NURS-6050 Week 8 Assignment

Advocating for the Nursing Role in Program Design and Implementation

Tell us about a healthcare program, within your practice. What are the costs and projected outcomes of this program?

The aim is to design a healthcare program aimed to better implement and reduce urinary tract infections (UTI), including catheter-related UTI and the inappropriate use of antibiotics. The program involves educating healthcare providers about hand hygiene, educating patients about general hygiene, nurses and use of cranberry products as prophylaxis against urinary tract infections. This program has been shown to be a success in my facility and the rate of infections has decreased. The program will focus on reducing the rate of urinary tract infections by ensuring that patients are being administered with the proper antibiotic and eliminating unnecessary use of antibiotics. Even though urinary tract infections are the most common infections, it remains a challenge when it comes to proper treatment of UTIs. I have been in the organization for years and have actively participated in infection control. From the observations, more than 50% of hospital-acquired infections among the elderly in the facility are urinary tract infections. Therefore, there is a need to implement a program that will and continues to reduce the rate of urinary tract infections in the organization. NURS-6050 Week 8 Assignment

The cost of implementing the program include the costs associated with educating the staff members and health practitioners as well as the cost of purchasing the training materials. In addition, there are costs associated with educating patients about personal hygiene.

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Who is your target population?

The target population will include older adults because this population has the highest number of urinary tract infections while in the hospital (Carter et al, 2016).

What is the role of the nurse in providing input for the design of this healthcare program? Can you provide examples?

The role of the nurse is to provide evidence-based information and research supporting the use of suggested interventions to reduce the rate of urinary tract infections. This research and data will provide an insight into the problem and at the same time justify why there is a need to design a solution. The nurse will also engage the team responsible for the program implementation in order to identify any barriers that may hinder project implementation. For example, the nurse can suggest to the team to have a pilot project conducted in order to review and identify the required resources needed for the project implementation.

What is your role as an advocate for your target population for this healthcare program? Do you have input into design decisions? How else do you impact design?

My role is advocating for the safe handling of patients and the improvement of the efficiency of the project outcomes. Prevention and appropriate treatment of urinary tract infections will lower the length of hospital stay and at the same time reduce the healthcare costs associated with the treatment of patients. The program aims to prevent and ensure appropriate treatment of urinary tract infections among the elderly inpatients. This is achieved by observing hand hygiene, educating patients on proper body hygiene, and appropriately using cranberry products as prophylaxis against urinary tract infections (Meddings et al, 2017).

 What is the role of the nurse in healthcare program implementation? How does this role vary between the design and implementation of healthcare programs? Can you provide examples?

My role is to act as a champion and change agent during the implementation of the program. The role varies in that during the program design the nurse provides important information to develop the program while during project implementation the nurse takes actions that ensure the program is adopted successfully. The nurse engages other nurses in the urinary tract infection prevention efforts by fostering a culture of teamwork and encouraging the nurses to put into practice the taught interventions such as observing hand hygiene, educating patients about general hygiene, nurses and the use of cranberry products as prophylaxis against urinary tract infections. The nurse also has the role of acting as a role model to other nurses and healthcare providers by practicing the appropriate interventions so that other nurses can duplicate these positive behaviors. NURS-6050 Week 8 Assignment

Who are the members of a healthcare team that you believe are most needed to implement a program? Can you explain why?

Members of the healthcare team in the program include two nurse managers, director of quality services, infection control nurse, educator, and bedside nurses. This team is the most needed in implementing the program. This is because these team members provide different skills and competencies when it comes to program implementation. For example, the infection control nurse is an expert in infections such as urinary tract infections while bedside nurses are involved in directly implementing the program. Nurse managers and director of quality services have the role of soliciting the necessary resources and supervising the project implementation (Saint et al, 2016).

References

Carter J, Pallin J, Mandel L, Sinnette C & Schuur J. (2016). A Qualitative Study of Factors Facilitating Clinical Nurse Engagement in Emergency Department Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention. J Nurs Adm. 46(10), 495-500.

Meddings J, Saint S, Krein S, Gaies E, Heidi R, Hickner A, Sara M, Mann J & Mody L. (2017). Systematic Review of Interventions to Reduce Urinary Tract Infection in Nursing Home Residents. J Hosp Med. 12(5), 356–368.

Saint S, Greene M, Krein S, Rogers M, Ratz D, Fowler K, Edson B, Watson S, Meyer-Lucas B, Masuga M, Faulkner K, Gould C, Battles J, Fakih M. (2016). A Program to Prevent Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection in Acute Care. N Engl J Med. 374(22):2111-9. NURS-6050 Week 8 Assignment