NSG 4411 Clinical Journal Log Guidelines

This Clinical Journal provides an opportunity to reflect and share the lived experience of the NSG 4411 Population Health Nursing practicum.  Following each clinical experience of gathering assessment data or interviewing or teaching an aggregate group, you should describe how your clinical experience stimulated your thinking in your journal.  The final journal submission should summarize your areas of strengths and weaknesses, your perceptions of what you have experienced, and how you have grown into the BSN role.  Be sure to attach your Clinical Log.  The Log includes the dates, times of the experience, and preceptor’s signature.  

INSTRUCTIONS:

Download this form as a Word document and click “enable editing”, then “save as” in order to edit it with your information. DO NOT delete this page. Simply start on the next page.

Fill in your information directly onto the form. DO NOT CHANGE ANY PART OF THIS FORM INCLUDING THESE INSTRUCTIONS. DO NOT CHANGE THE FIRST PAGE TO A TITLE PAGE.

Type information directly onto this form in black, NON-BOLDED, non-underlined type.

Failure to follow any instructions will result in an automatic 5-point penalty and there may additional penalties deducted as well for failure to follow any of these instructions.

Type the summary of your daily journal experiences for each clinical day. Write in COMPLETE sentences. DO NOT write like a nurse’s note or texting.

Your journal must include APA references to support information.  A minimum of three (3) peer-reviewed journal articles dated within the last 5 years must be included in your journal, cited correctly throughout the journal to support the information and put on a separate reference page in APA format. Citations and references MUST be in correct APA format.

Under the course outcomes (SLOs) type each of the activities you selected on your DMPE and thoroughly describe the activities done to accomplish the SLO in complete sentences with citations from the references.  All course outcomes must be addressed in your clinical journal.

Make sure you address your Community Assessment Analysis Survey and your Community Intervention/Teaching Plan in your final journal under the appropriate SLO activities. Give a synopsis of each paper that is applicable to the SLO.

Your journal will be graded on the completeness of information (i.e. areas 1-9), grammar, spelling, & punctuation and APA. There will be 0.25 deduction for each grammar, spelling, grammar, & punctuation error (up to 10 points) and 0.25 deduction for each APA error up to 10 points).

This journal, the signed clinical log (with dates, start & end times), and the preceptor evaluation will be due as given on the course calendar by 11:59 PM (CT).  The clinical log must match the clinical schedule you submitted. Attach your Clinical log with signatures on a page at the end of the Clinical Journal.

See page 3 for the start of the Clinical Journal.

Only submit SLOs 1(a), 3 (c), 4 (d), 6 (f), and 8 (h) by Thurs., Oct. 15th @ 11:59 PM (CT).

NSG 4411 Population Health Practicum

Clinical Journal

SLOs 1(a), 3 (c), 4 (d), 6 (f), and 8 9h)

Student’s Name:

  1. Identify how each of the learning outcomes were obtained and met (Try to vary learning experiences each day addressing the assignments in the DMPE). Type out each required and selected activity chosen for each SLO from your DMPE and fully describe how each activity was accomplished & met the SLO. (worth 60 points- 6 points each outcome)
  1. Incorporate theoretical and empirical knowledge from nursing, scientific, and humanistic disciplines to promote population health nursing practice.

The vulnerable population in the community assessment includes pregnant women who are teenagers and older women. Various risks facing pregnant women were assessed including obesity, hypertension, eclampsia and cardiovascular diseases.

  1. Participate in clinical prevention and population-focused interventions with attention to environmental, global, cultural, political and financial dimensions of population health.

The primary care services involve providing health education and counseling to expectant women. Health promotion activities comprised chiefly disseminating information pertaining to child care. Vaccination services were also availed to the community to help in diminishing the incidences and prevalence of infections. The health education involved fertility topics that are vital in young mothers’ care. The primary intervention sought to manage conditions including cardiovascular diseases and obesity. This goal was attained via education and providing physical exercise activities to the community.

  1. Provide population health nursing care for vulnerable individuals, families, communities, and populations of all ages.

The secondary care interventions comprised pregnancy tests and ultra-sounds. These steps were crucial to enhance maternal and baby health. The institution employed mentoring activities in management of the mothers. The mentoring activities gave mothers vital information that was essential in the promotion of their well-being. Thereafter, the institution continued providing nursing services to families in need of child health, nutrition and mental well-being. The services were significant to advance the health of the young families served by the institution. Management of diabetes in pregnant women cannot be overlooked. Its effective management helps control hypertension and other conditions which could be fatal to the mother.

Tertiary intervention involved providing counseling particularly related to pregnancy loss. This was a crucial treatment program which helped mothers to cope with loss. The institution also offered continuous support regarding grief following abortion, which enhanced their mental well-being. These services engaged the women in activities designed to help them to re-integrate into the society.

  1. Utilize evidence-based clinical decisions in providing population health nursing care.

The role of an individual’s lifestyle and diet in preventing diabetes, hypertension and obesity cannot be overemphasized. Engaging in active lifestyle with reliable physical exercise has been proven to reduce the risks of developing obesity and hypertension (Marchi et al., 2015). Also, diets rich in high-density lipoprotein and with less low density lipoprotein reduce the chances of obesity and cardiovascular disorders related to dyslipidemia.

Therefore, expectant mothers were advised to eat healthily and engage in light physical exercise. They were also counseled to avoid emotional and mental stressors that may result in anxiety and precipitate hypertension.

  1. Evaluate research and evidence for the applicability of findings for the improvement of population health.

Hypertension, gestational diabetes and depression are common challenges facing expectant women. These challenges are compounded by the existing stigma and inadequate social support and communication surrounding the medical conditions. Recent reliable studies reveal that majority of women suppress or totally avoid conversations concerning their body weight. Avoidance of in-depth conversations prevents health workers from acquiring information and disseminating knowledge that would be beneficial in checking the women’s body weight. Regarding stigma, majority of community members avoid engaging in body weight discussions since the topic is related to body shaming. Instead, providing social support would significantly promote positive health decisions among women.

The birth weight of infants closely relates to the mother’s obese state, which predisposes the child to further health complications. This finding explains the strong association between maternal obesity and fetal death (Marchi et al., 2015). The primary cause of obesity is insufficient knowledge among mothers. Reliable studies also reveal that the larger proportion of pregnant women engages in limited physical activity and eating less healthy diet. Also, obese mothers present with difficulty in initiating breastfeeding, further predisposing the infant to malnutrition risks and associated health complications.

  1. Discuss environmental, global, cultural, financial, legal, and political dimensions on the development of healthcare policy.

Developing health policies poses intricate ethical, social, legal and political questions. The goal of any health policy comprises primarily to protect and promote the health of individuals and the community (Oneka et al., 2015). The role of government officials in developing health policies include ensuring that respect of human rights is adhered to, primarily the rights to non-discrimination, self-determination and privacy.

Financial implications for a healthcare policy include cost coverage with implementation of particular policies. For instance, vaccination of newborns against particular illnesses requires statement of details of how the vaccination policy will be achieved, in terms of who will take responsibility of the costs. In addition, provision of equitable health services to persons of all races, genders and ethnicities requires consideration of health insurers terms of engagement. The government should also take into account the accessibility of all citizens to health insurance services.

Environmental influence on health policies is significant particularly when dealing with conditions endemic to specified geographical regions. For example, within the United States and the United Kingdom, lifestyle diseases are the primary health concern. Within the developing world, infectious diseases are the main health concern. The health policy should seek to meet the primary health concern within a specified geographic location.

  1. Demonstrate strategies for facilitating inter-and intra-professional communication and collaboration with other health care providers and key stakeholders for the promotion of optimal health in individuals, families, communities, and populations.

Individuals different professions engage themselves in distinct professional cliques. Whereas socializing with persons of the same discipline may promote job satisfaction, it may significantly inhibit effective inter-professional knowledge transfer. Communication among members of the same and different professions may be enhanced by establishing networks integrating the several professions (Tasseli, 2015). Then central actors such as clinical directors may facilitate transfer of knowledge between nurses and doctors.

Within the clinical setup, vertical, horizontal and diagonal communication are important. While horizontal communication happens amongst colleagues of the same professional level, vertical communication occurs from superiors to juniors or juniors to superiors. Junior doctors and nurse managers with access to networks of medical databases may find substantial information that is integral in providing optimal patient care. Also, during my community assessment, we held various meetings involving doctors, nurses and physicians to provide multiple team-player healthcare to the pregnant women and the community.

  1. Accept responsibility and accountability for personal and professional behaviors and values related to excellence in population health nursing practice.

During the assessment, I signed against my name, the date and time when reporting for duty in the morning and when exiting duty in the evening. In addition, I put on my nurse nametag each time I was handling the expectant women. I ensured that the conversations with the women were lively, but also avoided veering off the main discussion points. I engaged in healthcare practice with competence and endeavored to learn each day.

  1. Adhere to ethical and legal standards when providing population health nursing care.

Ethical and legal standards implicated in population health nursing care are vast. For starters, every patient I attended to had the autonomy to reject or accept the procedure. I informed the expectant women of what I was intending to do, its effects, benefits and possible risks. The women had the freedom to accept or reject the procedure. Also, they had the right to quit the assessment at any stage without negative consequences. The interventions were also aimed at doing good and no harm.

  1. Utilize information technology to support the delivery of safe, quality population health nursing care.

Information technology was applied to enhance simpler and more effective delivery of nursing care to the population under assessment. Health messaging services were used to remind the expectant mothers of important processes such as taking plenty of fluids to keep hydrated, eating meals rich in vegetables and fruits and engaging in light exercise. These activities were aimed at preventing hypertension and obesity in the at-risk population. Further, the use of telemedicine allowed nurses to communicate with the pregnant women from their homes or offices, without being physically present at the nurse’s clinic. The use of video messages, images and voice notes sent over the internet made consultation and assessment flexible and non-exhausting.

References

  • Dikmen, Y., Karataş, H., Arslan, G. G., & Ak, B. (2016). The level of professionalism of nurses working in a hospital in Turkey. Journal of Caring Sciences, 5(2), 95. https://dx.doi.org/10.15171%2Fjcs.2016.010
  • Marchi, J., Berg, M., Dencker, A., Olander, E. K., & Begley, C. (2015). Risks associated with obesity in pregnancy, for the mother and baby: a systematic review of reviews. Obesity Reviews, Vol. 16, 621-638. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12288
  • Oneka, G., Shahidi, F. V., Muntaner, C., Bayoumi, A. M., Mahabir, D. F., Freiler, A., O’Campo, P. & Shankardass, K. (2017). A glossary of terms for understanding political aspects in the implementation of Health in All Policies (HiAP). Journal of Epidemiol Community Health, 71(8), 835-838. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-208979
  • Tasselli, S. (2015). Social networks and inter-professional knowledge transfer: the case of healthcare professionals. Organization Studies, 36(7), 841-872. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0170840614556917