My Health Journal

This week’s course content focuses on the meaning of health and the determinants of health. It is appropriate then, at the start of your program of study, to turn the lens on yourself. Building a better, healthier life is integral to your own well being, as well as to being a role model for others as you work within the health care field.

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Throughout this course you will post entries to a health journal. The journal is designed to provide an opportunity for you to personalize course content and consider steps that you can take to improve your own health and well-being. You will submit your summary each week for your Instructor to review.

To begin, select an environmental, occupational, or behavioral change that you would like to make or focus on over the next six weeks.

Write a ½-1 page journal entry that addresses the following:

• After reviewing the readings about the Dimensions of Wellness, explain what dimension of your wellness do you feel is the most out of balance? How so?
• Construct a 1-sentence goal statement related to a health behavior that falls within this dimension of wellness or dimensions (if it overlaps).Example: “In order to improve my emotional and physical health, my behavioral goal is to get more sleep by going to bed an hour earlier each night.”
• What specific steps (2-3) will you take to work toward this health behavior goal by the end of this course?Example: “In order to get an additional hour of sleep each night, I will need to eat earlier in the evening and start my course work earlier. I also have a tendency to procrastinate, which means I don’t start my course work until 8 or 9 at night. I need to eat earlier, start on my home work by 6, and then I can get to bed no later than 10:00 pm.”

• What are the health benefits to changing this behavior?Example: “By getting more sleep, I’ll have more energy to get through the day, and my mood will likely improve. I think it will improve my emotional health, too, because I’ll be more rested to deal with stressful situations, and I won’t have to panic the night before my assignments are due because I won’t be procrastinating. I may actually do better in my classes, too, because I won’t be trying to write assignments with one eye!”
• Required ResourcesMedia
  • Course Media: Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Personal Health and Wellness: Dimensions of Health Wheel [Multimedia], Baltimore, MD: Author.
    • Dimensions of HealthReadings
  • Course Introduction
  • Article: Montague, J., & Frank, B. (2007, July/August). Creating whole-person wellness. Assisted Living Consult, 3(4), 14–20. Retrieved fromhttp://www.assistedlivingconsult.com/issues/03-04/alc78-Wellness-719.pdf
  • Article: Hettler, B. (1976). The Six Dimensions of Wellness Model. National Wellness Institute. Retrieved fromhttp://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nationalwellness.org/resource/resmgr/docs/sixdimensionsfactsheet.pdf
  • Article: Smith, B. J., Tang, K. C., & Nutbeam, D. (2006). WHO health promotion glossary: new terms. Health Promotion International Advance Access, 21(4), 340–3 45. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/about/HP%20Glossay%20in%20HPI.pdf
  • Article: World Health Organization. (2009). Milestones in health promotion: statements from global conferences (pp. 1–5). Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/milestones.pdf
  • Glossary: World Health Organization. (1998). Health promotion glossary. Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved fromhttp://www.who.int/healthpromotion/about/HPR%20Glossary%201998.pdf

DISSCUSSION 1 AND 2 

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Discussion Question 1

Post a detailed description of your experience of working with a nurse leader. Include the following aspects in your description.

• Of the leadership theories discussed this week, which one did this nurse leader subscribe to? Why?
• How has been your experience with the nurse leader? Provide a description of your interactions with him or her.

Discussion Question 2

Using the South University Online Library or the Internet, choose and research about a professional nursing organization. Based on your understanding of the organization, answer the following questions:

• What are the benefits of membership of your selected nursing organization?
• What opportunities are available to serve within this organization?
• How does one go about obtaining a position of service within this organization?
• With what political issues is this organization involved?
• How does this organization go about working within the political system?

Week 2 Metaparadigm for Practice Each specialty practice area requires nurses to tailor care to the. 

Week 2 Metaparadigm for Practice

Each specialty practice area requires nurses to tailor care to the needs of a specific patient population. This activity is designed to help you analyze your nursing practice to deliver better care.

Reflect on the needs of your biggest patient population or one that interests you.

Choose a metaparadigm or concept based on your nursing philosophy to add to your conceptual model.

Explain why you chose to add that metaparadigm.

Analyze how the added metaparadigm will change the way you practice.

Cite at least three scholarly articles as evidence for the needs of your practice population.

Format your assignment as one of the following:

18- to 20-slide presentation

3- to 4-minute podcast

15- to 20-minute video presentation

875-word paper

another format approved by your instructor

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

Working Short Staffed—Again You are a staff nurse at Mercy Hospital. The hospital’s patient… 

Working Short Staffed—Again You are a staff nurse at Mercy Hospital. The hospital’s patient census and acuity have been very high for the last 6 months. Many of the nursing staff have resigned; a coordinated recruitment effort to refill these positions has been largely unsuccessful. The nursing staff is demoralized, and staff frequently call in sick or fail to show up for work. Today, you arrive at work and fi nd that you are again being asked to work short-handed. You will be the only RN on a unit with 30 patients. Although you have two LPNs/LVNs and two CNAs assigned to work with you, you are concerned that patient safety could be compromised. A check with the central nursing office ascertains that no additional help can be obtained. You feel that you have reached the end of your rope. The administration at Mercy Hospital has been receptive to employee feedback about the acute staffing shortage, and you believe that they have made some efforts to try to alleviate the problem. You also believe, however, that the efforts have not been at the level they should have been and that the hospital will continue to expect nurses to work short-handed until some major force changes things. Although you have thought about quitting, you really enjoy the work that you do and feel morally obligated to your coworkers, the patients, and even your superiors. Today, it occurs to you that you could anonymously phone the state licensing bureau and turn in Mercy Hospital for consistent understaffing of nursing personnel, leading to unsafe patient care. You believe that this could be the impetus needed to improve the quality of care. You are also aware of the action’s political risks. ASSIGNMENT: Discuss whether you would take this action. What is your responsibility to the organization, to yourself, and to patients? How do you make decisions such as this one, which have conflicting moral obligations?

Evidence-based practice (EBP) refers to making decisions about patient care that are based on the… 

Evidence-based practice (EBP) refers to making decisions about patient care that are based on the best evidence produced by well-designed clinical research. Numerous studies have suggested evidence-based care of patients can reduce patient complications and decrease healthcare costs by as much as 30%. Obstacles to incorporating changes, such as those consistent with EBP, are present within every organization. Resistance from nursing leaders and other barriers prevent nurses from implementing EBP that improve patient outcomes. Please consider an institution where you are currently employed or one that you have worked with in the past. What obstacles are present? What can you do to confront and overcome these obstacles? Please provide an article about evidence-based practice to support your perspectives.

1 Reference within 5 years-nursing journals only. 1/2 page discussion board on EBP.