Running head: SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT PLAN 1

Your name:

Tiebe Michael Green

Date:

10/21/2017

Community or population of interest:

The community of choice or interest is Prince William County. The Greater Prince
William Area (GPWA) encompasses a total area of 349 square miles and includes
Prince William County and the independent cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
GPWA is located in Northern Virginia, approximately 35 miles southwest of
Washington, DC. Two major highways, Route 66 and Route 95 run through the
County. Prince Williams County provide multiple state funded health services to
approximately 513,000 residents with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In
this county there is high percentage of children under the age of 18 and lower
percentage of people age 65 compared to the whole Virginia. Median Age is in the
thirties. It encompasses the larger number of people from Hispanic origin than the
rest of the counties in Virginia , nearly three times as many. Twice as many
residents that did not graduate high school than in comparison to state of Virginia.
Lack of communication in the English language and lack of education can limit the
resources that the community can utilize. 11.5% of the population in prince
Williams county is considered to be under the poverty line which creates a higher
percentage of uninsured children and adults in the community.

Review of literature and health outcomes data:

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The infant mortality rate in Prince William was 4.5 per 1000 live births, less than
Virginias rate of 5.7 per 1000 live births. Infant mortality rate was the highest due
to heart disease and maternal complications. Drug overdose is the leading cause
of injury death among people 25-54 years old, causing more deaths than motor
vehicle traffic crashes. Opioid overdoses, whether prescription painkillers or
heroin, primarily drive the statewide rate of 11.7 % of deaths. Prince William
County first responders are seeing big spikes in the number of overdoses among
people using opioids over the last five years, a trend that mirrors the alarming
spike in drug use nationwide which places the community at risk for stroke,
seizures and very high blood pressures along with other complications
(Dart,2015). According to Waljee (2017), Prince Williams county has a community
health concern that consist of three components
1) Lack of preventative health service/ access to health care (including
dental care)health care program that helps uninsured low income
women in prince William Health District get care for not only pregnancy
but for prevention of STDs, and contraception. Teenage pregnancy
prevention and sex education. Plan First Insurance program that helps to
cover medical costs of family planning services, sexually transmitted
infection testing.
2) Substance abuse or Opioid overdose With the rise of drug use there is
also a rise in communicable diseases (Waljee, 2017). 11.7%death that is
related to over dose up investigations on all diseases considered
reportable by the Code of Virginia and the State Board of Health.
3) Obesity, lack of access to healthy foods and physical activity- over
61.6percent of the residents are considered obese with a BMI of 29.4.
Obesity can lead to variety of health comorbidities like Diabetes, high
blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

Your selected health concern focus:

According to the community assessment the county tends to face several issues due
to immigration, lack of cultural awareness, language barrier, 24% that dont
graduate high school, low socioeconomics that leads to poverty, high cost of living,
over utilization of government funded clinics (one closed early March) and an
increase in the number of people who are drug abusers (Dart, 2015). The health
concern that I have chosen for this community is substance abuse or Opioids
SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT PLAN 2

overdose. The county lost 46 residents to substance overdose (Waljee, 2017). As

this is also a national problem this sudden increase is a burden for the healthcare
system as it impacts Ambulance services, Rehabilitation services, Hospitals and
police departments.

Three possible nursing interventions:

1) Educate the community in prince Williams county of the resources that are
available within the county that provide preventative health care.
2) Reinforce the importance of adhering no shared needle campaign, reinforce
drug overdose awareness.
3) Increase the education level of the community by discussing obesity and its
complications that rise from obesity.

Your selected nursing intervention:

The nursing intervention I have selected is :- reinforce the importance of raising

awareness at all chances by educating the public and clinicians of the rise in drug
overdose and substance abuse. The more awareness there is within the community
the more interventions can be carried out. In order to take handle of the substance
abuse problem that is on the rise one of the important factor is educating the public
and also the healthcare personnel to detect and be aware of changes in behavior,
symptoms of opioid overdose and what to do during an emergency with a family
member or community member. Education brings awareness by individuals which
can impact the community.
Goal:
1)There will be more people in the community that are aware of substance
abuse and overdose
2) Prince Williams county will see a decrease in the number of prescription
or street drug overdose cases.

Brief plan for conducting nursing intervention:

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1) All police officers will carry Narcan for emergency use.

2) Prioritize care for the opioid addicts that have no insurance by providing van
clinics that can assess them.
3) Education for the public regarding Opioid emergencies.
4) Education for the population to look out for signs of addiction.
5) Physicians will assess and control prescriptions
6) Pharmaceutical companies will participate in the revision of over dose cases
to come up with better prescriptions
7) More Substance abuse support centers or groups
8) Counseling/nursing services that can be provided 24 hours by phone.

References

Dart, R. C., Surratt, H. L., Cicero, T. J., Parrino, M. W., Severtson, S. G., Bucher-
Bartelson, B., & Green, J. L. (2015). Trends in opioid analgesic abuse and
mortality in the United States. N Engl J Med, 2015(372), 241-248.

Ruan, X., Luo, J. J., Kaye, A. M., & Kaye, A. D. (2017). Nonmedical use of
prescription opioids is associated with heroin initiation among US veterans.
Addiction, 112(4), 727-728.

Waljee, J. F., Li, L., Brummett, C. M., & Englesbe, M. J. (2017). Iatrogenic Opioid
Dependence in the United States: Are Surgeons the Gate keepers? annals of
surgery, 265(4), 728-730.

Holm, A. L., Gorosh, M. R., Brady, M., & White-Perkins, D. (2017). Recognizing
Privilege and Bias: An Interactive Exercise to Expand Health Care Providers
Personal Awareness. Academic Medicine, 92(3), 360-364.

http://www.behealthybehappyprincewilliam.com/index.php?module=Indicators&c
ontroller=index&action=socionee

http://www.virginiapreventionworks.org/docs/prince-william-county-needs-
assesment/?(2016)

https://www.pwcs.edu/
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