I learned a lot about the setting of nursing and educational practice during the module. I was able to learn about a key healthcare topic and find various methods for efficiently presenting recommended knowledge to the public. We were supposed to come up with a nursing issue and discuss its significance to the nursing fraternity in the first several weeks. I identified UTI in adults as a big concern in today's culture through critical thinking and research. UTI cases have been steadily increasing, with a significant frequency among females. As such, my research attempted to find the key preventive measures that would help to manage the vulnerable population and avoid reoccurrence caused by the ineffective antimicrobial treatment options. I became more informed about the topic through review of literature which involved consultation of journals, books, and articles about UTI among the elderly.
I also learnt how to write a PICOT statement which involves explanation of an issue being addressed. This involves outline clearly the intervention proposed by the author (student) to address an issue. In the nursing context, the PICOT statement was expected to include the proposed nursing intervention, how the solution considers patient care, the health care agency responsible for the intervention, and review of the nursing practice. In my project, I had considered the provision of cranberry formulation to the elderly as a UTI preventive measure in the PICOT statement. I also learnt that there is a need to the population of study and the research question that must be answered.
Another significant component taught in the module is presentation of solution proposed as well as the measurement of its effectiveness. It became apparent that a solution must be proposed to address the clinical issue identified. I had considered the use of cranberry and catheterization as preventive measures to control UTI prevalence among the elderly. This was addressed in detail on how healthcare institution and nursing homes can ensure they are implemented. To measure the effectiveness of the solution, a nurse is expected to carry out evaluation. A proposed evaluation technique I identified included focused auditing which involves feedback and monitoring of the patient records. Another way to carry out evaluation is through feedback from the nurses trained on different UTI control measures as well as from the UTI patients or the families of the elderly. Evaluation is important as it ensures the proposed solutions are effective in addressing the problem identified.
The module also explored the need to disseminate information. In the case of a research, every author ought to share their information to the target audience in order to instigate positive action. I had considered both external and internal methods of information dissemination. The external dissemination method I selected was publishing the report on an online public portal. The portal I selected was e-theses online (EThOS) since it has a lot of benefits for the students and the target audience. EthOS allows students to present their thesis to the public; the researcher is able to present the project in a public online service, journal of American nursing, for easy access by the public. I had also learned about the need of embracing Evidence Based Practice (EBP) in the field of nursing. This allowed me to effectively integrate classwork with practical nursing scenarios.
