Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

Professional Leadership

Part A. Proposal

1. Issue of concern

The issue of concern is the treatment and prevention of obesity among school-age children (between 2 and 19 years of age). Obesity is a complex health issue that results in the child reporting weight that exceeds the healthy/normal range for the height and weight. The occurrence of obesity could cause harm to the child’s body in a variety of ways to include gastro-esophageal reflux, gallstones, fatty liver diseases, musculoskeletal discomfort, joint problems, and breathing problems. In addition, it increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and glucose tolerance.

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Besides that, it causes high cholesterol and high blood pressure that act as risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The causes of obesity include genetics and behavior. The issue of concern is that obesity is preventable through behavior changes and yet significant numbers of school children still become obese. Addressing the problem of obesity among children through prevention strategies offers an opportunity to improve the community’s health (More, 2014).Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

2. Investigation of the problem

A review of the issue of obesity among school-age children (between 2 and 19 years of age) reveals that 18.5% of all school-age children in the USA are obese. This translates to 13.7 million children and teenagers. A review of the figures among the different age groups reveals an increasing prevalence trend as children age. Among children between 2 and 5 years of age, obesity prevalence is reported at 13.9%. Among children between 6 and 11 years of age, obesity prevalence is reported at 18.4%. Among teenagers between 12 and 19 years of age, obesity prevalence is reported at 20.6%. A review of obesity prevalence among school-age children based on ethnicity/race reveals significant trends. Among Hispanics at 25.8%, Blacks at 22.0%, Whites at 14.1% and Asians at 11.0%. These data trends are worrying since obesity puts this population at significant risk of poor health (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

3. Areas that contribute to the problem

Obesity is caused by a range of factors to include genetics and behaviors. Genetics as a caused of obesity is evidenced by incidences of obesity along family lines and ethnicity. Control over genetics is as yet not a possible given the current medical technologies. However, modifying behavior has been successfully applied to control obesity occurrence. The behaviors that influence excessive weight gain include sleep routines, medication use, eating low nutrient beverages and foods, and high-calorie foods. Spending too much time on sedentary activities, such as playing video games and watching television, and not getting enough physical activity can lead to weight gain. On the other hand, being physically active and consuming healthy foods can help the child to maintain a healthy weight. Balancing the calories and energy consumed from beverages and food with those burned through physical activity plays an important role in preventing excessive weight gain v.Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

4. Proposed solution to the problem

The proposed solution is conducting nurse-led community education targeted at school-age children with the intention of increasing their awareness of obesity with regards to its prevalence, causes, prevention and impacts. The focus of the education would be on the importance of adopting healthy behaviors to include eating healthy diets and physical activity. The education would empower the target group to be involved in improving their health status. Also, the involvement in their care would increase the likelihood of them engaging in the behavioral interventions that may increase the chances for positive outcomes (Pérez&Luquis, 2014).Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

5. Resources for implementing the proposed solution

Implementing the nurse-led community will require four resources. The first resource is a nurse who will conduct the community education in terms of preparing the education material and facilitating the whole education process. The second resource is a room/hall in which to conduct the community education. The room should be able to accommodate all the participants with furniture and allow for the programmed education activities (such as discussion, presentation and games) to proceed. The third resource is a computer, projector and public address system. This is important for delivering the education material. The final resource is a presentation, poster and handouts. These contain the education content. The total cost of the resources has been estimated at $250 targeted at engaging 30 participants in a 60-minute education program. The results of the program are expected to present significant savings in terms of reduced obesity incidences and healthier bodies so that they spend less on health care (Truglio-Londrigan&Lewenson, 2018). Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

6. Timeline for implementing proposed solution

Table 1. Timeline for project implementation

The project timeline has been estimated at 10 days (see Table 1).

7. Stakeholders

The stakeholders in the program are the individuals and groups with in interest in fulfilling its mission in terms of delivering the intended results and outcomes over time. Four groups of stakeholders have been identified (see Table 2). Involving the stakeholders is important because they have the capacity to produce positive change, but do not have the power needed to sustain the change. The program offers them an opportunity to act as highly motivated and powerful drivers who help to achieve and sustain positive change in weight management among school-age children (Harris et al., 2016).Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

Table 2. Stakeholders and their interest in the project

8. Implementation

The proposed solution will be implemented as a community education program. The strategy applied will involve using public education facilities as a community services center for meeting the educational needs of the sample of school-age children. This strategy recruits a sample of school-age children who are subjected to the education program in which they are educated on concerns about obesity and prevention. It is anticipated that at the end of the project, the participants will be better prepared to eat healthy foods and engage in programmed physical activity with the result being improved weight management and lower incidences of obesity (Snipes, 2016).Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

Part B. Roles

The process of investigation and proposal development associated with the present project were helpful in fulfilling the roles of scientist, detective and manager of the healing environment. Firstly, it fulfills the role of a scientist by perusing, evaluating, interpreting and applying scientific evidence when planning and providing culturally sensitive, quality and safe nursing care for the target group. Before settling on an appropriate solution, it was important to explore and understand the problem as well as other possible solutions. The whole process of investigation made extensive use of scientific skills(Masters, 2015). Secondly, it fulfills the role of a detective by detecting subtle deviations and changes from expected health patterns while managing patient care. It was determined that while obesity is a concern, it is caused by unhealthy foods and physical inactivity among school-age children. This causes them to gain weight and become obese. The investigation determined that healthy foods and physical activity would play a significant role in improving weight management and reducing obesity incidences. Thirdly, it fulfills the role of manager of the healing environment by responding to unpredictable events and situations common in the health care environment with appropriate creativity and flexibility. Obesity is a concern among school-age children, and nurses can respond by educating the target population so that their knowledge levels are increased thus ensuring that they have the capacity to select healthy foods and make the conscious decision to be physically activity thus improving weight management (Masters, 2015).Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

Harris, J., Roussel, L., Thomas, P., & Dearman, P. (2016). Project Planning & Management: A Guide for Nurses and Interprofessional Teams. Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.

Masters, K. (2015). Nursing Theories: A Framework for Professional Practice (2^nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.

More, J. (2014). Infant, Child and Adolescent Nutrition: A Practical Handbook. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group.

Pérez, M., &Luquis, R. (2014). Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Snipes, C. (2016). Project Management for the Advanced Practice Nurse. Springer Publishing Company.

Truglio-Londrigan, M., &Lewenson, S. (Eds.) (2018). Public Health Nursing: Practicing Population-Based Care (3^rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.Professional Leadership Part A. Proposal and Part B. Roles.