience. This chapter focuses on relatively simple actions that nurses can incorporate as an integral part of usual nursing care to identify and address the spiritual needs of their patients.

It is important to become comfortable discussing spiritual needs of patients because all humans have spiritual needs even though they may not identify with a religion. 

Let us consider the following scenario: 

You are a nurse manager working in a Catholic hospital, and you have been told by some of your nurses that the 'new hire RN' feels uncomfortable discussing religion with their patient because they do not have any religious affiliation. 

Discuss how you would, as the MANAGER of the unit, address their discomfort, and ensure they still feel a part of the team even if their religious affiliations are not the same as that of the institution. 

Key points to remember in your discussion are that many spiritual practices individuals engage in can be adopted to multiple scenarios and it is important to develop an inquisitive and open-minded approach when you listen to patients and colleagues talk about their religious practices.

Please remember for discussion posts: the initial post must be uploaded by the WEDNESDAY of the week and two replies to your peers by Saturday at 2359.

Please note the grading rubric for the discussion board.

As a reminder, all discussion posts must be a minimum of 250 words, references must be cited in APA format 7th Edition and must include a minimum of 2 scholarly resources published within the past 5 years.

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 Reply these words with 200 words each one and reference

Title: Influencing Healthcare Through Advocacy: A Personal Journey and how to 

create effective interdisciplinary organizational and systems leadership in the care of clients in diverse care settings.

Introduction

Learning the ropes of policy, politics, and advocacy is a transformative endeavor with the ultimate goal of influencing healthcare and broader social agendas that profoundly impact human health. In this discussion, I become an advocate to effect change in healthcare, reflecting the purpose of mastering these skills.

Advocacy for Universal Healthcare Access

My journey into healthcare advocacy began when I witnessed the struggles of a close friend, Emily, who was burdened by exorbitant medical bills due to a chronic illness. Fueled by empathy and a desire for equitable healthcare, I embarked on a path to advocate for universal healthcare access.

            1.         Policy Analysis and Research: I started by immersing myself in healthcare policy analysis and research (Smith et al., 2018). This included studying existing healthcare systems worldwide to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Through this, I gained the knowledge needed to advocate for an inclusive healthcare system.

            2.         Community Engagement: Recognizing that community support is crucial for advocacy, I organized town hall meetings, awareness campaigns, and grassroots movements to engage citizens in discussions about healthcare access (Gitterman, 2017). By fostering a sense of shared responsibility, we encouraged individuals to join the cause.

            3.         Legislative Advocacy: I proactively engaged with lawmakers, presenting data and personal stories to advocate for policy changes aimed at expanding healthcare access. Collaborating with like-minded organizations and lobbying for healthcare reform became integral to my advocacy efforts (Berkowitz & Wolff, 2020).

            4.         Patient-Centered Advocacy: To amplify the voices of patients like Emily, I encouraged them to share their experiences and struggles. These personal stories resonated with policymakers and underscored the urgent need for healthcare reform (Travis, 2019).

            5.         Building Coalitions: Recognizing the power of partnerships, I formed coalitions with healthcare professionals, advocacy groups, and community leaders. These alliances strengthened our advocacy efforts and allowed us to pool resources and expertise (Berkowitz & Wolff, 2020).

Conclusion

My journey in healthcare advocacy reflects the purpose of mastering policy, politics, and advocacy skills – to influence healthcare and broader social agendas. Through policy analysis, community engagement, legislative advocacy, patient-centered efforts, and strategic partnerships, I worked towards the vision of universal healthcare access.  This it highlights the profound impact advocacy can have in shaping the future of healthcare and improving human health on a broader scale.

2. I have learned to value the crucial part that politics, lobbying, and policy play in determining the healthcare landscape throughout my work as a nurse. One specific instance stands out as proof of the effectiveness of advocacy in changing health care and more general societal goals.

I recently came across a critical problem involving patient safety and drug delivery while working as a clinical nurse in a big urban hospital. It became clear that our current system had a history of mistakes, especially when it came to high-risk drugs. This finding is confirmed by Pozzi’s (2023) study. Concerns over near-miss occurrences and sporadic medication mistakes had been raised among the nursing team, and it was obvious that something needed to be done to safeguard the safety of our patients.

Seeing the gravity of the situation, I started an advocacy journey to deal with it. The first step was acquiring information and proof to support my claims. I carefully recorded incidences and reviewed the available research on the best medication administration methods. I used this knowledge to report my findings to the hospital’s quality improvement committee.

Gaining support for the suggested improvements required active participation from stakeholders, as evidenced in the study by Beaudry et al. (2019). I formed a multidisciplinary task force with other nurses, pharmacists, and doctors to enhance pharmaceutical safety. We held regular meetings to discuss solutions, examine policies, and implement actual initiatives.

The adoption of a barcode scanning technology for medicine administration was one of the main campaign initiatives. I thought this technology had a lot of promise for our hospital because it had successfully reduced prescription errors in other healthcare settings. I did a ton of study on the advantages and affordability of this approach, and I made a strong argument to hospital executives.

The practice of advocacy went beyond hospital boundaries. I spoke with representatives from pharmaceutical companies, went to patient safety seminars, and connected with industry experts. I was able to present creative solutions by keeping up with developments in medicine administration technologies and best practices.

I worked with the hospital’s nursing leadership to write a policy proposal describing the implementation strategy for the barcode scanning technology as the advocacy efforts picked up steam. This comprised a thorough rollout schedule, workflow modifications, and employee training. I made sure that frontline nurses’ involvement was included in the policy because their viewpoints were crucial for forming its actual implementation.

The conclusion of these campaign efforts was the effective introduction of barcode scanning technology for drug administration. The new approach greatly decreased prescription errors and near-miss instances, improving patient safety and boosting nursing staff trust.

This example demonstrated the significant influence lobbying may have on medical outcomes. I was able to have an impact on an important component of patient care by identifying a problem, obtaining data, enlisting stakeholders, and promoting creative solutions. It strengthened my resolve to be a proactive advocate for the welfare of my patients and the larger community, and it confirmed my belief in the ability of advocacy to bring about constructive change in the healthcare industry.

This week’s discussion is a two-fold discussion. First, explain the role of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner as it relates to the scope of psychotherapy. Second, explain how this week’s discussion aligns with the following APNA standard:

• Standard 5G: Therapeutic Relationship: Psychiatric-mental health registered nurse uses therapeutic relationship as the basis for interactions and the provision of care.

The student must answer the graded discussion with a substantive reply to the graded discussion question(s)/topic(s) posted by the course instructor by Thursday, 11:59 p.m.

Eastern Time. Two scholarly source references are required unless stated otherwise by your professor. The student provides a substantive response to the discussion question or topic on Thursday day and posts at least two additional responses to peers on another day(s). The answers to classmates must be posted by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. We expect each student to participate in the discussion board respectfully.

Please review the rubric before posting to ensure a maximum of points. Here are the categories of the new discussion rubric:

Initial Post relevance to the topic of discussion, applicability, and insight. (20%)

Quality of Written Communication Appropriateness of audience and word choice is specific, purposeful, dynamic, and varied. Grammar, spelling, punctuation. (20%)

Inclusion of APNA standards essentials explored in the discussion and the role-specific competencies as applicable. (10%)

Rigor, currency, and relevance of the scholarly references. (Use articles that are below five years old). (20%)

Peer & Professor Responses. The number of responses and quality of response posts.

(20%)

Timeliness of the initial post and the answers to the peers. (10%)