Online Custom «Group Community Project» Essay Sample

The roles of public health nursing have evolved and today much focus is placed on community participation with the aim of health promotion. According to Maurer and Smith, (2013), for a nurse practitioner who is specialized in public health nursing, one is required to develop knowledge, skills, and competencies that should be oriented on the population. One way of acquiring necessary qualities is through experience. The current group project illustrates the experience that was gained by the members when they visited a community center Easter Seals that provides special care for individuals with various forms of disability and ailments that need constant care. The support is equally extended to their families as well. A community project is an essential way of learning and advancing one’s knowledge in community and public health nursing for both ambitious nursing students and qualified nurses.

Part I: Clinical Sites

Easter Seals Clinical Site for the Project

The site name for this project where services were provided is Easter Seals South Florida a Miami-Dade civic center facility. According to Easter Seals South Florida (n.d.), the site’s address is 1475 NW 14^th Avenue Miami, FL 33125, while its telephone number is 305 325 0470. Easter Seals does not have co-sponsors or any partnering agencies.

Service Provision

The specific dates of service provision at the facility were February 9^th, 16^th, and 23th 2016. Services were provided for a given length of time that entailed 10 hours for each specific day of service. The specific types of services that were provided include the following. One of the services represented assistance with breakfast and lunch provided to patients. Another significant service that was provided included recreational activities. Administration of SLAM questionnaires and vital signs monitoring is one more service that was provided at Easter Seals. Other additional services that were provided at the facility included educational programs of nursing practice for students and assistants. They were educated on prevention of back injury. The lessons consisted of techniques that can be used to prevent back injury and their processes as well. The group made use of power presentation to tell about these techniques and processes. In addition, to make the lesson more practical and thus easily understandable, 3 members of the group made physical demonstrations of various techniques and processes that were being taught. Feedback from the learners was also obtained. This was essential for gauging their understanding of what had been learnt.

Types of Patients at the Center

The number and demographics of various types of patients that were provided services are as follows. A total of 130 patients were registered at the facility. Out of this a total of 75 patients were assisted to the center on a daily basis. A larger percentage of the patients at Easter Seals are formed by females. The ethnic composition of the patients includes 79 percent of Hispanic who make up the majority of the patients. This is followed by African-American patients together with the Haitian who form 19 percent of the patient population. Finally, there are Caucasian and Asian patients who form a minority group of 3 percent.

Referrals

It is significant to note that during the group’s time with the center no referrals were made. This was essential for demonstrating the center’s ability to handle various cases it had to deal with and also showed that the patient’s conditions were not critical. They were showing progress during their time at the center as the treatment and care they were being provided with were effective in managing their conditions.

Alzheimer

During the group’s time at Easter Seals, one condition that stood out among patients at the center was Alzheimer disease, which is considered as one of the most common types of dementia. The Alzheimer disease affects the brain thereby impacting negatively the affected individual’s memory, thinking process, and behavior as postulated by Ali (2015). This negative impact refers to such aspects as memory loss and other intellectual abilities. This leads to change in behavior, and the problem gradually becomes more serious interfering with the daily life of the affected person. This is one of the reasons for the existence of Easter Seals. The center helps individuals with this kind of condition and also extends a helping hand to their families. This is needed in order to guarantee that they live better lives by addressing the challenges that are associated with this condition thereby achieving personal goals.

Patients suffering from Alzheimer disease usually exhibit a number of health concerns which are common in the diagnosis of the condition. One of the most prevalent health concerns among Alzheimer patients is imbalanced nutrition that is less than the normal body requires. This is a result of sensory changes that take place in the individual making them easily forgetful. Consequently, they develop problems and difficulties with food acquisition tasks such as grocery shopping, food preparation, meal planning, and even worse, remembering to eat. Additionally, imbalanced nutrition among Alzheimer patients can also be a result of depression that accompanies the condition and causes some patients to lose their appetite as claimed by Seneff, Wainwright, and Mascitelli (2011). Some patients may also gain weight as a result of imbalanced nutrition. Some Alzheimer patients tend to forget that they have already eaten and as a result they eat again, which negatively affects their nutritional balance and leads to weight gain.

Another prevalent health concern among patients with Alzheimer disease is the risk of injury. Bekris, Yu, Bird, and Tsuang (2010) claim that this is brought about by weakness that causes the individual to lose their ability to recognize and identify hazards in the environment. Some of these weaknesses include changes in the patient’s vision, hearing ability, and depth perception. A common example of some of the most common injuries that Alzheimer patients suffer from are falls. However, other forms of injuries that these patients can suffer from include traffic accidents, walking into something hot such as a stove, walking into a restricted area that may result into not just injury, but also death.

Impaired physical mobility is also a common health concern among patients with the Alzheimer condition. This is related to neuromuscular damage which decreases muscle tone and strength thus affecting the nerves that control an individual’s voluntary muscles. These muscles include those in one’s arms and legs. Bekris et al. (2010) considers that the gait of many Alzheimer’s patients tends to deteriorate as the condition worsens. They start walking more slowly, which is something that in many instances is confused with ageing. In addition, many of them start teetering and wobbling as the condition becomes more pronounced.

When discussing the most common health concerns among Alzheimer patients, it should be noted that one of such concerns is self-care deficit among many of them. According to Ali (2015), this usually happens during the late stages of the disease when the patients completely lose their ability to control most of their cognitive abilities. When this happens, a care program for them becomes necessary. In this case, the family can choose between home care which will require the dedicated assistance of family members or moving to a care facility.

One more health concern among Alzheimer patients is ineffective individual coping that is exhibited among many of them. Seneff et al. (2011) consider that this is a consequence of the fact that many Alzheimer patients lack the ability to resolve issues due to intellectual changes. For this reason, it is essential that these patients are provided with as much support as possible especially support from their families.

Group Undertaking the Community Project

Apart from the group members, another individual who was involved in the group’s community project at Easter Seals was the faculty instructor that was assigned for the group. He monitored the group’s activities at the center ensuring that they effectively assisted at the center. He was also guiding the group’s experience in community service thereby making it possible for the group to learn as much as possible about the role of nurses in community service. Additionally, the instructor was there to guarantee that the report that was to be presented by the group reflected as accurately as possible the events that took place during the group’s visit to the facility. Regarding the group that undertook this project, it needs to be noted that a total number of 9 students were involved in the services provided at Easter Seals and therefore in the development of this project.

Part II: Nursing Process of the Community

The community selected for this project is the staff of Easter Seals. Application of the nursing process for the community was essential for identifying the specific problem that was faced by the community and thereby facilitating the development and implementation of the most effective intervention methods that could be used for the prevention and management of the problem. Doenges and Moorhouse (2012) identify the stages of the nursing process as assessment, diagnosis, outcome, planning, intervention, and evaluation. It is vital to note that the data for the development of the nursing process for the Easter Seals staff community was collected during the first day of the group’s community service at the facility. The specific data collection method was observation. The group walked around the facility and made observations that were important for identifying the problem that affected the workers most of all. Therefore, for the above-mentioned community, the stages included the following.

Assessment

This stage involved a dynamic way of data collection and analysis about the community as postulated by Maurer and Smith (2013). The purpose was to create a database on the community’s health concerns thereby paving way for the formulation of the process of managing the community health care. For this project, the assessment of the community was carried out with the use of the Windshield survey. The survey is explained in the salient points below.

1. AREA: It is an urban area located between the 14^th and 15th Street fronting the 15^th Avenue. It is surrounded by both private and government offices, and both private hospitals such University of Miami Health System and public hospitals like Jackson Memorial Hospital. Most of the private businesses are cafeterias within the health complexes.
2. DEMOGRAPHICS: This area is inhabited by a multicultural population. Most of it is comprised of Latin and African Americans. There were a few pedestrians walking on the streets, which is not common in other areas of Miami. Some homeless people could be seen in the surrounding areas. The surrounding area is teeming with people going to the hospital and day care facilities for children and elderly.
3. AMENITIES AND OPEN SPACES: An apparent inadequate parking space in the existent parking area might be the reason why most people tend to use public transport.
4. TRANSPORTATION: Metro rail appears to be the preferred mode of transportation compared to public buses, especially in the morning hours. We also saw a relatively high number of medical transports heading towards hospitals and day care facilities.
5. SAFETY: A police department can be found 0.4 miles northeast from the Easter Seals, while a fire station is located 1.2 miles southeast from the facility. Law enforcement officer is frequently seen visiting such places as hospitals and cafeterias around the area. A great number of homeless people can be seen walking, sleeping and maybe living in the area, especially near to the Metrorail Station and the hospital, making the area appear less safe.
6. COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND AREAS: We did not see important commercial buildings in the area.
7. GOVERNMENT OFFICES: Department of Health is located 0.2 miles to the south, and Dade County Court House is situated 0.4 miles to the south from the Easter Seals of South Florida.
8. HEALTH SERVICES: University of Miami Hospital is located 0.3 miles southeast from the Easter Seals, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) is situated 0.4 miles northeast and the United Cerebral Palsy is 430 ft to the south of the Easter Seals facility.
9. SCHOOLS: Lincoln Marti Charter Schools for children from 0 to 5 years old is located 0.2 miles to the west of the facility.
10. RESIDENTIAL AREAS: We could see many condominiums and apartments in good condition and properly maintained, and some old houses in the peripheral areas.
11. RELIGION: Saint Joseph Catholic Church is located 0.6 miles northwest from the Easter Seals.
12. COMMUNICATION: There are many advertisements and posters in the buildings and health care centers located in the area.
13. ENVIRONMENT: In spite of trash cans found along the street and in the buildings, garbage can be seen in the street. Noise pollution is very apparent in the area due to heavy traffic.
14. OTHER OBSERVATIONS PERTINENT TO YOUR COMMUNITY:

Access to this area is difficult at certain times during the day due to the heavy traffic, which also contributes to the unavailability of parking spaces.

Diagnosis

Following the observation of the staff of Easter Seals, the particular problem that was identified among majority of the staff at the facility is back injury. Al-Otaibi (2015) defines back injury as a form of musculoskeletal disorder that affects the back and in many instances the lower back causing pain and discomfort to the impacted individuals. The back injury affects bones, muscles and ligaments along the back; therefore leading to pain that is experienced by the affected people. The rationale for detection of this problem is that it has a profound impact on the ability of the staff to provide effective care to the patients in the facility especially given the delicate nature of the ailments affecting them which makes them completely dependent on the help of others. The specific data that implicated this problem includes the observation of extremely poor stature and posture among most of the staff at Easter Seals. For instance, most of them could not stand up straight and instead preferred to remain seated or lean against something. In addition, most members of staff complained about persistent stiffness along their spine and sometimes in the neck all the way to their tail bone.

Outcomes

Based on the above assessment and diagnosis, the following outcome of the problem can be identified. The back injuries experienced by the majority of employees at Easter Seals have an impact on their work. This is because the injuries prevent the employees from providing effective service and care to their patients. This can be explained by the severe pain that most of them feel which makes it impossible to take care of the patients. In addition, the pain tends to make some of the staff irate further preventing them from interacting with the patients in a caring way and also preventing them from coping well with their conditions. The back injuries also affect their work because they force some of the staff to be absent from their work as they strive to deal with the pain and seek treatment.

These back injuries affect not only the individuals but also their families. One of such impacts is that back injuries tend to be costly to the families of the affected. This is because the treatment is expensive. Further, the back injuries inhibit the affected individual’s ability to effectively spend time with their family due to the pain and interfere with the provision of such treatment as physiotherapy.

The extent of back injuries among the staff of Easter Seals is prevalent given that a large percentage of them suffer from some form of back injury. When compared to other health workers in the area, the state, country, and the rest of the world, the extent is more or less the same. This is because; back injuries are very common among health care workers in health care facilities. The only change in this respect is that the situation has worsened for the nursing community around the world. According to Yassi and Lockhart (2013) in comparison with other occupations, the nursing community is at a higher risk of developing back injuries. Al-Otaibi (2015) notes that the incidence rate for lost work days as a result of back injuries is 181.6 per 10000 full time nursing workers staying at home. Additionally Asadi, Kasmaei, Ziabari, and Zohrevandi (2015) also make an observation that the incidence rate for absenteeism due to back injuries is 90.1 per 10000 full time nurses in hospitals. Yassi and Lockhart (2013) claim that the nursing profession has the highest compensation claim for work related injuries which are usually related to back pain.

The main cause of these back injuries among the staff at Easter Seals is the type of work that they do while accomplishing their duties and providing care to patients at Easter Seals. For example the staff at the facility lift, transfer, and reposition the patients. This in many instances is usually carried out manually. These patient handling activities are the main cause of back injuries among the staff. Yassi and Lockhart (2013 states that patient handling tasks are the main cause for musculoskeletal disorders among nurses. Kasmaei, Ziabari, and Zohrevandi (2015) add that the greatest concern is raised by back pains which can be severely debilitating to the affected. Al-Otaibi (2015) postulates that a number of patient handling tasks are carried out in patient care and the fact that most of them are performed manually is the reason why they tend to cause back injury. Asadi et al. (2015) in their study point out the patient handling tasks that are most frequently associated with back injuries are lifting and forceful movements. They also assert that continuous and repeated performance of these tasks in the employees’ working lifetime might result in much worse musculoskeletal disorders.

The demographic data shows that the affected employees of Easter Seals include certified nursing assistants and students taking care of patients at the facility. In particular, the most affected were male, young members of staff between the ages of 20 to 35 years. This is ironic given that back problems tend to affect the older generation.