PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Use a provided template to develop a 2-4 page submission in which you research and define a patient, family, or population health problem relevant to personal practice.

Important: Complete this assessment first and complete all other assessments in the order they are presented.

In this assessment, you will lay the foundation for the work that will carry through your capstone experience and guide the practice hours to complete the work in this course. The purpose of this assessment is to allow you to define a patient, family, or population health problem that is relevant to your personal practice and to begin building a body of evidence that will inform your approach to your practice hours, the intervention you design, and the professional product you will deliver.

Demonstration of Proficiency

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Lead people and processes to improve patient, systems, and population outcomes.
  • Define a patient, family, or population health problem that is relevant to personal practice.
• Competency 2: Make clinical and operational decisions based upon the best available evidence.
  • Analyze evidence from the literature and professional sources to define and guide nursing actions related to a health problem.
• Competency 7: Implement patient-centered care to improve quality of care and the patient experience.
  • Propose strategies to improve patient or population outcomes related to a health problem.
• Competency 8: Integrate professional standards and values into practice.
  • Reflect on state board nursing practice standards relevant to a selected health problem.
  • Communicate professionally in writing that is clear and logically organized, with correct grammar, spelling, and use of APA style.

Important: Complete this assessment first and complete all other assessments in the order they are presented.

Professional Context

Nurses are leaders in problem identification and solution, planning and implementing patient care strategies to address problems in the home, hospital, and community. This assessment will help you develop a problem statement for a patient, family, or population health concern.

Instructions

Throughout this capstone course, you will be investigating a patient, family, or population health problem relevant to your practice. For this assessment, you will identify the problem that you will address throughout your clinical practicum in this course, as well as begin to establish your evidence and research base to plan, implement, and share findings related to your project. The Problem Identification Template [DOC] will guide you through development of a problem statement, evidence collection and analysis, and best practices to help you create your implementation plan for the second assessment in this course.

Your submission for this assessment will be the completed template. When working through the template, you may use the resources provided in this course; however, most of your research and search for evidence will be conducted by you. Use the Capella University Library, professional organization and government resources, and relevant organizational best practices as sources of evidence. This is the capstone course for your BSN degree; your goal is to demonstrate your achievement of the program outcomes through your work on this project.

The following are some health issues that would be appropriate for your project:

• Diabetes self-management.
• Hypertension management and prevention.
• Medication reconciliation within a family or group.
• Parkinson’s disease support group.
• Patient family education communication improvements.
• Postoperative home care.

This list is by no means exhaustive. You should choose a patient, family, or population health issue that is relevant to your practice and organization; you must be able to study the problem in your practicum effectively.

You must complete this assessment first. This assessment is your opportunity to plan your practicum and to establish a collaborative oversight process with your course faculty. You must not begin any direct clinical activities or submit any other assessment until Assessment 1 is completed and assessed by faculty. Any other course assessments will be returned with no feedback until Assessment 1 is complete.

So please remember: Assessment 1 needs to be reviewed and approved by your faculty. Assessments 2, 3, 4, and 5 should not be submitted until you have received feedback on Assessment 1.

Scoring Guide Criteria

Your submission will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Define a patient, family, or population health problem that is relevant to personal practice.
• Analyze evidence from the literature and professional sources to define and guide nursing actions related to a health problem.
• Propose strategies to improve patient or population outcomes related to a health problem.
• Reflect on state board nursing practice standards relevant to a selected health problem.
• Communicate professionally in writing that is clear and logically organized, with correct grammar, spelling, and use of APA style.

Please identify your relationship to the patient (friend and family) and how you made contact with the individual. Remember to only use the individual’s initials in your assessment to protect privacy.

CORE ELMS

Completion of this course requires a remote rather than a face-to-face clinical practicum. You are required to log your time in the CORE ELMS system just as you have for past courses with clinical interaction. The CORE ELMS link is located in the left-hand navigation pane.

Additional Requirements

• Length of submission: Use the provided template. Most submissions will be 2 to 4 pages. You do not need to include a title page. Be sure to complete the reference page at the end of the template.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your central ideas. Resources should be no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: Make sure that in-text citations and reference list follow current APA style.

TEMPLATE:

Problem Identification Template

The following is a guide to organize your assignment. Please be sure to remove the guiding questions and comments for each section. You are expected to write in a professional and academically appropriate manner throughout. Make sure you are using proper APA style and citations throughout.

Define a patient, family, or population health problem, and realistic goals, that are relevant to personal practice.

· Introduce a general summary of the health problem that you will be exploring.

GRADING RUBRIC

· Provide a brief context for the patient, family, or population struggling with this health problem.

· Propose one or more goals that you deem appropriate and relevant to the health problem.

· Briefly state why this health problem is relevant to your personal practice.

Analyze evidence from the literature and professional sources to support decisions related to defining and guiding nursing actions related to a health problem.

· Compare and contrast the authors you will be citing, discussing pros and cons of the evidence you are reading about.

· Note whether the authors provide supporting evidence from the literature that is consistent with what you see in your nursing practice.

· Assess the quality of the data presented in the articles you are reading.

· Discuss how you would know if the data were unreliable.

· Include what the literature says about barriers to evidence-based practice.

· Describe research studies that present opposing views regarding this health problem.

· Describe what the literature says about a nursing theory or conceptual framework that might frame and guide your actions during your clinical practicum.

Propose potential strategies to improve patient or population outcomes related to a health problem. 

· Cite any known authors who have recommended leadership strategies for nurses to use when providing care to this patient population.

· Discuss research on the effectiveness of these strategies in improving patient or population outcomes regarding this health problem.

· Describe what the literature says about patient-centered care, empowering patients to make health care decisions, involving families in patient care, incorporating patient preferences to improve outcomes, prevent illness, and lower readmissions to hospitals.

· Discuss ways your role as a nurse leader will help improve patient outcomes as described in the literature.

Reflect on state board nursing practice standards relevant to a project related to a health problem.

· Discuss how your state’s nurse practice act will guide your actions in terms of this health problem for this patient or population.

· Identify the most surprising thing that you found while reading your state’s nurse practice act.

· Describe the effects of local, state, and federal laws on your nursing scope of practice and care for this patient or population.

· Explain how nursing ethics will inform your intervention in this clinical practicum.

References

Remember to compile your APA-formatted reference list.

TEACHERS GRADING RUBRIC:

1.   Define a patient, family, or population health problem and realistic goals relevant to personal practice. Identify one’s relationship to the patient (friend and family) and how one made contact with the individual. Refer to the individual by initials only.

Passing Grade:   Defines a patient, family, or population health problem and realistic goals relevant to personal practice. Identifies one’s relationship to the patient (friend and family) and how one made contact with the individual. Refers to the individual by initials only. Notes the personal or professional significance of the problem within the scope of nursing practice.

2.   Analyze evidence from the literature and professional sources to define and guide proposed nursing actions to address a health problem.

Passing Grade:   Analyzes evidence from the literature and professional sources to define and guide proposed nursing actions to address a health problem. Notes criteria used to analyze the relevance of these sources.

3.   Propose strategies to improve patient or population outcomes related to a selected health problem.

Passing Grade:  Proposes strategies to improve patient or population outcomes related to a selected health problem. Acknowledges alternate strategies and provides a rationale for pursuing the proposed strategies.

4.  Reflect on state board nursing practice standards relevant to a selected health problem.

Passing Grade:   Reflects on state board nursing practice standards relevant to a health problem. Notes the benefits of integrating standards into a project.

5.   Communicate professionally in writing that is clear and logically organized, with correct grammar, spelling, and use of APA style.

Passing Grade:   Communicates professionally in writing that is exceptionally clear and well organized, with correct grammar, spelling, and flawless use of APA style.