Although the nurse’s primary role is to provide primary care to patients, nurses can also make positive contributions to the design and implementation of healthcare programs. They work with members of interdisciplinary teams to advocate for health programs that are aimed at improving patient outcomes (Scott & Scott, 2021). This assignment will present an interview transcript describing the role of the nurse in the design and implementation of a healthcare program intending to screen women in the community for breast cancer.
Tell us about a healthcare program, within your practice. What are the costs and projected outcomes of this program?
A healthcare program within my personal practice that needs the nurse’s contribution focuses on screening women in the community for breast cancer for free. Early detection of breast cancer influences the initiation of timely and management plans. Screening women who are at risk of developing breast cancer can facilitate early identification of the disease for early management (Grimm et al., 2022). The cost of the healthcare program is estimated to be 5,000 United States dollars. The expected outcome is an increase in the number of women in the community screened for breast cancer.
Who is your target population?
The target population in the health program is all women in the community aged 40 years and above. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), a person’s risk of developing breast cancer increases with age.
What is the role of the nurse in providing input for the design of this healthcare program? Can you provide examples?
The nurse plays an important role in providing input for the design of the healthcare program. For example, the nurse establishes the right procedure to follow during screening, ensuring that participants are recruited effectively into the program (Brown et al., 2021). Additionally, the nurse ensures that the vital signs of participants are obtained before the actual screening is conducted.
What is your role as an advocate for your target population for this healthcare program? Do you have input into design decisions? How else do you impact design?
As a nurse, I have an advocacy role in the healthcare program as I have to ensure that the program is safe for participants. For example, I have input into the design decisions regarding how the screening can be done in an ethical manner. I also impact the design because I can influence decision-making regarding the specific parameters that should be collected during the screening.
What is the role of the nurse in healthcare program implementation? How does this role vary between the design and implementation of healthcare programs? Can you provide examples?
The nurse plays an important role in the implementation of the healthcare program. For example, the nurse obtains consent from participants when recruiting them into the program. Additionally, the nurse collects vital signs before the screening starts and records the right parameters during the actual screening. These roles vary between the design and implementation in that during the design phase, the nurse participates in decision-making to establish the right procedure to be followed during screening (Brown et al., 2021). However, during the implementation phase, the nurse takes part in obtaining consent, collecting vital signs, and recording data obtained during the actual screening.
Who are the members of a healthcare team that you believe are most needed to implement a program? Can you explain why?
The members of a healthcare team that I believe is the most needed to implement the program are an oncologist, a registered nurse, a nurse informaticist, and a finance officer. These professionals must work together to ensure the success of the program.
Brown, T., Cruickshank, S., & Noblet, M. (2021). Specialist breast care nurses for support of women with breast cancer. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2(2), CD005634. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005634.pub3
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). What are the risk factors for breast cancer? https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/risk_factors.htm#:~:text=The%20risk%20for%20breast%20cancer,of%20breast%20and%
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