Osteoporosis is one of the health problems that African American women face. Osteoporosis is associated with negative health outcomes such as increasing the risk of fractures and increased hospital visits by the affected women. Lifestyle and behavioral interventions are effective in reducing the risk of adverse outcomes in osteoporosis. Therefore, this evidence-based practice project aims at determining the impact of educating African American women with osteoporosis about dietary supplementation of calcium and vitamin D on risk and rates of fractures. The project will be implemented in our institution. The project will be implemented following a carefully developed plan that will include training of nurses, recruitment of subjects, provision of health education, monitoring and follow-up, data collection, analysis and presentation of data. The trans-theoretical model of change will guide the implementation of the project. It is anticipated that the project will contribute to the improvement in quality, safety, efficiency, and provision of patient-centered care. The evaluation outcomes will inform the decisions made about the project.
Section A: Organizational Culture and Readiness Assessment
Assessing the organizational culture and readiness is an essential step for the effective implementation of evidence-based practice. This process helps in examining the scope of change, affected stakeholders, change capacity, and the preparedness of the concerned stakeholders for the change. This paper utilizes the “Organization Culture and Readiness for System-Wide Integration of Evidence-Based Practice” as the survey tool for assessing the organizational culture and readiness (Pittman et al., 2019).
Organization’s Readiness Level
Based on the survey tool findings, all stakeholders are quite ready for the change. The findings suggest that clinical nurses have a positive EBP belief level, with quite insufficient levels of EBP knowledge. Other stakeholders such as physicians among other clinicians displayed almost the same results (Pittman et al., 2019). The model displayed a positive correlation between the stakeholder’s EBP knowledge, beliefs, and readiness for change implementation.
The Barriers
The main challenges encountered for the organizational preparedness for the change were both internal and external. One of the challenges is inadequate time for carrying out a literature review on the change for a better understanding of EBP (Yoo et al., 2019). The other challenges include inadequate EBP experience from the stakeholders and lack of enough resources to support the EPB process.
The Facilitators and Conclusion
Human resources comprising of EBP mentors should be trained to serve as facilitators for the change. Consequently, during the development of the EBP education program, a “hands-on education” must be adopted in collaboration with the librarian so as the practical performance can be conducted beyond the EBP concept with an emphasis on its importance (Pittman et al., 2019). Generally, this will help boost the organizational culture and readiness for the change.
Section B: Proposal/Problem Statement and Literature Review
Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disorder characterized by reduced bone mass, that renders bones fragile hence susceptible to fracture. In the United States, among adults above the age of 50 years, approximately 1 in every 2 women, and 1 in every four men will experience an osteoporosis fracture. The risk increases with advanced age. Studies show that women are at high risk of developing osteoporosis than men. In as much as African American women may have a higher BMD, as compared to white women, they still have a significant risk of osteoporosis. In support of the above statement, studies show that African American women tend to have an increased risk of osteoporosis as they tend to consume limited amounts of calcium below the recommended dietary allowance. Consequently, African Americans are more prone to lactose intolerance as compared to individuals from other ethnic groups. Lactose intolerance undermines optimal calcium intake, as individuals with this disorder normally avoid dairy products such as milk, which are excellent dietary sources of calcium. In relation to white women, African American women are less likely to take part in routine osteoporosis screening, for early diagnosis and treatment (Tsai, 2019). This makes them suffer the health burden associated with
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