Role of nurses in building healthy communities
Purpose
This assessment tasks responds to unit learning outcomes 3, 4 and 5.
The written assignment requires students to integrate the role of the nurse with the building of healthy communities. This will assist you to meet the demands of a shift in care delivery and expose you to the reality that the nursing practice environment reaches beyond the health care facility toward a broader context. Skills necessary for graduate practice include an understanding that the role of a nurse can extend beyond the health care facility and into the wider community.
Essay Topic:
You are a nurse working in a disadvantaged community. Describe how you would work in partnership using a strengths based approach with community groups to develop a mutually respectful and supportive collaboration in a high needs community to address a health issue (one of the NHPAs – see the list below).
Students should select one of the National Health Priority Areas listed below on which to focus the essay discussion.
- Cancer control
- Cardiovascular health
- Injury prevention and control
- Mental health
- Diabetes mellitus
- Asthma
- Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions
- Obesity
- Dementia
Guidelines for preparing your essay
In developing your essay –
- Read widely.
- Have a clear understanding of what the topic is asking you to write about and ensure you include discussion of each of the elements identified in the topic statement.
- Use credible, current and relevant evidence from a range of evidence sources (that is, peer reviewed academic journals, appropriate and recent textbooks, online reports, research evidence and discussion papers from reputable and scholarly websites; primary sources) to support the development of your ideas, argument and discussion.
- Add depth and meaning to your discussion by referring to examples which demonstrate the role and function of the nurse in working with community groups to address community health issues. Your examples may focus on local, national or international contexts.
- Write for your target audience – in this case the marker of your work, who is a registered nurse with experience in planning and carrying out health promotion activities in a collaborative way.
- Consideration should be given to the requirements for nursing practice in all practice settings laid down in the NMBA RN Standards for Practice (2016), NMBA Code of Conduct for Nurses (2018) and ICN Code of Ethics (2018) Links to these documents can be accessed
- Ensure you write your assignment using essay format. This means your assignment should have an introduction, body and conclusion. Traditionally, essays do not have headings, subheadings, lists or tables (see ACU Academic Skills Unit. (2020). “What are academic essays?”))
- Enlist a proof reader to check for errors of grammar, spelling and punctuation, as well as incorrect use of APA style in your referencing, before you submit your assignment.
Role of nurses in building healthy communities
