Title: Week 5 Welcome
Course: 16SP-ASN-210-GH1A1-ADV NUR THROUGH LIFESPAN I > Section: Week 5

MANAGEMENT OF PAIN, GENETIC ISSUES & UTILIZATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

Ignatavicius:

Chapters 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Weber:

Chapter 9

Welcome to Week # 5 of ASN 210.  We have passed the halfway point for your first ASN courses and we are headed for the finish line! You are doing an amazing job! This week we will focus on the RN role and nurse’s responsibilities in acting as an advocate for patients experiencing pain. Another lesson will focus on one of the most important areas of health advancement this century: the RN understanding of the influence of genetic factors on adult health and adult illness. This is an exciting topic! It goes right along with the RN understanding of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP). EBP provides the basis for an approach to patient care that is meant to generate the best patient outcomes based on the best information available.

Remember, nurses must be able to respond to patients who have pain on a number of levels. They must coordinate care, provide information, perform thorough and objective pain assessments, and take into account the ethical and legal ramifications of treating patients who are experiencing pain. Having advanced nursing knowledge and experience with theories on pain and how it is treated serves to make nurses better able to treat patients who have pain—whether it is chronic or acute. Nurses must be cognizant of the methods of treating pain—including methods that are behavioral, pharmaceutical, and non-pharmaceutical.

Also remember, the use “genomic medicine” or “genomics” advances will lead to disease prevention strategies and therapies that take into account each person’s genetic differences. This week, we introduce RN students to basic genetics content and discuss the role of the nurse as advocate, teacher, and care provider in cases in which patients have genetically-related illnesses or conditions. Recall that many common adult health problems (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and many others) have a genetic basis. The purpose of including this in your ASN education is to help present the essentials about basic genetics and how this information relates to adult health care. Although nurses are not expected to be genetics experts, they need to know enough about basic genetics to recognize when a patient or family has a possible genetic risk for a health problem, and to coordinate the attention of health care team members to ensure appropriate care.

In regards to EBP, RNs, and all members of the interdisciplinary health care team have an ethical obligation to practice to the best of their ability, and in conjunction with the latest literature according to The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, compiled by Institute of Medicine& Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2010). Nurses are encouraged to “be full partners” in this effort, practicing to the fullest capability of their scope. That is why we will introduce the foundations of EBP, and provide a basis for you as an RN student to begin to fully utilize and appreciate the need for EBP. Making this information applicable to every nursing theory and RN clinical experience is an integral approach to care and let us begin the process now at the RN student nurse level!

Here is your To-Do List this Week:
Tuesday- Week 5 Pre-Quiz (Pass/Fail)

Lessons:

- Pain
- Genetics, Genomic Concepts & RNs
- Using Evidence-Based Practice

Wed & Sunday- W5 Discussion Forum 3- 10 Points
Friday- Unit Post Quiz- 20 Points
Sunday- ARTICLE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT- 50 Points

Clinical Time & Assignments (Pass/Fail)