Paper Example on DNP as an Educational Leader

The medical practitioners with the DNP play significant roles when it comes to educational leadership in the medical environment (Sawyer, 2016). The view is to ensure that quality care is administered to patients through improving the systems associated with care, assessing the outcomes of patients and the community in addition to putting into practice the evidence-based care. Furthermore, with the current complex nature of the medical environment, it has become inevitable for nurses to engage in various roles including research (Sawyer, 2016). It is important to note that the elderly population requires plenty of support and care especially since they are the most affected when it comes to terminal diseases (Martin et.al, 2017). With that, they are the most suitable population for the services of DNP leaders on educational leadership.

Being a leader is viewed as one of the most crucial roles concerning the DNP practice. The leader takes part in challenging the administration and the management in addition to looking for areas that require improvement. A DNP leader is expected to act professionally and engage in tasks that will benefit the whole organization (Sawyer, 2016). On the elderly population, the issue concerning racial identity affects the type of services accorded to them. It, therefore, becomes important to develop a plan that highlights particular needs of the elderly population present in the African American community on how a DNP leader can handle their needs.

Research indicates that the elderly population is the most affected when it comes to chronic illnesses such as cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, diseases that affect the coronary system and so forth (Martin et.al, 2017). Furthermore, the elderly population is on the rise in the sense that the current population tends to be higher when compared to three decades ago (Martin et.al, 2017). Hence, the first step in the plan is to identify the risk factors that make the elderly population from the African American community prone to chronic diseases. The view is that by comprehending the risk factors, it becomes easier to identify the intervention methods which will assist in reducing the prevalence of the conditions in the population. The next step is to ensure that the associated care is flexible to meet the needs of every patient. The view is that every patients is different despite coming from a similar ethnic background and hence the need for treatment methods which are flexible to incorporate change. The third and the final step is to ensure that the patients are responding to care as expected through frequent monitoring (Sawyer, 2016).

Implementation Plan

The implementation plan puts into view the risk factors associated with chronic illnesses and the intervention methods. It should align with the needs of the patients to ensure that proper and quality care is administered (Sawyer, 2016). The first step includes identifying the risk factors of the conditions which puts into view the need for adequate communication. The nurse should be able to communicate effectively with the patient and minimize any barrier that may result in miscommunication. For example, if the patient is deaf, the nurse may look for a sign translator to facilitate the communication process. Another important aspect to include in the plan is assessing the intervention plans and using the interventions which appear to be more promising. The next step is to educate the population on self-care such that one is able to manage his or her health when outside the medical environment (Shrivastava et al., 2016). Self-care strategies such as dieting, exercise, and support from family are viewed to be cost-effective in managing the illnesses (Shrivastava et al., 2016). DNP allows nurses to ensure that patients are treated equally regardless of the ethnic differences and that they receive adequate care (Sawyer, 2016). The implementation plan is estimated to take six months by which patients will be monitored on a regular basis to ensure that they respond to treatment.

References

Martin, M., Rodgers, C., Dabelko-Schoeny, H., Anderson, K., Sweeney, G., & Choi, Y. (2017). Meeting the challenges of an aging population with success. Retrieved 15 July 2017, from http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ki-tcf-senior-study.pdf

Sawyer, T. (2016). Role of the DNP in healthcare. Nurse-practitioners-and-physician-assistants.advanceweb.com. Retrieved from http://nurse-practitioners-and-physician-assistants.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/Role-of-the-DNP-in-Healthcare.aspx

Shrivastava, S. R. B. L., Shrivastava, P. S., & Ramasamy, J. (2013). Health-care of elderly: determinants, needs, and services. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 4(10).