Summary BSN C493 NEWEST PORTFOLIO Tara Troxell WGU| latest update

BSN C493 NEWEST PORTFOLIO Tara Troxell WGU| latest update BSN C493 NEWEST PORTFOLIO Tara Troxell WGU BSN C493 Portfolio This portfolio represents my personal, educational, and professional nursing growth throughout the BSN program at Western Governors University. This program allowed me to advance my education as a nurse as well as learn new ways to use my skills. My portfolio contains: learned skills, projects, papers, and examples of how I was able to reach my professional goals while attending this program. Lastly, my continued professional and educational goals are shown in this portfolio. A.1 Complete a Mission Statement My goal professionally after completing my BSN is to become a NP who specializes in care for special needs children. A major goal of mine is to continue to educate myself on how to provide the best possible care for my patients and their families. This includes keeping up to date with any current studies and research that may apply to this field of nursing. Providing quality care with compassion, knowledge, and respect is my mission statement and something I wish to achieve daily. Understanding and striving to find positive ways to communicate, especially with non-verbal patients, has become something I feel very passionately about. Many people feel that the patients I work with are unaware of their surroundings or feelings and that they are incapable of expressing anything. In my experiences, this is very inaccurate. Every patient I have ever encountered has adapted and is very capable of expressing themselves in some way (including their wants and needs). By striving to achieve these goals I hope to have a positive impact on my patients and their family’s lives while providing them with the highest quality of care. History on how I reached my mission statement: Being a nurse became a goal of mine as an incredibly young age. I enjoyed helping people and was always looking for ways to assist my friends and family in any way I could. As time went on and life happened, my dream career of becoming a nurse got pushed aside due to trials and life in general. But there was always the nagging thought in the back of my mind that I was not doing what I had always wanted to do. Finally, at the age of 28 I decided I was going to go to nursing school and obtain my goal. It was not easy being a single mom with a young child. I encountered numerous challenges and feelings of just wanting to quit at times. What kept me going were family, friends, and ultimately knowing that I loved helping and caring for other people. After graduating with my ASN, I knew I wanted to pursue my BSN. My goal of pursing my BSN was set aside at this time as started work and time went flying by. My first nursing job I took was home health working with special needs children. I went into this job thinking it would be a steppingstone and I would move on to something quickly. I was told this was true for many nurses that had done this type of nursing before. Working in this field of nursing was daunting at first because I had not learned a lot about the cares and skills needed for these children. Working with vents, tracheostomies, and gastronomies was not something I had a lot of experience with nor had I learned a lot about in school. There were times of frustration because I wanted to be more knowledgeable and proficient about everything I was doing. This made me decide to educate myself through anything I could: books, pamphlets, manuals, seminars, training sessions, using parent/family knowledge, and asking other healthcare providers for help and/or answers. The more knowledge I gained, the more comfortable I became with my skills and abilities to care for my patients. Even with the challenges, it did not take me long to fall in love with this type of nursing and my patients. I have yet to move on to something else and continue to enhance my knowledge and skills. I have looked at other nursing fields and been offered positions, but ultimately love what I do and am deeply passionate about it. While working with these children and their families I learned that there is a definite need for more healthcare providers that specialize in this field. Many of these families must travel long distances to get the care they need. Learning this made me finally decide to go back to school to pursue my BSN followed by furthering my education to become a NP. This is what shaped my mission statement and where I want to go with my nursing career. A.1a Reflect on how your professional mission statement will help guide you throughout your nursing career. I feel that the hardships and long time it took me to achieve my goal of becoming a nurse helped to shape my mission statement. Once I started my nursing career it did not take me long to realize what my goals as a nurse were. At that time, I didn’t call it a mission statement, but I knew what I wished to achieve and what type of nurse I wanted to become and be. Although I have had struggles and times of trial, I have still stuck with my same goals and aspirations to be a knowledgeable, compassionate nurse. I feel that I will continue to strive to maintain my mission statement which will shape my nursing career and make me be the best nurse I can. A.2a Explain how the specific artifacts or completed work represent you as a learner and a healthcare professional. My artifacts and completed work show how I used my existing nursing skills combined with my learned skills during the BSN program to enhance my critical thinking and research skills. This program gave me a great appreciation for the ability to use research application to improve nursing processes, patient outcomes, and work environment. My work throughout the program shows how I was continuously being a learner and enhancing my skills as a healthcare professional. Professional Leadership and Communication made me look at my nursing roles and the type of leadership I was utilizing. While looking at different leadership styles I learned how to better collaborate with others while using my strengths to be part of a team. A team that can lead to a better work environment and improved patient outcomes. During Evidence Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research I learned how to use statistics, research and Evidence Based Practice to become an improved healthcare professional-improving the healthcare provided to patients. Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership taught me the importance of leadership roles, patient safety, and continuous improvement as healthcare provider. Professional Roles and Values taught me the importance and value of the nurse as a healthcare provider. Lastly, Community Health and Population provided me with the opportunity to be an advocate for my community as a health care provider. These courses and completed work represent me as a continuing learner and improved healthcare provider. A.2b Discuss how the specific artifacts in your portfolio represent your professional strengths The artifacts and completed work in my portfolio represent my strengths as a healthcare provider including: an eagerness to learn and gain knowledge, using my voice/opinion/strengths positively as a healthcare provider, promoting effective communication, problem solving, and the ability to take feedback/criticism and use it positively. My eagerness to learn and gain knowledge can be seen throughout my completed work. Wanting to gain knowledge is also the driving force behind my mission statement. As previously stated, I had difficulty with certain courses, but wanting to gain and understand knowledge helped me to not give up. Professional Leadership and Communication as well as other courses (and my Leadership Learning Experience) helped bring out an unknown strength of mine. I have always been one to not voice my opinion or thoughts based on a fear of argumentation with others. Avoiding confrontation whenever possible has been a thing of mine for years. These courses helped me realizing that I was good at using my voice to improve situations and help others. That voicing my opinion did not mean confrontation but could mean collaboration and better outcomes for everyone. My completed coursework helped me realize that a strength of mine is promoting the use of effective communication. My Leadership Learning Experience was about promoting effective communication at my workplace. It has led to increased work satisfaction and better patient/family outcomes. I continue to strive for effective communication in everything I do. Using Evidence Based Practice, research, and critical thinking throughout the program showed me that one of my strengths is the ability to work with others at problem solving. I have been told in the past that this was a strength of mine, but this program enhanced my ability to be a problem solver. Lastly, throughout my completed work and courses I learned that taking feeding back and using it positively was something I do well. Many times, I could have been “offended” or hurt by feedback/criticism but that does nothing for anyone. I have always told my patients and their families to please tell me if I was doing something they wanted changed or done differently. The ability to use feedback/criticism positively can truly make a difference in how I work with others as a healthcare professional. These courses and completed work show my strengths as healthcare professional. A.2c Discuss challenges you encountered during the progression of your program. During the BSN program I encountered many challenges that at times became overwhelming. Some of the challenges were program related and some of them were personal. I started the program strong and moved through my courses quickly, giving me confidence and making me want to continue to move quickly. Unfortunately, then I hit a bump with Biochemistry and Microbiology. Both courses were a challenge and gave me a sense of hopelessness. I understood the material and content but could not pass the assessments. It became a huge frustration for me after being able to complete my first courses so quickly. The other course related challenge I faced was time management. Balancing school, work, and family was a challenge at times. It left me feeling that one of these areas was not getting my full devotion and attention. My personal challenges included: multiple family illnesses, family deaths, a longtime relationship ending, a car accident leading to multiple injuries, an outdoor accident leading to more injuries, a broken laptop, and a death of a family pet. These challenges were at times very overwhelming and directly affected my ability to complete my course work. It also had an even greater impact on my ability to manage my time. At times, the program and personal challenges I encountered made me want to give up and quit school. Fortunately, I was able to overcome my battles and push to obtain a life goal of mine. A.2ci Explain how you overcame these challenges. Ultimately, the way I overcame these challenges was my underlying desire to complete my goal. I know that many people had more challenges than me and were able to overcome to complete their education and goals. My mentor was crucial to me and a huge support system throughout my program. She kept me going, encouraged me, and pushed me to continue even when it felt impossible to continue with my program. She never gave up on me and continued to call me. Family support and help with babysitting also played a major part in helping me to complete my program. I am very appreciative and grateful for the amazing people in my life that helped me to accomplish this goal. A.2d Explain how your coursework helped you meet each of the nine nursing program outcomes. 1.Communication: Using effective communication during the program was necessary and demonstrated in oral, written, interpersonal, and electronic form. Communication with my mentor and course instructors was essential in order to properly complete the program. Effective communication was also used in the written papers I submitted. The first course I took for my program was Professional Leadership and Communication for Healthcare Providers. This course really helped me to overcome my fear of being on video. I learned how to effectively communicate face to face and to not be afraid of this type of communication. I was pushed out of my comfort zone and it has changed my life for the better. My Leadership Learning Project also gave me the perfect opportunity to be more confident in communicating interpersonally effectively and professionally. My project topic was finding solutions for the ineffective communication that was happening in my company. The project helped me to find solutions and ways to provide for more effective communication. I also learned throughout my program how to effectively communicate electronically in ways including: e-mails, papers, and interactions between myself and program mentors. This played over into my job and leadership learning project because almost everything in my company is communicated electronically. This program has helped me to communicate more effectively in my work as well as in my personal relationships. 2.Safety and Quality: This program taught me that as a nurse it is crucial to use clinical reasoning to provide safe, quality nursing care that is ethical and based on evidence-based practice. During my Leadership Learning Experience, I used evidence-based practice as well as root cause analysis. Ineffective communication was influencing the patient’s safety and quality of care. This helped me to understand the contributing factors for the ineffective communication that was happening within our company. It also helped me to come up with solutions to correct the problem. As a result, I continue to implement these programs to provide safe and quality care to my patients and their families. 3. Accountability: Being an accountable nurse means to provide safe, ethical, unbiased, professional, and quality care to all my patients and their families. This means to always be an advocate for my patients by protecting them from harm and sticking to ethical and professional standards. Accountability includes following protocols, following nursing standards, and knowing my limitations (asking for help if needed). My Leadership Learning Experience helped me to better understand the importance of accountability. I learned in order to use evidencebased practice and provide the highest quality of care for my patients; it is crucial to be accountable for my actions. Also, it is crucial to follow protocol and document any errors in patient care immediately with the proper paperwork and/or authorities. My project showed me the importance of being accountable and what could happen when nurses are not accountable. Lastly, this project showed me that even something that seems so small could have a major affect on the quality of care patients receive. It is imperative that I am always accountable for my actions. 4. Social Advocate: During the program and course work I learned how to look at the community and find ways to become a social advocate. Using my clinical thinking, knowledge, research, and nursing skills I learned how to find ways to become a better social advocate for my community. During my Community Health and Population course I was able to use evidencebased practice and research to help look at and solve problems within the community. This helped me to be able to recognize and see possible opportunities to provide better care and be a better health care provider amongst my community. 5. Compassionate Care: Throughout my program there was an emphasis on providing compassionate patient-centered care to a variety of patients and families in my community. Being a compassionate caregiver is something that is implanted in the nursing career. Patients come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and religious beliefs. While working through my courses I saw the importance of providing unbiased care at my work. One example of this I saw when I worked with a family that had trouble keeping nurses around because of their culture and beliefs. This was heartbreaking for me to see and only emphasized what I was learning in my courses. The patient and family needed quality care from nurses and was not receiving it because of biased feelings. I have seen this more than once while working through my program. leading me to be even more appreciative of the education I have received. 6.Leadership and Education: Using leadership and education skills a nurse can involve others to help provide a healing environment that promotes improvement for everyone. I gained leadership and educator experience from my Professional Roles and Values course. During this class I was able to better understand how to be an effective leader and educator. It allowed me to better understand how to become a better leader and educator. Although, I had previous experience as a leader and educator at work, this course helped show me ways to improve upon what I already was doing. The course showed me how to effectively use education to look at the outcomes and use them to make decisions on improving patient care. 7.Interpersonal Collaboration: Interpersonal collaboration is crucial for improving the quality and safety of healthcare. To provide holistic care for a patient we must use interpersonal collaboration and work together as a healthcare team. This program has showed me that only by collaborating as health care team does the patient receive the best possible outcomes. I have applied this knowledge to my work in home health pediatrics. My patients have a huge variety of doctors and specialists that they receive care from. As a case manager I have learned that I need to collaborate and communicate well with all these healthcare providers. If we do not collaborate as a team something crucial could be missed and my patients would not receive the best level of care. I have seen many examples where non collaborating led to medication errors and lack of proper care. My coursework has emphasized to me the importance of collaboration between patient, family, and all healthcare providers. This will help ensure quality care and better patient outcomes. 8.Genomics and Genetics: During my program I learned how to incorporate the use of genomics and genetics into patient care. It was required to obtain an AMNH certificate though the America Museum of Natural History. This course taught me that looking at my patients clinically by understanding their genetics can help provide the highest quality of care. I also learned that genetic variables could have an impact on how patients respond to treatments and even medications. Before this course, I had not put a lot of thought about how genetics could have a big impact on the outcome of a patient. I knew genomics and genetics could play a part in patient’s care, but this course enhanced my awareness and knowledge. 9.Information Technology: The healthcare industry continues to move forward with pursuing more ways to provide quality patient care with the use of technology. This makes it important for the nurse to be able to use technology to effectively communicate, prevent errors, and use nursing knowledge to provide quality patient care. Technology allows healthcare workers to carefully document a patient’s care and offer a way to give patient’s efficient holistic care. My Information Management and Application of Technology class taught me how to effectively and ethically use technology to provide quality nursing care. A.2e Analyze how you fulfilled the following roles during your program: 1. Scientist: Being a scientist includes data collection as well as research and analyzing the information collected. During my Leadership Learning Project, I played the role of the scientist by collecting data from a variety of sources. Researching medical journals and articles helped me to understand and decide articles that were relevant to my topic. This project helped me to play the role of a scientist by identifying topics that were relevant to my research. After gathering information, I was able to further my role as a scientist by comparing my research to the current practices. By playing the role of a scientist I was able to use research and evidencebased practice to solve the problem of ineffective communication among staff members of my home health company. 2.Detective: Being a detective includes data collection, observation, noticing changes, and then using that information to prevent negative outcomes. During my Leadership Learning Project, I began my role of the detective by gathering information from many sources including: my coworkers, nurse manager team, my patients/patient’s families, and medical chart/electronic data. I gathered information from my co-workers and nurse manager team verbally through interviews and written through surveys. My continued role of the detective came through observation of the current practices in place and noticing changes. All this combined helped me to come up with solutions to help prevent the ineffective communication that was taking place at my work. 3.Manager of Healing Environment: Being a manager of the healing environment entails the nurse provides the optimal environment for the patient to receive the upmost safe and quality care. During my Leadership Learning Project, as the manager of healing environment I was able to collaborate with my co-workers and nurse manager team to look at solutions to solve the ineffective communication that was taking place. Solving this problem would provide a better environment for everyone involved including the healthcare providers as well as patients and their families. Overall, this meant providing the safest and most quality care as a manager of the healing environment. A.2f Discuss how you have grown professionally since the beginning of your program. This program has given me an increased confidence to be the best nurse I can be. Before this program I did have lack of confidence or believing in myself at times. This program has given me the education and resources I need to gain confidence in my nursing knowledge, ability, and skills. Before this program I had many ideas about improving situations, but I did not really know how to apply them or involve the healthcare team. This program has provided me with tools like using my nursing skills, critical thinking and evidence-based practice to provide the highest quality of care. I am no longer hesitant to voice my thoughts and ideas and use them through research and collaboration to provide improvement at my work. Lastly, have learned healthcare industry is always evolving which means there is opportunity to continue to learn and increase your knowledge. B.1 Reflect on your professional definition of quality and safety developed in Professional Roles and Values, including any necessary changes to your definition. My original definition of quality and safety developed in Professional Roles and Values included providing the best possible care for my patients by providing a safe and quality environment, resulting in positive patient’s outcomes. I reflected on how important quality and safety are in my job as a home health nurse for special needs children. Many times, at my job I am the only health care provider with my patients. This means that one mistake, even one that may seem small, in safety or quality could lead to negative outcomes. Many of my patients are non-verbal and use equipment that sustains their lives. The quality of care provided to them and safety measures being maintained can be a life or death matter. Therefore, providing the safest and best quality care go hand in hand. B.1a Discuss how the program assisted you in developing your professional definition. This program and my course work have reinforced to me that promoting quality and safety as a nurse are of upmost importance. I have learned that the quality of care my patients receive can be greatly enhanced by using safety strategies and applying interventions if needed. This program has shown me that without appropriate safety measures being placed and followed, there will be a lack of quality care. Safety and quality go together in providing the best patient outcomes. Though my education, I have learned that safety means providing the patient with a safe environment while quality involves looking at the practices and procedures. B.1b Identify the artifacts in your portfolio that support your definition. Task 1 of Leadership and Professional Image (C493) Task 1 of Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Knowledge (C361) Task 1, 2, & 3 of Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership (C489) B.1bI Explain how these artifacts support your definition from part B1. In task 1 of Leadership and Professional Image (C493) I worked on solving the problem of ineffective communication in my home health company. The lack of effective communication was leading to a definite lack of quality care. There were also several incidences I stated that showed how the ineffective communication led to unsafe incidences including medications errors. In task 1 of Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Knowledge (C361) I looked at articles that pertained to safe opioid use by patients and nurse’s feelings on patients with opioid use disorder. This reflects on safety through talking about the safe use of opioids. It also looks at how the nurse’s feelings can directly affect the quality of care a patient receives. If a nurse has negative feelings towards a patient with opioid use disorder, then they may not provide quality care which could lead to an unsafe environment. In task 1, 2, & 3 of Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership (C489) I looked at ways to provide a safe environment and the best quality of care for my patients. This included learning about nursing quality outcome indicators, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), and healthcare financing. All these completed course work support my definition of safety and quality of care for patients. B.2 Discuss the importance of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) certificate for your future role as a professional nurse. Receiving my IHI certificate not only gave me continuing education units required to maintain my license, but also gave me skills and knowledge that will assist me throughout my nursing career. This course emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to patient care including things like involving family members in patient care, continued follow-up care, and analyzing situations using cause and effect. The IHI offers expert opinions, education, and advice on situations that I come across daily at work. The education provided gave me vital knowledge that I can continue to use and grow with through my nursing career. C.1 Reflect on your professional definition of evidence-based practice developed in Professional Roles and Values, including any necessary changes to your definition. My original definition of evidence-based developed in Professional Roles and Values included using research to better patient care. After completing my coursework, I have learned that evidence-based entails much more than just using research. Evidence-based practice uses research, evidence, evaluation, patient/family values and beliefs, and healthcare professional’s knowledge to look at problems and create solutions. During my course work I developed a better understanding of looking at contributing factors and developing strategies to prevent further incidences. Overall, my definition of evidence-based practice is combining the most appropriate research/journals, healthcare clinical knowledge, as well as patient’s values/beliefs/preference to provide solutions to better patient outcomes and healthcare processes. C.1a Discuss how the program assisted you in developing your professional definition. My course work gave me multiple opportunities to use evidence-base practice to find solutions to healthcare problems and better patient outcomes. I learned to look for credible information pertaining to my research and use the information appropriately. Before the program, I had an idea of what evidence-based practice was but did not know all the details involved. I did not have a clear-cut idea of how to apply my knowledge and research to make for better outcomes. C.1b Identify the artifacts in your portfolio that support your definition. Task 1 and 2 of Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Knowledge (C361) Task 1 of Leadership and Professional Image (C493) C.1bi Explain how these artifacts support your definition from part C1. In task 1 of Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Knowledge (C361) I learned how to find appropriate research articles. The web and journals contain a vast amount of information. Using evidence-based practice entails finding the right information and journals that pertain to the research you are doing but it is important to be able to decipher which information is pertinent, relevant and credible. This task also taught me about the difference between qualitive and quantitative research articles. In task 2 of Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Knowledge (C361) I looked at a problem and came up with a PICO question that I could answer with research. The research included five research articles and two non-research articles that would support my question. In task 1 of Leadership and Professional Image (C493) I used evidence -base practice to complete my Leadership Learning Project of coming up with solutions to solve ineffective communication. All of these tasks gave me a more in-depth experience at using evidence-based practice to provide solutions for providing quality care and better patient outcomes. C.2a Discuss how you can evaluate current primary research and apply the concepts to your nursing practice, considering the following: Relevancy and believability of data Relevancy and believability of research can be decided by looking at the objectivity of it. The research should not be biased or obsolete in any way. There should be credible information supported by reliable sources. Differences between quality improvement and research The difference between quality improvement and research can be seen in the processes used to find solutions. Quality improvement is a process used to quickly provide a solution to a problem in the healthcare process. Quality improvement use evaluation and experience to come up with a solution to provide a immediate result that will set certain standards. Research is an in-depth process that includes a hypothesis, data collection, testing of the hypothesis, and coming up with solutions. Research looks at a theory and answers a question you have asked and goes past the walls of your job. Research can influence the nursing profession overall, not just at the job level. Differences between primary and secondary research and resources and the implications of each in clinical practice Primary research has never been explored or tested. Secondary research has been tested on one or more primary research. Primary research could be used immediately at your health care facility like looking at ways of cutting costs. Secondary research looks at a nursing issue and uses previous research to further explore ways to improve your healthcare setting. C.2b Explain how your experience in the program helped you achieve excellence in evidence-based practice. This program has helped me to use evidence-based practice to look at research from previous people/experiences combined with my own research to find ways of improving. Throughout the program I had multiple opportunities to identify healthcare problems and use evidence-based practice to find interventions and solutions. I am now better at finding reliable and credible research to use in my healthcare profession. Before I started this program, I did not know how to apply my thoughts to other people’s research. Now, I can turn my ideas and thoughts into actual research. My leadership learning project helped me to use multiple types of research through evidence-based practice to improve communication among staff and patients/families. This project had a great impact and lasting effect that has really shown me the importance of using evidence-based practice. D1: Reflect on your professional definition of applied leadership you developed in Professional Roles and Values, including any necessary changes to your definition. Before starting this program, I viewed applied leadership as using leadership skills to provide better care and patient outcomes for my patients and their families. During my Professional Roles and Values course my definition was expanded. I learned how to better apply my leadership skills as well as ways to better show leadership in my type of work. This course showed me how crucial showing leadership skills as a nurse is to providing quality care and promoting a good working environment. My definition of applied leadership has been strengthened by the additional knowledge I have obtained. I view applied leadership as using current policies/procedures, as well as new ones, to lead by example to improve patient outcomes and provide the highest level of care. D.1a Discuss how the program assisted you in developing your professional definition. This program has provided me with essential information and experiences to apply applied leadership skills in my healthcare profession as a nurse. I have experienced and used new types of leadership in order to be a more effective nurse. D.1b. Identify the artifacts in your portfolio that support your definition. Task 1, 2, & 3 of Professional Roles and Values (C304) Task 1, 2, & 3 of Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership (C489) Task 1 of Leadership and Professional Image (C493) D.1bi. Explain how these artifacts support the definition from part D1. Task 1, 2, & 3 of Professional Roles and Values (C304) all show how important applied leadership is in a variety of situations. Tasks 1, 2, and 3 he Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership (C489) show how leadership qualities can be used to provide the best quality of care and patient outcomes. Task 1 of Leadership and Professional image(C493) I was able to use applied leadership to complete my leadership learning project. Through my increased knowledge and completing this project I learned that there are a variety of ways to demonstrate leadership. D.2a Summarize your Learning Leadership Experience task by doing the following. Discuss the importance of professional collaboration for effective nursing leadership. During my Leadership and Professional Image (C493) class task 1 I was able to use applied leadership and collaboration to complete my leadership learning project. I work in a home health environment where I am not around other nurses or staff frequently. The importance of collaboration through different forms became very apparent during this project. The problem I was trying to resolve was the lack of effective communication among our staff as well as the patients and their families. One way I learned to show leadership and encourage collaboration was through using the nurse communication notes as well as the patient notes to provide efficient communication. This is a crucial way to share any important information, good or bad, about our patient's care during your shift. This may include new medications, requests from parents or schoolteachers, and any new suggestions to provide better care for the patient. During this project I showed leadership by making it my goal to read all my patient's notes before my shift as well as providing detailed and helpful notes for the other nurses to read. By doing this, other nurses may be encouraged to do the same thing. In the end, this provides the best quality of care for our patients. By collaborating with my nurse manager, healthcare team, office staff, and patient’s family, I was able to show leadership and come up with a solution for our ineffective communication. E.1. Reflect on your professional definition of community and population health you developed in Professional Roles and Values, including any necessary changes to your definition. Me definition of community and population health includes evaluating the health care needs of a community and using that information to implement measures to prevent and improve the situation. Throughout my course work my ideas and education on services available for healthcare professionals and the public were enhanced. My definition did not change much throughout this program but I became more aware when looking at the community and the services I can use to E.1a Discuss how the program assisted you in developing your professional definition. During this program I completed tasks and coursework that helped to show me new ways to rigorously evaluate a community and assess for ways to help prevent and improve upon problems that exist within that community. I also learned about numerous programs and services that can be used to help healthcare providers and the general population. I am now more aware of my community and how to become a better advocate for them. This entails collaborating with a variety healthcare providers and organizations as well as using services available to me and my community to help develop ways to improve upon the community. E.1b Identify the artifacts in your portfolio that support your definition. Task 1 and 2 of Community Health and Population Focused Nursing (C228) E.1bi Explain how these artifacts support the definition from part E1. During task 1 and 2 of Community Health and Population Focused Nursing I looked at assessing healthcare problems in the community and developed ways to prevent and solve them. Task 1 entailed looking at a simulation of Sentinel City and assessing potential health risks or issues that could be improved on in the city. This activity improved my ability to look at the community as whole, looking for risks I may have expected or ones that may be not expected. In task 2 I looked at a simulation and assessed how influenza impacted the community overall. This activity helped me look even further at being an advocate for the community. The second part of the task was to look at all aspects of a disease that impacted the community globally. All these activities enhanced my understanding of community and population health. 2.a Discuss what you learned during your Community Health Nursing task. My Community Health Nurse Task really helped me to learn and practice skills at becoming an advocate for my community. Throughout this task I have learned about the services available to me as a healthcare provider as well as the population in the community. I have always been an active person that enjoys eating nutritious/healthy food. Because of this I chose the topic of prevention of overweight and obesity through healthy nutrition and physical activity. During my research, I looked up the obesity rates for adults and children as well as comparing Utah to other states in America. Also, I learned how to collaborate with a variety organizations and people including schools, food banks, government programs, hospitals, and instacares. One important thing I learned was how to look for as many possible resources that are available to the population. This was needed when trying to promote healthy food to the population. Many people stated that eating healthy was too expensive for them, but I after researching I was able to find some resources to help with that. Overall, I learned how to use all the skills I had learned throughout my program to become a nurse advocate for the community by promoting, preventing, and helping find ways to solve problems. 2.b Discuss what you learned that led to your community diagnosis. I have always had an interest in being active and promoting healthy eating. My kids and I are always outdoors being active whenever possible. In these times, it seems that many people are attached to their electronic devices. Some of my best memories are when I was a kid running around all day and night-just waiting for my parents to yell for me to come inside when it got dark. Also, cooking is a passion of mine that I genuinely love to enjoy in my free time. So many people think eating healthy is too expensive, too hard to maintain, and the food does not taste good. All of this combined with the rising obesity rates led me to want to find resources and ways to prevent obesity through healthy eating and physical activity. 2.c Discuss how your initial focus and diagnosis evolved after working with your population. Initially my focus was on promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles for children. After starting my research, I noted these were equally important for adults. It also became apparent that promoting healthy eating was easier when the whole family became involved. This has been seen in my personal life when trying to cook for my family. Involving my kids in the making and cooking of nutritious meals made them more likely to want to eat them. Also, finding active things to do for the whole family can make for great and healthy memories. After working with my population I focused and providing ways to prevent obesity with family focused (whoever lives in the home included) healthy eating and activivities. 3. Discuss the importance of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) certificate for your future role as a professional nurse. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in Genetics, Genomics, and Genethics for Nursing helped me to appreciate various ways scientists are developing for preventing and treating diseases. Before this course, I did not give much thought to how important genetics can be in treating a patient. During this course I learned how a person’s genes can influence their health and treatments needed. This course gave me increased knowledge on the fact that the healthcare industry continues to develop and change using research from this field of studies. Overall, this course gave me knowledge to help me understand how to give my patients the highest quality of care.