An aspect of contemporary nursing

An aspect of contemporary nursing where there is scope for improvement in practice.

Guidelines

• Choose an aspect of contemporary MH nursing where there is scope for improvement in practice and identify what innovation you would introduce to improve practice.

Aspect of MH nursing: ‘organisation and delivery of care’ or ‘improving patient outcomes’

Topic: HEALTHY EATING

• Target group: SUs in rehabilitation, about to transition into the community (home)
• Intervention: Showing service users how to make a curry, rather than buying take away food; group cooking and eating events twice a week – organise a menu, shopping for ingredients, cook the food, eat together, reflect on the experience (how they felt, what could have gone better). Have theme week or theme night.
• Aim: To improve independent living skills; to educate service users about the better health value of home cooking; to reduce risks related co-morbid conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

• My Rationale for the topic / my interest in this issue: the needs of service users and wishing to improve their overall quality of life

“An aspect of contemporary nursing”

o Use what the literature says to further justify your choice.
• Consider the evidence base.
o What does the research say about your topic?
o What influences this currently? (Why are things the way they are?)
o What are the suggested improvements and how are these supported in the research?
o Appraise the quality of the evidence with reference to validity/reliability/trustworthiness, use this to develop your argument.
• Search terms you could use: mental health and diet; mental health and heart disease; and diabetes;

• You must demonstrate evidence of critical thinking.

o You must support your judgements with reasoning.
• Make links to other themes within the module.

o Professional values – ethical and legal framework

“An aspect of contemporary nursing”

o Nursing practice – evidence based, competence, systematic approaches to care
o Decision Making – evidence based; different theories of decision making; innovation
o Leadership and management – different theories of leadership
o Teamworking – multidisciplinary(MD) teams
• For example, you should consider how you might implement the change drawing on themes such as decision making, innovation and/or leadership theory?

• Question that needs clarification:

“An aspect of contemporary nursing”

what is the balance between focusing on the process of introducing the improvement in practice and discussion of the intervention
o How I made the change happen – through MD team working, interpersonal communication skills with colleagues, providing leadership to bring colleagues and Service users along with the idea

Choose an area of nursing practice that you would like to expand your current capabilities in. In choosing an area of practice, nominate which of the following domains your chosen practice relates to:

-Education of (myself and ICU nurses at King Fahad Hospital) for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

It should be achievable within your current employment situation and have a realistic time frame, which can be achieved with the semester. The project proposal should address the following components:

1. How does this area of nursing expand your current practice?

2. What evidence will you provide to demonstrate your learning and actual expanded nursing practice?

3. Justification for choosing this area of expanded practice.