Culminating Experience – Part 1 | Personal/Professional Mission Statement and Core Competencies in Public Health
Los Angeles Pacific University
PUBH 690
Culminating Experience: Part 1
My mission statement is to always provide best health care services to the patients and uphold professionalism through dynamic learning. My career goal on the other hand is to ensure that I become a recognized and respected public health officer in the entire public health sector. From my mission statement, providing the best health care services to the patients integrates the competency of patient care. To be able to competently offer best services as a public health officer, I need to take the patient preferences and safety into consideration. Practice-based learning and improvement is also integrated in the case where I will have to be dynamic with the different changes in the public health sector so as to be recognized and respected in the sector (Davies, 2014).
Scabies outbreaks have been very frequent in assisted living facilities as well as nursing homes in Los Angeles county. The main reason may be attributed to the fact that there may sometimes be overcrowded. Another factor that may be associated with the frequent outbreaks may be the fact that staff and the residents of these facilities live in close proximity. Scabies can be transmitted through different means. It can be transmitted from one person to another through direct contact of the skin through parasites known as spider mites. The spider mites burrow into the skin and lay their eggs under the skin (Webber and C.A.B. International, 2020).
Other ways that scabies can be transmitted is through equipment or clothes in case of clustered scabies. In the case of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, crusted scabies is more frequent as it is frequent on the elderly due to their lowered immune systems. The crusted scabies is more contagious as they form large crust of sin that easily falls off and can survive for up to three days (Webber and C.A.B. International, 2020). If a person comes into contact with the crusts in that timeframe they can get infected and later on transmit to others and eventually becoming an outbreak.
The study will be conducted using evidence-based practice (EBP). The reason for choosing this approach for the study is because of its benefits and the results that are projected. Evidence-based practice (EBP) has been described as best when it comes to problem solving goals. The approach also incorporates best clinical practices that are obtained from studies and clinicians experience (Davies, 2014). The approach also adopts conscientious approach on the expertise of the clinician, patient values and inclinations to produce improved clinical outcomes and patients’ safety (Howlett, Rogo, and Shelton, 2021).
The study will focus on the elderly population in nursing homes and other people in assisted living facilities. The reason to target this population is to be able to find out what their values are as well as their different preferences. The study will also help in understanding their experiences in the different facilities in order to understand what they face on a daily basis and how to improve their health.
The study is still in the planning stage and it will be implemented by the end of the year after completion of the necessary preparations. The possible methodology for the proposed study will be prospective observation research for the target population. In earlier review, institutional outbreaks and mainly outbreaks in residential care facilities for the elderly and even hospitals showed a median infection rate of 38%. The outbreaks were recorded to persist for longer periods. For all the infections on scabies, 83% of the patients were recorded to have crusted scabies (Cassell et al., 2018). The review also showed that many people accounting for 51% of the people that had scabies were asymptomatic.
The core competencies that align with my Culminating Experience emanate from Master of Public Health (MPH). The core competency that go with public health would be Socio-Ecological & Behavior Health Core Competencies. The ultimate goal of any health care practice is to promote health, well-being and safety of the patient. The study for scabies will help in understanding the problems that the patients are going through and be able to work towards making their lives better. Scabies is one of the diseases that can make the patients suffer and live unhealthy lives and this artifact will help promote patient safety.
My concern on the frequent outbreaks in these facilities is very high. The reason am concerned is because scabies is a preventable disease and it should not be left to infest the elderly and other people in assisted living and leave them suffering.
References
Cassell, J., Middleton, J., Nalabanda, A., Lanza, S., Head, M., & Bostock, J. et al. (2018). Scabies outbreaks in ten care homes for elderly people: a prospective study of clinical features, epidemiology, and treatment outcomes. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(8), 894-902. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1473-3099(18)30347-5
Davies, J. (2014). Nursing & Health Survival Guide: Evidence Based Practice. Taylor and Francis.
Howlett, B., Rogo, E. J., & Shelton, T. G. (2021). Evidence based practice for health professionals: An interprofessional approach. Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Webber, R., & C.A.B. International. (2020). Communicable diseases: A global perspective. Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Boston, Massachusetts: CABI, Boston, Massachusetts: Credo Reference.
