Community Health Project Paper (Part II)

NURS 473 – Community Health

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to utilize the Health Planning Model to improve aggregate
health and to apply the nursing process to the larger aggregate within a systems framework.

Student Approach to Assignment

This community health project paper describes the collaborative effort by a group of student
nurses to decrease food insecurity in children and adolescents in Southeastern Virginia. Research
findings on major health problems facing this aggregate were identified. Additionally, a priority
nursing diagnosis, plan of care, and outcomes were addressed. My role within this group of
student nurses encompassed several duties that culminated to the development of an upstream
approach to eliminating food insecurity among children and adolescents in Southeastern Virginia
and to reducing associated health problems. Educational learning pages were provided to our
aggregate to supplement in-person lessons on nutrition.

The implications of these interventions were useful in determining that providing education on
nutrition to food insecure children and adolescents is a pragmatic solution to decreasing health
problems facing that aggregate. This experience improved my competency as a nurse researcher,
project planner, and patient advocate. Additionally, working within the community quickly
became a passion of mine that I will carry with me throughout my professional nursing career.

Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio

This required portfolio assignment shows my growth understanding the depth and breadth of
nursing practice as I develop the framework that will guide my career. The following program
objectives are highlighted:

v Critical Thinking
Ø Engages in creative problem solving.
§ Example: A barrier to implementing our chosen intervention (educational learning
pages on nutrition) was the COVID-19 pandemic. As addressed in my community
health project paper, our student group facilitated all communication between
ourselves and our community partner and implemented all chosen interventions in a
manner that would adhere to guidelines for social distancing during the pandemic.
For example, several social gatherings and Foodbank events were canceled or adapted
to limit face-to-face interactions; therefore, opportunities to interact with our
aggregate were minimal. I engaged in creative problem solving by helping to
establish a relationship between our student group and Open-Norfolk, a community
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assistance program that helps local businesses operate safety during the pandemic.
Then, I helped our student group develop the idea of creating a booklet of learning
pages that could be sent home with families at Open-Norfolk events. Furthermore, I
led my group in our initiative to make these learning pages available to families
online. My engagement in creative problem solving helped our group attain optimal
health outcomes for our aggregate and maintain good relations within our community.

v Nursing Practice
Ø Implements traditional nursing care practices as appropriate to provide holistic care to
diverse populations across the lifespan.
§ Example: Assessment of priority problems and providing education to patients and
their families are traditional nursing care practices. I implemented these practices, as
described in my community health project paper, to provide holistic care to a diverse
group of patients that are seen at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. Holistic
care, which encompasses treatment of the mind, body, and soul, occurred as I
interacted with our aggregate to assess their physical and mental health status,
attitudes on health, and willingness to change or seek help. Additionally, the
educational interventions that were provided to our aggregate were holistic in that
they fostered growth in each child’s ability to learn, critically think, create, and
explore several areas of health and wellness. For example, learning pages covered a
variety of topics such as: food groups, water consumption, portion sizes, math skills,
creative writing, and personal reflections. Lastly, this example is applicable to diverse
populations across the lifespan, because the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia
serves a culturally diverse population that consists of pediatric, adult, and older adult
individuals. Educating the children and adolescents within a family indirectly
provides education for the entire family, which is supported by pediatric approaches
to treating a child as a member of their family unit.

Ø Establishes and/or utilizes outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of care.

§ Example: Specific outcome measures were established in my community health
project paper to evaluate the effectiveness of our intervention: educational learning
pages. Our objectives included the following: for 80% of the post-intervention
feedback to indicate increased nutritional knowledge; for 60% of the children to
correctly teach-back an educational topic on nutrition within 30 minutes after the
education was provided; and for 60% of the children to demonstrate enthusiasm for
learning about nutrition during the intervention or within 30 minutes after the
education was provided. Outcomes were measured by collecting descriptive feedback
from the aggregate and by informally polling the aggregate to determine whether or
not these objectives were met. Determining our level of success in meeting these
objectives helped our group evaluate our effectiveness of care.
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v Communication
Ø Assesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance
patient and professional communication.
§ Example: The websites for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and for Feeding
America were great resources for information on food insecurity. These sources of
information aided me in speaking with our community partner on topics such as: how
our objectives aligned with their objectives and how we could integrate our chosen
intervention seamlessly into their current system. Additionally, I helped my group in
completing a literature review on health interventions for food insecure children and
adolescents. Predominantly, our research was aimed at discovering the most effective
methods for providing education on nutrition, which enhanced my ability to
communicate with our patients on our chosen intervention with a high level of
confidence. Also, during patient interactions with language barriers, I utilized nursing
research to supplement my methods of communicating with nonverbal techniques and
with other therapeutic communication strategies.

v Teaching
Ø Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to communicate health
promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention across the life span.
§ Example: The primary goals of our community health project were to promote good
short-term and long-term health outcomes within our aggregate. As described in my
community health project paper, we utilized an upstream approach to attain these
objectives. Thus, our intervention was preventing disease and reducing their risk for
poor health outcomes. Our aggregate (children and adolescents of the Foodbank of
Southeastern Virginia) benefited the most from our interventions. However, we also
had an impact on promoting health and preventing disease across the life span,
because aiding children and adolescents indirectly helps the family unit that they
belong to. Furthermore, this example is applicable, because information technology
was utilized to deliver our intervention. Specifically, we made our learning pages
available for the Foodbank to utilize on their website or on a mobile application.
Feedback on the education that was provided could be communicated through the
information technology as well, which enhances our effectiveness by allowing two-
way communication.

Ø Evaluates the efficacy of health promotion and education modalities for use in a variety
of settings with diverse populations.
§ The efficacy of our health promotion intervention was evaluated throughout our
planning and evaluation phases and within my community health project paper. We
determined that our interventions were highly efficacious, because we met our
objectives in a timely manner. Additionally, our modalities for providing education to
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the children and adolescents at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia were diverse
and included strategies such as: printed educational booklets, online learning pages,
and in-person lessons on a variety of health topics. Settings for providing this
education included at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, at Open-Norfolk
events, at the Tidewater Community College “Community Feed” food pantry, and
online. Additionally, we served a diverse population, because food insecure
individuals in Southeastern Virginia are culturally diverse.

v Research
Ø Applies research-based knowledge from nursing as the basis for culturally sensitive
practice.
§ Example: In my community health project, we applied research-based knowledge on
the cultural diversity of food insecure people to implement a culturally sensitive
intervention. Predominantly, I understood that food insecure individuals are often
racial and ethnic minorities belonging to various religious sects. Thus, I advised my
group to create learning pages that would cater to these differences. Personally, I
utilized clip art images on the learning pages that represented people of racial and
ethnic minorities. Also, I created several activities pages for various religious
holidays, including Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa in December. These actions
demonstrate my level of sensitivity and cultural awareness, backed by research-based
knowledge.

Ø Shares research findings with colleagues.

§ Example: A primary objective of completing the community health project was to
collaborate with other student nurses to foster growth within our professional
practices and to share our findings with colleagues. It was imperative to share
research within our group on topics such as: food insecurity in Southeastern Virginia,
health problems associated with food insecurity, psychological distress in food
insecure individuals, and promoting family education on healthy lifestyles. These
findings were shared among our group members to ensure that we collectively
understood health problems within our aggregate and agreed upon the most
appropriate interventions. Additionally, to culminate our learning experience, we
shared our research and project findings with our entire nursing cohort during an oral
poster presentation.

v Leadership
Ø Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements
strategies to meet those goals.
§ Example: I held a primary role in developing my group’s relationship with the
Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and with Open Norfolk. These entities represent
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and serve our community, and we worked within these partnerships to develop a
nursing intervention that would promote the health of food insecure children and
adolescents. The strategies that we implemented to meet our goals included several
deliverables: such as printed educational booklets, online learning pages, and in-
person lessons on a variety of health topics. I helped to initiate and maintain our
community partnerships by regularly communicating with our community liaisons
through email, in-person, or on Zoom.

Ø Organizes, manages, and evaluates the development of strategies to promote healthy

communities.
§ Example: Strategies for promoting a healthy community were included within my
community health project. Through this project, I took on a leadership role in
organizing meetings and managing our plan of care. Specifically, I established several
meeting times, created meeting agendas, and sent follow-up emails to maintain group
cohesion and togetherness on meeting our objectives. Also, I facilitated the process of
signing up individuals to create learning pages, and I monitored our progress on this
objective. Additionally, I helped to evaluate and adjust our plan of care throughout
the semester, as necessary. Acting as a leader in these capacities helped my group
reach our goals in reducing health problems associated with food insecurity and in
promoting a healthier community overall.

v Professionalism
Ø Demonstrates accountability for one’s own professional practice.
§ Example: In completing my community health project, I interacted with several
individuals at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and at Open-Norfolk events. In
conversations that I had with these individuals, I kept within the scope of my
professional practice, which demonstrates my taking accountability for my actions
within my chosen profession. For example, I had conversations with several
individuals on their diet, diabetes and high blood pressure. I could provide education
on the complications of these diseases and strategies to reduce their risk for health
problems. Nevertheless, one individual asked me if she should increase the dosage of
her blood pressure medications, and I referred her to her primary care provider.
Nurses should not be adjusting medication dosages, and my ability to stay within the
scope of my practice shows that I am taking accountability for the care that I provide.

v Culture
Ø Demonstrates sensitivity to personal and cultural definitions of health, and how these
beliefs influence an individual’s reactions to the illness experience and end of life.
§ Example: In completing my community health project, I demonstrated sensitivity to
individual attitudes on health and personal definitions of health and wellness. For
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example, I had a conversation with an individual on her congenital heart disease. In

my pediatrics course in my nursing education program, I learned that longevity is
increasing in individuals with congenital heart disease, due to early diagnosis and
fetal treatment, advances in cardiac surgery, and complex critical care. I spoke with
this individual about her view on CHD, and she emphasized that within her
household, she was not raised to view her disease as a disability or weakness. Since
individuals with CHD are living longer lives, her heart disease was not her priority
problem. Rather, she felt that food insecurity was her priority health problem. I was
sensitive to her personal attitude on health and definitions of health, disease, and
disability. I demonstrated this sensitivity by utilizing therapeutic communication
strategies to convey sympathy and understanding. Also, I understood that this
individual’s upbringing and familial culture on health and health problems dictated
her life experiences with her illness and how she was coping with end of life.
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Honor Pledge

I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form

of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a

member of the academic community it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violations of

the Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.

Signature: Taylor N. Brunke