Teaching Plan
Katherine Fermin
NUR 4010 Community Health Nursing
April 18, 2012
Prof. DeBonis
Assessment
The East New York Community is a neighborhood with high crime. The major crimes include violence, theft, and drugs. All these crimes can be connected to gangs. Through personal communication, people in the community are scared to go out at night. These crimes can lead to death. Teenagers and young adults are committing most of these crimes. This community has an excessive high school drop out rate with about 43 percent having less than a high school diploma. The main language spoken in this neighborhood is English followed by Spanish. The majority of the community is African American (50 percent) followed by Hispanics (39 percent). An important assessment to take into consideration when teaching this community is the poverty level. The people in this neighborhood are living below poverty.
Essential information that is needed is the client’s ability to learn, their affective and psychomotor domain. Does the client have any disability that can intervene with the teaching? Is the topic not being presented in an interesting manner? Does the client feel the information being presented is not relevant? What does the client want to learn about the topic? Is there a language barrier? A good way in acquiring this information will be through a short questionnaire. Information can also be obtained from teachers. Teachers know their students most and can give valuable information.
Once the client’s attitude towards the subject and their ability to learn is known the community nurse should focus on the cognitive domains of learning. What does the client already know about gangs? What does the client know about crime? Are there any biases that can obstruct the way the client feels? What does the client know about the importance of education? What does education mean to the client? Does culture play a role in client’s perception of drugs and education?
Communication is the most important part of the teaching. The teaching is aimed towards adolescents. The adolescents are usually up to date with fashion, music and technology. As a community nurse it is important to be aware of what is in and what is not. Grabbing their attention will be important for learning to occur. The community nurse needs to be aware of the language that is being used and should always break things down in the simplest terms. Tone of voice makes a big difference. The adolescents do not enjoy being told what to do. Giving them insight and helping them find there inner strength. The community nurse should dress in approachable manner where the students will feel comfortable enough to discuss certain situations. Once the community nurse gains their trust they will be much more receptive.
Planning
Two nursing diagnosis for this community teaching plan are: knowledge deficit: education related to high dropout rate of adolescents and risk for violence: directed at others related to gang involvement. With the collaboration of the adolescents we came to a mutual agreement for the goals. The first goal is to increase education involvement within the next 6 months. The second goal is to stay away from gang involvement for the next six months. The teaching will take place in a classroom. The seating arraignment will be student friendly. They will sit wherever they want in small groups. Audio and visual learning will take place. The teaching will be done in English because the majority of the students speak English as the first language. The material will be available in other languages for the bilingual students. Talking and group discussion on the topic will be encouraged throughout the lesson. The ultimate nursing goal for these adolescents will be to give them insight on the importance of an education and keep them away from harm.
Implementation
Knowledge deficit: education related to excessive high school drop out rate.
- The nurse will educate and demonstrate the use of imagery, music and breathing techniques to decrease anxiety and stress in the students. Many students that drop out are stressed with things other than school. Some drop out because they are afraid to take the regents due to test anxiety. The nurse can also discuss other ways to decrease stressors like: walking, reading, and exercising.
- The community nurse will give out educational pamphlets about reasons why staying in school leads to better success. Studies have been conducted and having a high school education leads to higher paying jobs and more job opportunities.
- The students need someone to look up to. Assigning the students with a mentor can have a great impact. The relationship built with the mentor has a trusting foundation. A mentor can be anyone that the student can look up to.
- The nurse can refer the students to the counselor. Many students don’t take advantage of the use of the school counselor. Some students drop out because they have to support the family or have a teen pregnancy. The counselor can help the students look for alternatives to finish school around their work schedule. The counselor will help students look for a school that offers baby sitting. The guidance counselor can help the students that drop out because they just aren’t interested. There are many uses for a guidance counselor. The nurse should also remind the students that they can always go to the teacher and nurse if they do not feel comfortable going to the counselor or the mentor.
Risk for violence: at others related to gang involvement.
- The nurse can have the students watch an interactive, educational video based on gang violence. Many teenagers do not know what they are getting themselves into before it’s too late. They think being in a gang is a cool thing and that harm won’t come their way. The truth they need to learn is that being in a gang not only puts their lives at risk but can also get them behind bars.
- Something that can grab the student’s attention during the teaching is to bring a guest. The guest would be someone who was a gang member or a victim of a gang crime. Real life stories can make a real life impact on these adolescents.
- The community nurse can collaborate with the teachers to create school clubs that are interesting to the students. Giving the students options on the kinds of activities they like would keep them more interested. Clubs can create a positive influence on the students. The community nurse should always remember they are advocates and speaking up for the students can make a difference.
- The community nurse can refer the students to the physical education teacher to sign up for sports. Sending the students to join sports doesn’t just happen by saying it. The nurse needs to educate them on the benefits of joining sports like good health, fun and meeting new people. Joining sports not only require the students to be drug free but they must also maintain good grades and stay out of trouble.
Evaluation
There was an increase of students visiting the counselor. All the students had a mentor they can talk to and met up with the mentors weekly. The students were not only able to verbalize how to use relaxation techniques but also were able to demonstrate how to do it. The students showed an increase in grades when using the relaxation technique before exams. The adolescents found the pamphlets helpful and verbalized why an education is important. Overall there was an increased involvement in school. There was a positive attitude towards education and no drop outs.
There was an increase in students joining sports. The teachers gave the students options of what kinds of clubs they would like to have in the school. The students not only enjoyed having a guest speak about their history with gangs but asked many questions. The students also requested to watch other videos about the gang violence. Overall there was a decrease in gang related crimes and no adolescents were injured or injured anyone else due to gang violence.
The community nurse should recommend the students to continue joining sports and staying away from trouble. The community nurse should remind the students about the importance of visiting the guidance counselor for any issue they might have. Give the students contact information of where you can be reached if they are ever having issues and feel as they have no one to talk to. It’s important for the community nurse to follow up with the adolescents once in a while to evaluate the results and need for further teaching.
Reference Page Citation
Allender, J.A., Rector, C., Warner, K .D. (2010). Community Health Nursing Promoting & Protecting the Public’s Health. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwe, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
City Data (2011). 11208 Zip Code detailed Profile. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/zips/11208.html
Nanda List of Nursing Diagnosis. (2006). Retrieved from http://nclex.ucoz.net/_ld/0/30_NANDALISTOFDIAG.pdf
