Post the summary of your article to the discussion forum.
In addition to your original post, be sure to provide a meaningful response. Read other students’ article summaries and respond to at least two other students’ postings that focused on the health needs of two populations that were different from the one you chose. (Step 1 lists the three populations.) What else do you want to know about the health need? Comment and/or expand on the implications for population-based nursing posed for the other two populations. Give suggestions for enhancing the proposed interventions. Expand on aspects of population-based and community-based nursing as defined by others that are different from or complementary to your own ideas.
Your initial post should be 2-3 paragraphs long and follow the requirements. Please add to the discussion in your peer responses with informative responses, instead of posts similar to “great idea! I really agree with you.” The initial post and the peer responses have different deadlines. Make sure that your discussion adheres to these deadlines.
APA guidelines and plagiarism prevention matter in discussion posts just like with other scholarly assignments. Cite all references appropriately using APA format.
Discussion #1
The article “Perspectives: The health of people with intellectual disabilities: realizing the future potential of all nurses and nursing to reduce health disparities” discusses the important role all nurses can play in improving the health and well-being of people with intellectual disabilities (Norway,2017). The key takeaway for me was that people with intellectual disabilities experience significant health disparities compared to the general population, with higher rates of many health conditions (Norway,2017). However, the health needs of people with intellectual disabilities can vary widely, just as in the general population. All nurses, regardless of their field of practice, have the potential to contribute to improving the health of people with intellectual disabilities. Realizing this potential will require specific education and training for nurses on caring for people with intellectual disabilities, as well as policy changes to support this role. Nurses can help reduce health disparities faced by people with intellectual disabilities by advocating for their needs, providing holistic and accessible care, and collaborating with other healthcare providers. The article emphasizes that all nurses have an important part to play in addressing the significant health inequities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities (Norway,2017).
Research has shown that people who possess intellectual disabilities need health promotion efforts aimed at determinants and risk factors that are specific to this population (Cardell, 2015). One population-focused nursing intervention that could improve the health of people with intellectual disabilities is implementing a comprehensive nurse-led health promotion program within group homes and other community settings that serve this population. Studies have shown that tailoring education and activities focused on areas like physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and chronic disease management lead to improved health outcomes for those with this disability (Cardell, 2015). Implementing these efforts is only a starting point but could serve a lot of good to many people with this disability.
Reference
Cardell, B. (2015). Reframing health promotion for people with intellectual disabilities.
National Library of Medicine.
to an external site.
Norway, R. (2017). Perspectives: The health of people with intellectual disabilities: realising the future potential of all nurses and nursing to reduce health disparities.
Sage Journals.
to an external site.
Discussion #2
The article, Nursing Care for Persons with Developmental Disabilities: Review of Literature on Barriers and Facilitators Faced by Nurses to Provide Care, seeks to identify the challenges nurses face when caring for people with developmental disabilities. It also highlights the facilitators that could help practitioners deliver quality care to this population. The article reports that although nurses are well-positioned to provide care to people with developmental disabilities, they are not fully equipped to deliver optimum results. However, they can become essential partners in supporting the health of this population with adequate staffing, collaboration, training, and resource allocation.
Nurses face specific challenges that limit their ability to take active roles when caring for this population. One of them is time constraints; nurses take extra responsibilities when caring for people with developmental disabilities due to their unique needs. They take more time communicating with clients and sometimes opt to avoid direct communication with the patient and rely on family members. Another challenge is staffing shortage, where nurses have difficulties allocating time to meet the needs of people with developmental disabilities. An imbalanced nurse-patient ratio means practitioners experience increased workloads and may fail to meet varied patient needs. Communication challenges were also mentioned in the article. Nurses experience difficulties explaining interventions or procedures to patients with disabilities due to their limited intellectual abilities. Finally, inadequate education and training appeared as a barrier to providing care to people with developmental disabilities.
One solution that would be ideal for dealing with the problem identified in the article includes raising awareness about developmental disabilities. This will help nurses understand patients with disabilities and the challenges they may present in clinical settings. As a result, they will adopt an empathetic approach when caring for them.
References
Khanlou, N., Khan, A., Kurtz Landy, C., Srivastava, R., McMillan, S., VanDeVelde‐Coke, S., & Vazquez, L. M. (2022). Nursing care for persons with developmental disabilities: Review of literature on barriers and facilitators faced by nurses to provide care. Nursing Open, 10(2).
