NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

INSTRUCTIONS Details: Throughout the RN-to-BSN program, students are required to participate in scholarly activities outside of clinical practice or professional practice. Examples of scholarly activities include attending conferences, seminars, journal club, grand rounds, morbidity and mortality meetings, interdisciplinary committees, quality improvement committees, and any other opportunities available at your site, within your community, or nationally. You are required to post one scholarly activity while you are in the BSN program, which should be documented by the end of this course NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

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In addition to this submission, you are required to be involved and contribute to interdisciplinary initiatives on a regular basis. Submit, as the assignment, a summary report of the scholarly activity, including who, what, where, when and any relevant take-home points. Include the appropriate program competencies associated with the scholarly activity as well as future professional goals related to this activity. You may use the \”Scholarly Activity Summary\” resource to help guide this assignment. While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. You are not required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.docx Scholarly Activity Summary This document describes the scholarly activity elements that should be included in a five paragraph summary. You may use this resource to help guide the preparation of the Scholarly Activities assignment, due in Topic 10. Overview This section consists of a single paragraph that succinctly describes the scholarly activity that you attended/participated in, the target market for the activity, and the benefit of the activity to youNRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary. Problem This section consists of either a short narrative or a list of bullet points that concisely identifies the problems the scholarly activity is designed to solve. Educate: What is the current state of the activity topic? Explain why this is a problem, and for whom is it a problem? Inspire: What could a nurse achieve by participating in the scholarly activity? Use declarative sentences with simple words to communicate each point. Less is more. Solution This section consists of either a short paragraph or a list of bullet points that concisely describes the solution to a proposed practice problem that the scholarly activity addressed and how it addresses the problem outlined in the previous section. Opportunity This section consists of short paragraphs that define the opportunity that the scholarly activity is designed to capture. It is important to cover the objectives and goals that were met. How will attending/participating in this scholarly activity help you grow as a nurse? Program Competencies Addressed This section consists of a list of program competencies that were addressed in this scholarly activity. Please use the list from the ISP NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

Scholarly activity summary

Overview

The scholarly activity intended to answer the question of how a patient suffering from mild depression can be treated using non-pharmacological therapies. It called attention to the fact that pharmacological therapies have not been as effective as would have been expected and are accompanied by risks to the patient, which could even include death. Using secondary information from peer-reviewed publications, the scholarly activity explored the different non-pharmacological therapies that are available to a patient suffering from mild depression. It identified a guided self-help approach, psychological therapy, and structured exercises as the best approaches. In addition, it pointed out that complementary and alternative therapies should only be used as secondary treatment approaches. It concluded with the acknowledgment that mild depression can only be treated by either pharmacological or non-pharmacological approaches, with cognitive behavioral therapy offering the best approach. Treatment would target the symptoms on the understanding the effectively addressing them ensures that the mild depression is managed NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

Problem

Mild depression is a common medical condition that is more readily accepted today that it once was. In fact, it is considered as an anomalous emotional state that is described by inflated emotional states that include feelings of hopelessness, emptiness, worthlessness, dejection, melancholy and sadness that are not only inappropriate but are also out of proportion to the reality. Although the conditions are typically precipitated by traumatic events, the individual who suffers mild depression will find it difficult to express his or her feelings while exhibiting loss of joy and interest in previously enjoyable activities, sleeplessness, inability to concentrate in any activity, and a general lack of motivation. Non-pharmacological treatment of the condition includes guided self-help approach, psychological therapy, structured exercises, complementary and alternative therapies, and nutritional supplements and herbal remedies (Marchand, 2012).

At the core of raising the awareness of mild depression is the understanding that it is an ailment caused by brain chemical imbalances. Within the brain, some neurons transmit messages across synapses and between nerves. To facilitate that transmission, the brain produces chemical neurotransmitters that include serotonin, which may be deficient in individuals with mild depression. The implication is that message transmission within the brain is compromised, and the brain neurons are unable to function normally, resulting in the individual having little to no control over behavior, feelings, and thoughts. This individual develops a negative outlook on life (Marchand, 2012). Thus, treatment of mild depression will target the chemical neurotransmitters, seeking to increase their effectiveness and facilitate messages transmission within the brain NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

The most common treatment applied to mild depression involves the use of prescription medication and pharmacological therapies. Acton (2013) reports that pharmacological management of depression has significant side effects, which include dangerous drug interactions, cardiovascular, dermatologic, endocrine-metabolic, gastrointestinal, hematologic, neurologic, psychiatric, and reproductive problems. Other undesirable side effects of antidepressants include anxiety, abdominal pain, dry mouth, headache, dizziness and fainting spells, nausea and gagging, excessive sweating, apathy, insomnia, somnolence, symptoms discontinuation, sexual difficulties, and an increase in weight. In addition, serotonin syndrome, epilepsy and convulsions, heart arrhythmia, menstrual disorders, parkinsonism, extrapyramidal disorders, headache, paraesthesia, vision disorder, congenital disorders, muscle and joint complaints, laboratory abnormalities, and rashes in the form of pruritus and urticaria. The more significant side effects include hospitalization and an increased risk of suicidal ideation. Many would consider these side effects far worse than their potential benefit of enhancing the patient’s mood. This is not an ideal scenario since medical intervention is targeted at preserving life (Acton, 2013). The implication is that there is a need to explore treatment approaches with acceptable efficacy but fewer or no undesirable side effects NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

Solution

Given the undesirable negative effects linked with antidepressants use in managing depression, there is a need to explore non-pharmacological treatment options since they are low-intensity interventions.

The first non-pharmacological treatment option is guided self-help approach. This strategy involves providing the patient with the literature on the condition so as to improve his understanding and facilitate the development of a step program as part of the treatment plan. It is designed as a self-administered intervention strategy whereby the health care practitioner who treats the patient introduces a range of reading material that has been derived from evidence-based interventions and designed specifically for the case. The practitioner then monitors the patient’s use of the self-help reading materials, lending facilitative and supportive aid in helping the patient to achieve a higher level of awareness that enables control of mild depression symptoms (Carr, 2012; Williams et al., 2013). Applying this strategy would entail offering the patient literature that informs him of his condition and how best to tackle it for positive outcomes. In addition, the patient can be assigned to a self-help group with other mild depression patients and facilitated by an individual who has been trained in facilitation, conflict management, and listening. The group would be linked to a medical facility that offers promotion, support, and resources for the patients while using a recovery focused approach with confidentiality policies NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

The second non-pharmacological treatment option is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a low-intensity psychosocial treatment approach that focuses on addressing the psychological symptoms on the understanding that eliminating them would effectively treat the condition. In essence, CBT works under the premise that the psychological symptoms expressed by the persons suffering from mild depression are all linked to the interaction between emotions, behavior, and thoughts. As such, specifically targeting emotions, behavior, and thoughts will reduce the psychological symptoms of mild depression (Orgeta et al., 2015; Smith, 2012).

The third non-pharmacological treatment option is structured exercises. They are documented to release endorphins that alleviate the depression symptoms. In addition, physical activities have been shown to divert the patient from negative skills even as he or she learns new skills. Physical activity has a tranquilizing effect since it involves body movement that expends energy that is above the resting level. Some common physical activities include walking, gardening and domestic chores, all structured to ensure that the patient expends between 70% and 80% of his/her heart rate reserve and undergoes a lifestyle modification for healthy living (Carneiro et al., 2015; Ekkekakis, 2013).

The final non-pharmacological treatment option is complementary and alternative therapies that include acupuncture, animal-assisted therapy, homeopathy, massage therapy, and aromatherapy. Acupuncture is an anatomical procedure that involves stimulating the body using medical traditions that were originally practiced in the oriental countries of Korea, Japan, and China. Animal-assisted therapy involves using pets to act as companions to the depressive patient thereby ensuring that he or she is not lonely and can combat the depression symptoms. Homeopathy entails giving the patient highly diluted substances with medical capabilities that then trigger the body’s system to mount a natural healing response. Massage therapy involves manipulating the ligaments, tendons,and muscles causing them to relax and release body tension, reduce the perception of pain, aid blood circulation, and reduce anxiety. Aromatherapyinvolves tapping the healing properties of essential oils extracted from plants by exposing the patient to them through breathing and skin contact. As their name suggests, this option will only be used to complement other approaches (Sarris et al., 2012).

Opportunity

The project is intended to present effective treatment options for mild depression. This is based on the awareness that pharmaceutical approaches are accompanied by undesirable side effects that could have irritation and discomfort in minor case while hospitalization and death could ensue in the more serious cases. To address the concern presented by pharmacological approaches, the study intended to explore the use of non-pharmacological approaches that have comparable efficacy with less alarming side effects. In this respect, the scholarly activity intended to present a less alarming alternative treatment option for the treatment of mild depression NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.

Program competencies addressed

My individualized success plan contains two objectives that align with the scholarly activity. The first objective is to gain research competencies that allow me to synthesize evidence. I achieved this objective by conducting a secondary research activity that allowed me to identify a practice problem and present a solution based on evidence synthesized from other literature. The second objective was to create concrete action steps that delineate specific treatment approaches to improve medical practice.  I achieved this objective by outlining the shortcomings of pharmacological treatment approaches for mild depression and presenting viable non-pharmacological approaches as alternatives NRS-490-RS-ScholarlyActivitySummary.