NSG 4076 Week 3 Project Final Plan for Capstone Project
NSG 4076 Week 3 Project Final Plan for Capstone Project
Even though the fatality rates have been higher among men as compared to women, the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted women more than men both at home and as frontline workers. Globally, most people have suffered from this pandemic emotionally, physically, and economically(Sen-Crowe et al., 2021). Given that women represent a majority of the healthcare workforce, they tend to be at higher risk for the virus and the emotional toll accompanied by it. For instance, quarantine alone has led to increased fear, depression, and anxiety among this vulnerable population. This project thus aims at evaluating the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of middle-aged women between the age of 35-44 years from Fort Pierce Florida. A qualitative/quantitative cross-sectional survey will be utilized to conduct the study. The project hopes to identify the specific common mental conditions such as anxiety and depression resulting from the pandemic, to help with the development of appropriate strategies to promote the mental health of middle-aged women during these tough times.

NSG 4076 Week 3 Project Final Plan for Capstone Project
Problem Statement
According to the CARE’s Rapid Gender Analysis on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of men

NSG 4076 Week 3 Project Final Plan for Capstone Project
and women across 38 countries, the number of women who reported some kind of mental impact as a result of the pandemic was threefold that of men(Harris, 2020). At least a half of the middle-aged women reported increased depression, stress, and anxiety among other mental problems. Studies show that in addition to labor increasing for women in the frontline, violence against women and domestic violence have also increased ever since quarantine. Hotlines and shelters among other resources for women experiencing violence in the United States have reported a radical increase in the number of reporting ever since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the violence increased stress and fear of contracting the virus, the prevalence of PTSD, depression, and anxiety have increased among women in the United States. Additionally, family stress associated with coronavirus has also significantly impacted the mental health of middle-aged women in the community.
Questions
- In what ways has the Covid-19 pandemic affected the mental health of middle-aged women between the age of 35-44 years in Fort Pierce Florida? Which mental health problems are common among this population?(Thibaut & van Wijngaarden-Cremers, 2020).
- What strategies have been employed to help promote the mental health of women in Fort Pierce Florida during the Covid-19 pandemic?
Methodology
The project will utilize a qualitative/quantitative cross-sectional survey method(Thapa et al., 2021). A set of interview questions and questionnaires will be formulated to collect data regarding the impact of covid-19 on the mental health of the selected population. Three women between the age of 35 and 44 years living in Fort Pierce Florida, will be randomly selected to serve as the study participants. They will be required to fill out the questionnaires either manually or electronically, whereas the interviews will also be conducted either face to face or through media platforms such as video calls on WhatsApp. The process of pre-intervention data collection will take two weeks.
Once the pre-intervention data has been collected and analyzed, the participants will be subjected to the study intervention, which is ‘videoconference based telepsychiatry’ for the following 6 weeks (Cubitt et al., 2021). The participants will receive psychoeducation and be advised on mental well-being every Wednesday and Thursday every week, for 45 minutes, based on their topic of choice. After the 6 weeks, a new set of questionnaires will be formulated to collect the post-intervention data. The participants will also be interviewed on how the intervention has helped promote their mental health during the pandemic. The data will be tabulated for analysis within 1 week and the results presented in form of charts and graphs.
Timetable
The project will be conducted in 10 weeks. The first 2 weeks will involve the collection of pre-intervention data, followed by 6 weeks of the intervention, 1 week of collecting post-intervention data, and 1 week of analyzing and presenting the results (Thapa et al., 2021).
Table 1: Capstone Project Timeline
Activity | Starting Date | Final Date | Time (From-To) | Outcomes |
Submitting Final Plan for the Capstone Project | 25/01/2022 | 27/01/2022 | 9.00 am: 4.00 pm | Approval by instructor |
Sampling and Pre-intervention data collection | 31/01/2022 | 06/02/2022 | 9.00 am: 4.00 pm | A sample size of 3 middle-aged women between 35-44 years.
Collected data on mental problems such as anxiety and depression |
Implementation of the Intervention | 07/02/2022 | 20/03/2022 | 9.00 am: 4.00 pm | Videoconference based telepsychiatry |
Post-Intervention data collection | 21/03/2022 | 27/03/2022 | 9.00 am: 4.00 pm | Improved mental health |
Data analysis | 28/03/2022 | 03/04/2022 | 9.00 am: 4.00 pm | Tabulating the findings. |
Presentation of Results | 04/04/2022 | 04/04/2022 | 9.00 am: 4.00 pm | Presenting the findings in charts and graphs. |
Conclusion
The capstone project will focus on evaluating the impact of Covid-19 on middle-aged women during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study will utilize a qualitative/quantitative cross-sectional survey method to collect the results and test the impact of videoconferencebased telepsychiatry in promoting women’s mental health. The projects will be conducted in 10 weeks.
References
Cubitt, L. J., Im, Y. R., Scott, C. J., Jeynes, L. C., & Molyneux, P. D. (2021). Beyond PPE: a mixed qualitative-quantitative study capturing the wider issues affecting doctors’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Open, 11(3), e050223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050223
Harris, J. E. (2020). COVID-19 case mortality rates continue to decline in Florida. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.03.20167338
Sen-Crowe, B., Sutherland, M., McKenney, M., & Elkbuli, A. (2021). The Florida COVID-19 mystery: lessons to be learned. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2020.08.009
Thapa, P., Bhandari, S. L., & Pathak, S. (2021). Nursing students’ attitude on the practice of e-learning: A cross-sectional survey amid COVID-19 in Nepal. PloS one, 16(6), e0253651.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253651
Thibaut, F., & van Wijngaarden-Cremers, P. (2020). Women’s mental health in the time of Covid-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 1, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2020.588372