Radford University School of Nursing s1

Radford University School of Nursing NURS 451 Community Health Nursing

Summaries of Community Nursing Process Application Projects Spring 2006

Each student will work within a group in partnership with a community agency to implement some portion of the nursing process at the community level. The group will be responsible for equal distribution of the work load, with consultation from faculty as necessary for concerns. Each project will involve an initial presentation to introduce the project, collection of data specific to the population, development of community interventions, pilot testing if appropriate, and final written and oral presentation to the appropriate agency. Each student will be responsible for contributing 30 hours towards this process.

Common Health Problems in Head Start Children Agency Contact: Trina Porterfield RUSON Faculty: Erin Cruise Number of students: 4 each rotation

Collaborate with the New River Valley Head Start Program to develop guidelines as to how non-medical staff should respond to common health problems in children.  Discuss with selected representatives of Head Start what types of health problems are most often encountered in their children.  Review appropriate pediatric literature to determine the current recommendations regarding intervention with these health problems.  Develop a decision tree for dealing with the most common problems.  Integrate this information into a format that would be useful for the Head Start staff.

Radford University Family Health Clinics In-service Protocols Agency Contact: Vickie Warden/Laura Larue RUSON Faculty: Maggie Bassett Number of students: 3 each rotation

Collaborate with RU Family Health Clinics staff to develop guidelines for mandatory in-services and competency checks for RU Family Clinic staff and employees.  Review current literature for requirements for community health clinics with regard to validation of staff competencies.  Develop recommendations for the frequency of competency validation, methodologies that could be employed to conduct competency validation, and recordkeeping.  Develop a competency validation session for RU Family Clinics’ providers on the use of the various screening tools, e.g. Hemocue, cholesterol, blood glucose. Radford University Family Health Clinics Case Management Project Agency Contact: Vickie Warden/Laura Larue RUSON Faculty: Maggie Bassett Number of Students: 2 each rotation

Collaborate with RU Family Health Clinics staff to develop a model for client case management.  Work with clinic staff to identify clients that would benefit from more extensive education about their disease process or the interrelationships between their various chronic diseases.  Review current literature on case management to identify how these strategies could be used with clinic clients.  Make a home visit to client to validate existing data and develop teaching plans for implementation during a future home visit.  Implement identified teaching during a home visit.  Evaluate with the client the pros and cons of home visiting.  Formulate recommendations for RU Family Clinics about this methodology of case management.

Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs Community Health Telehealth Quality Improvement Project Agency Contact: Karen Olichwier RUSON Faculty: Sherry Roper Number of Students: 4 each rotation

Collaborate with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Community Health Department to 1) conduct a quality improvement survey of their Telehealth Program and 2) create a diet education teaching sheet for use with their clients.  Learn about the Telehealth Program that is offered to Veterans by the Salem VA Hospital.  Develop a survey that addresses questions such as what motivates clients to be compliant with treatment recommendations with regard to medication regimes, increased activity levels, diet; what barriers can be impediments to adherence, etc.  Assist with the administration of this survey.  Summarize and present the result of the survey in a manner that is helpful to the VA.  Develop a diet education teaching sheet that addresses the information that is needed by this client group. Scoliosis Assessment Training Module for Montgomery County Public Schools Agency Contact: TBA RUSON Faculty: Erin Cruise Number of Students: 4-5 each rotation

Collaborate with Montgomery County School Nurses to develop a training module to teach correct scoliosis assessment techniques.  Review appropriate professional literature to determine the recommended technique(s) to assessment for presence of scoliosis.  Develop a reference manual of technique(s).  Produce a short video depicting correct technique(s).  Develop a parental consent form for scoliosis assessment that includes rationale supporting the importance of this assessment.  Participate in scoliosis assessments.  Develop recommendations as to what format parental follow up might follow.

Radford University Environment Health Center continuing project Agency Contact: Dr. Judy Guinan RUSON Faculty: Maggie Bassett Number of Students: 2 each rotation

Collaborate with Dr. Guinan to develop text for a future RU Environmental Health Education website.  Determine environmental health issues that present a potential risk for the New River Valley.  Conduct research on the four issues selected.  Develop informational text on these health issues and primary prevention strategies that residents can employ to diminish the effects of these risks.

Radford University IRB Literacy Training and Sample Development continuing project Agency Contact: Dr. Kim Carter RUSON Faculty: Sherry Roper Number of Students: 2 each rotation

Collaborate with Dr. Carter to develop and implement a training program and IRB templates to teach others how to lower the reading level of consent documents.  Review the material developed by students last semester.  In consultation with Dr. Carter determine what else still needs to be done to complete the development of the training materials  Explore how these educational materials might be incorporated into the planned Waldron College Literary Center.  Formulate recommendations for inclusion, if appropriate.