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Benchmark – Part A: Population Health Research and PICOT Statement
The nursing profession is considered one of the most demanding professions globally. It exposes nurses to several work-related factors attributed to an increased risk of developing different mental disorders (Shah et al., 2021). Mental disorders among nurses are linked to intention to leave, absenteeism, and high turnover. They can result in accidents, poor work performance, errors of judgment, and a negative attitude at work (Tran et al., 2019). This paper seeks to describe nurses’ demographics and health concerns, and explain factors that may influence health management for nurses. I will also discuss a potential solution for addressing the nurses’ health issue based on the PICOT statement.
Population Description, Including Demographics and Health Concerns
Registered nurses (RNs) are tasked with providing and coordinating patient care and educating pati
ents and the public about diseases. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of Registered nurses (RNs) has grown at a rate of 1.79%, from 3,296,499 in 2018 to 3,355,359 in 2019. Approximately 61% of RNs work in General medical and surgical, and specialty healthcare settings. Nursing Care Facilities follow with 6.77%, and Outpatient care centers come third with 5.91%. RN jobs are growing faster above average, with an estimated 7% by 2029 (BLS, 2021). The growth is expected to occur due to an increased focus on preventive care, increasing prevalence of chronic illnesses, and increased demand for healthcare services due to the baby-boom population.
In addition to the increased demand and advancement in the nursing profession, stress among nurses has also increased. Tran et al. (2019) state that nurses seem to experience more adverse mental health problems than other health professionals and the general population. The most common mental problems reported among nurses include anxiety, depression, and stress. Working conditions related to stress include heavy workload, interacting with suffering and dying patients, organizational conflict, and workplace violence (Tran et al., 2019). Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the stress levels primarily among nurses working in the frontline. A study by Shah et al. (2021) found that 676 122 nurses had considered leaving their jobs. Out of this number, 43.4% stated burnout as the reason for intending to leave their current job. With the ongoing pandemic, nurses will likely experience high stress levels negatively impacting their mental health.
Synthesis of Nursing Science, Determinants of Health, and Epidemiologic, Genomic, and Genetic Data in the Management of Population Health
- Nursing science can help identify evidence-based policies that promote well-organized communication and reliable organizational support for nurses and other healthcare providers to reduce psychological stress. It can also guide nurses to identify coping strategies, which can help nurses balance personal needs and their environment to increase their ability to solve or control psychological stress (Penque, 2019). Health determinants that may influence stress management among nurses include the working environment, social support, and income. Shah et al. (2021) found that 34.4% of nurses identified a stressful work environment as the reason for leaving the profession and 41.6% as the reason for considering leaving. Lack of social support can exasperate stress, depression, and anxiety and contribute to premature cognitive decline and dementia. Besides, a low income with an imbalanced demand-reward can worsen stress levels among nurses.
Epidemiologic factors associated with high-stress levels among nurses include
being married and female gender. Stress levels may be elevated among female nurses and married nurses than their male and single counterparts (Tran et al., 2019). Besides, it may be easier to manage stress among single and male nurses than married or female nurses. Genomic and genetic data may also influence the management of stress among nurses. Genetic variant PDE4B has been linked with anxiety and stress-related disorders (Meier et al., 2019). Consequently, nurses having this variant are at a high risk of developing work-related stress. They may also have a more complex recovery than those without the variant.
Potential Solution and PICOT Statement
Mindfulness meditation has proved to be a promising strategy in reducing stress among nurses. It entails focusing attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment (Penque, 2019). Nurses can be trained on Mindfulness meditation, mainly on mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and yoga, to increase their mindfulness. It seeks to promote body relaxation and calm the mind by paying attention to the present-moment awareness. According to Van der Riet et al. (2018), Mindfulness meditation has been found effective in alleviating stress, improving quality of life, and increasing self-compassion among health providers. Besides, it is effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in clinical and non-clinical populations. A review by Van der Riet et al. (2018) showed that mindfulness meditation is an effective approach for preventing and managing workplace stress and burnout among nurses. Based on these findings, I propose training nurses on Mindfulness meditation to reduce stress levels and prevent mental health disorders.
PICOT Statement: In nurses (P), does training on Mindfulness meditation (I), compared to no intervention (C), reduce stress levels (O) within six months (T)?
A Description of How the Solution Incorporates Health Policies and Goals That Support Health Care Equity for the Population of Focus
The solution on training on Mindfulness meditation is consistent with the Healthy People 2020 goal of enhancing mental health by preventing and by increasing access to suitable, quality mental health services (Health.Gov, 2020). Mindfulness meditation is a strategy to prevent mental health disorders and will enhance nurses’ mental wellbeing. Besides, the solution supports objective MHMD-4.2 of reducing the number of adults who develop major depressive episodes (Health.Gov, 2020). Mindfulness meditation will help prevent depression among nurses and depression comorbidities.
Conclusion
Nurses are exposed to numerous work-related factors that contribute to high levels of stress. Stress is related to poor working conditions and lack of support. Nursing science can impact health management through clinical practice and research on interventions to reduce stress. A stressful working environment and lack of social support can worsen stress among nurses and make it challenging to lower stress levels among nurses. The proposed solution to solve stress among nurses is training them on Mindfulness meditation which promotes stress reduction, increased relaxed states, and improves psychological wellbeing.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor (April 2021) Occupational Outlook Handbook, Registered Nurses https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm.
Health.Gov. (2020). Mental health and mental disorders | Healthy people 2020. Healthy People 2030 | health.gov. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/mental-health-and-mental-disorders
Meier, S. M., Trontti, K., Purves, K. L., Als, T. D., Grove, J., Laine, M., … & Mors, O. (2019). Genetic variants associated with anxiety and stress-related disorders: a genome-wide association study and mouse model study. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(9), 924-932. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1119
Penque, S. (2019). Mindfulness to promote nurses’ wellbeing. Nursing Management, 50(5), 38. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000557621.42684.c4
Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021). Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Nurse Burnout in the US. JAMA network open, 4(2), e2036469-e2036469.
Tran, T. T. T., Nguyen, N. B., Luong, M. A., Bui, T. H. A., Phan, T. D., Ngo, T. H., … & Nguyen, T. Q. (2019). Stress, anxiety, and depression in clinical nurses in Vietnam: a cross-sectional survey and cluster analysis. International journal of mental health systems, 13(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-018-0257-4
Van der Riet, P., Levett-Jones, T., & Aquino-Russell, C. (2018). The effectiveness of mindfulness meditation for nurses and nursing students: An integrated literature review. Nurse education today, 65, 201-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.03.018
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Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
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Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
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Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
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Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, dCiting Sources
- The Writing Center is a iscussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- Student paper example
- great resource