1: please discuss and identify three ways you as a provider can improve safety and how will your DNP project increase the awareness of potential patient safety issues.
My project is a protocol for the treatment of adult obese patient in a primary care office using the Promoting healthy weight toolkit
- Problem:
Obesity among adults in the US is currently considered as serious health pandemic, with close to 35% of the total population of America adults considered obese as a result of poor nutrition, insufficient body exercise, and inconsistency health screening activities (Maliha, 2017).
- Background
The continuous growing prevalence of obesity, especially in Elizabeth, New Jersey has triggered the need for effective obesity management plan to combat the realized health menace among the adult population (Batsis & Alexandra B. Zagaria, 2018); the growing cases of obesity is predicted to affect the adult population in the future if an immediate management solution is not put in place as the health epidemic is coupled with other acquired diseases rendering the adult population into serious health hazards (Maliha, 2017).
- Purpose statement
Obesity is one of the current health problem affecting the population of Elizabeth, New Jersey where the prevalence rates of adult obesity has always been on an upward trend with quite significant percentage for the past few years; this project is vital as the rising cases of obesity has led to myriad of diseases affecting the adult population of Elizabeth, New Jersey which include chronic and cardiovascular diseases, osteoarthritis, and several cancers (Fruh, 2017).
- Project Aim and Objectives
The main objective of this project is to:
- Promote healthier weight among adults using a health tool kit and enlightening the various stakeholders on an effective way to use the provided tool kit
- Reduce patient body weight by 2% or more in 10 weeks
- Increase physical activity by 30 minutes a day at least five days per week
- Pre-Needs Assessment
The problem was discovered through data collection from the electronic medical record from healthcare institution where it was realized that most adult patients, approximately 30% of the total population of adults were diagnosed with obese and weight problems, most of these patients had an abnormal body mass index (Zhu, Norman, & While, 2013).
The key stakeholders who are likely to participate in this project include the adult population with weight problems, patients’ relatives, and health care providers (Lazarou & Kouta, 2010).
- Proposed interventions
The three main interventions that should be implemented to promote healthier weight include:
- Analyzing the reports of the pre-intervention exercise to know the behavioral factors affecting the patient.
- Work closely with the patient and by reviewing the results after a given period in line with the highlighted objectives.
- Developing a workable strategy with the patient to come up with a clear management plan on how to work as a team in dealing with the obese menace within the time frame as outlined in the objectives (Rutter, Lakerveld, & Brug, 2015).
- Empowering the patient through consistent training and development to ensure that effective results are achieved with the minimum period.
- Nursing theory and QI model
- Transtheoretical Model (TTM)
This intervention project will use the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) as a guide in structuring interviews with patients to understand readiness for change. Prochaska, Redding, and Evers (2008) outlined the five stages of change as a theoretical framework to assist in assessment and management of obesity. These stages include pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. Recently, other groups have shown the framework effective in healthcare by personalizing treatment according to individual needs rather than traditional prescriptive demands (Wu, 2015).
The plan-do-study-act (PDSA) In addition, this DNP student will use the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model to structure practical implementation to document what actually works in real life scenarios. The PDSA is a powerful model to record and determine what components were effective. In fact, it is used by many organizations to enhance processes that are productive while reducing activities that are not working (McNamara, 2016). It is significant since it is projected to help the stakeholders with the valuable tools to document a test change (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2016 ).
References
Batsis, J. A., & Alexandra B. Zagaria. (2018). Addressing Obesity in Aging Patients. Medical Clinics of North America, Vol. 102(1), 65–85.
Fruh, Sharon M. (2017). Obesity: Risk factors, complications, and strategies for sustainable long‐term weight management. Journal of the American
Association of Nurse Practitioners, S3–S14.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2016, June 30). How to improve. Retrieved from Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Retrieved from http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/HowtoImprove/default.aspx
Lazarou, C., & Kouta, C. (2010). The role of nurses in the prevention and management of obesity. British journal of nursing, Vol. 10(19), 641-700.
Maliha, A. (2017). The rising prevalence of obesity. International Journal of Surgery: Oncology, Vol. 2 (7), p e17.
McNamara, D., Rafferty, P., & Fitzpatrick, F. (2016). An improvement model to optimise hospital interdisciplinary learning. Int J Health Care Qual Assur, 29(5), 550-558.
Prochaska, J. O., Redding, C. A., & Evers, K. E. (2008). The transtheoretical model and stages of change. In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 97-121). San Francisco, CA, US: Jossey-Bass.
Rutter, H., Lakerveld, J., & Brug, J. (2015). Successful behavior change in obesity interventions in adults: a systematic review of self-regulation mediators.
BMC Medicine.
Wu, Y. & Chu, N. (2015). Introduction of the transtheoretical model and organisational development theory in weight management: A narrative review. Obes
Res Clin Prac, 9(3), 2030213.
Zhu, D. Q., Norman, I. J., & While, A. E. (2013). Nurses’ self-efficacy and practices relating to weight management of adult patients: a path analysis. Int J
Behav Nutrition Physical Act. 131.
