Acute Nursing

Acute Nursing

John has returned to your ward after having his total knee replacement surgery and you are the nurse taking over his post-operative cares.
Choose ONE of the topics listed below – Post op respiratory infection OR Post op deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Search the literature for at least 10 recent [less than five years old] research journal articles or systematic review papers related to the topic you have selected.
Write an essay of 1500 words in length in response to the following essay criteria.
Use current evidence to support your discussion on the topic.
Refer to the marking criteria to see how many marks are allocated to each section
and to get further information on the assignment structure.
Use the APA 6 Referencing style and the School’s assignment formatting guidelines

Name: Sarah Smith
Essay Title: The Impact of Positive Predispositions on Quality of Life
Word Count: 1570 (excluding title page and reference list)
Regardless of who we are or where we come from, few situations in life are as stressful as living with a chronic, physical illness (Fitzgerald Miller, 2000). Chronic illness (CI), defined as an altered health state not curable through surgical or medical or procedures, often involves “long-term, impaired functioning and multiple illness-related demands on an individual that are never completely eliminated” (Fitzgerald Miller, 2000, p. 4). In Australia, the prevalence of CI has increased over the last decade, with as much as 15% of the population currently living with illnesses such as circulatory conditions (e.g. heart attack, stroke, angina and hypertension), cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, and diabetes (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2009). In addition to an increase in their prevalence, many of these chronic problems are now occurring at younger ages than ever before (Keyes, 2007). With increasing numbers of people getting sick at younger ages, the onus is on the health professions to investigate new ways to assist those living with chronic physical illness to live healthier and happier lives; to find ways to help them ‘flourish’ amid adversity.
Research suggests that the ways in which individuals cope with illness have a direct effect on their future physical and psychological health and quality of life (Fitzgerald Miller, 2000). In the past, traditional treatment options available to people living with a CI (e.g. pharmacological therapy, physical rehabilitation, surgical treatment, psychological pain management programs, interventions to reduce fear, anger, depression and anxiety, and illness education programs) have focused on addressing the negative symptoms of the illness. Even the most comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment programs, aimed at both the physiological and psychological aspects of the illness, have mainly focused on treating the illness itself or helping individuals alter the way they think about or cope with the illness (Fitzgerald Miller, 2000; Newman, Steed, & Mulligan, 2004; Turk & Akiko, 2002). This past ‘illness ideology’ has dictated, therefore, that health professionals concentrate on disorder, dysfunction, and disease rather than on health, strength, and wellbeing, thereby neglecting the consideration of the potential benefits that may be gained (by illness sufferers) from emphasising positive aspects of daily life (Maddux, 2008). In healthcare settings therefore, the approach to treatment has tended to be one-dimensional, focused mainly on treating the symptoms and negative outcomes associated with physical illness. This approach, although necessary, has two limitations: (i) working towards reducing negative factors associated with illness does not ensure that positive ones will be enhanced; and (ii) working to increase positive characteristics and behaviours may simultaneously reduce at least some of the negative aspects of illness that are the targets of treatment (Harris & Thoresen, 2006). Wood and Tarrier (2010) suggest that, focusing on the positive can: (i) enhance the prediction and understanding of clinical conditions; (ii) buffer the impact of negative events (such as living with illness); and (iii) be used to develop treatment options to enhance health and wellbeing. Further examination of the impact of positivity, especially among clinical illness populations, is therefore indicated. The research reported in this thesis aimed to achieve this by investigating the efficacy of newly emerging, positive-focused approaches to patient care and treatment, with a specific emphasis on evaluating their impact on the relationship between illness and quality of life (QoL) among Australians living with chronic physical illness.
The following section provides a snapshot of chronic illness within an Australian context, with a focus on three specific illness types which are highly prevalent in society at present. This is followed by a more detailed discussion of how living with chronic illness is associated with not only physiological health, but daily mood and QoL.
The management of chronic illness in Australia exerts a high financial burden on the national economy, with data showing that in 2004-2005, total expenditure on chronic disease management accounted for $25.5 billion (equivalent to approximately half of the funds allocated to health care for that year) (ABS, 2009). Of the many long-term medical conditions faced by Australians every day, three chronic conditions that are highly prevalent are Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes mellitus (Type 1 and 2), and arthritis-related conditions (rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis in particular), with both COPD and diabetes ranked among the 10 leading causes of death in Australia (ABS, 2009). Specific prevalence and national health expenditure data for the three illness types, sourced from the ABS data (2009), are detailed in Table 1. As the following discussion illustrates, each of these illness types has a unique profile in relation to physiological impact, symptom severity, risk factors, age of onset, treatability/reversibility, and mortality risk. Living with these different types of illness also has differential influences on affective state and QoL, as is also evidenced in the sections to come. Due to their high prevalence, economic impact, and diverse physical and psychosocial profiles, these three chronic illnesses were chosen for study in the current research.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a respiratory illness characterised by airway inflammation and limitation that results in increasing shortness of breath and oxygen desaturation. It involves an overlap of symptoms related to asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema, and is a degenerative, disabling condition involving a
high level of distress, with sufferers often left ‘gasping for air’ (McKenzie, Frith, Burdon, & Town, 2003). Epidemiological studies (McKenzie et al., 2003; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003) show that COPD is an issue that has long-lasting impact on many populations around the world. Newman et al. (2004) also report that …….

References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). Causes of death (Report No. 3303.0). Retrieved from http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/83A6580246688CEBCA2578840012A073/$File/33030_2009.pdf
Fitzgerald Miller, J. (2000). Coping with chronic illness: Overcoming powerlessness (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.
Harris, A. H. S., & Thoresen, C. E. (2006). Extending the influence of positive psychology interventions into health care settings: Lessons from self-efficacy and forgiveness. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 27 – 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20264
Keyes, C. L. M. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health. American Psychologist, 62, 95-108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.2.95
Maddux, J. E. (2008). Positive psychology and the illness ideology: Toward a positive clinical psychology. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57, 54-70. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00354.x
McKenzie, D. K., Frith, P. A., Burdon, J. G. W., & Town, G. I. (2003). The COPD-X Plan: Australian and New Zealand guidelines for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2003. Medical Journal of Australia, 178, S1-S40.
Newman, S., Steed, L., & Mulligan, K. (2004). Self-management interventions for chronic illness. Lancet, 364, 1523-1537. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-673617277-2
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Turk, D. C., & Akiko, O. (2002). Psychological factors in chronic pain: Evolution and revolution. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 678-690. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0022-006X.70.3.678
Wood, A. M., & Tarrier, N. (2010). Positive clinical psychology: A new vision and strategy for integrated research and practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 819-829. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.06.003

Assignment Presentation Formatting Guidelines

All undergraduate written essay and research report style assignments should be formatted using the following rules:

Margins: 2.54 left, right, top and bottom (this is the pre-set default margin setting).

Font Type: ‘Times New Roman’.

Font Size: 12 point font only with no larger fonts used for headings (if used).

Line Spacing: Double line spacing should be used throughout the assignment and on the reference list with no additional spaces between paragraph, assignment ‘sections’ or listed references. New paragraphs or sections are indicated by indenting of the first line of each new paragraph (see presentation format exemplar).

Indenting: Each new paragraph should be indented 5-7 spaces (or one Tab space).

Justification: No justification of text on right hand margin. Justify the left side of text in the body of essay/report except for indents required for the first lines of each new paragraph (see presentation format exemplar).

Page Numbers: Page numbers should be inserted in the upper right-hand side of the page header flush against the margin. Page numbers should start on the Title Page (starting at 1) and should be formatted with just the page number (see presentation format exemplar).

Assignment Title: Devise a suitably descriptive assignment title to include on the title page. Examples include: Managing Norovirus in Aged Care Facilities; Annotated Bibliography for Essay Question Four; Education Plan for the Long-Term Management of Type II Diabetes.

Footer: Your student number is to be inserted into the footer of the document (to assist with identification of lost pages if submission errors occur).

Griffith University Cover Page: Complete and include the official university cover page. Assignment template documents for both INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP assignments that have the university cover page already merged are available for download on the Griffith Health Writing & Referencing Guide website.

Title Page: Include a title page with the following information. See presentation format exemplar for example.

Student Name:
Essay/Report title:
Word count: (excluding title page, reference list/bibliography and appendices)
Note: Your title page will also have a page number in the header (starting at ‘1’) and your student number in the footer (see presentation format exemplar).
Word Count: Word counts will comprise ALL text material contained in the body of the written assignment. This will include in-text citations, quotations, and any headings (if used). This will also include any information presented in tables or figures which are included WITHIN the body of the assignment.

Information included outside of the main body of the assignment (e.g. university coversheet, title page, reference list, preparation table) will NOT contribute to the word count.

Please Note: You must adhere to the stipulated word count for your assignment. Assignments which go over this stated limit will be penalised, with the marker ceasing to read your paper once the word count has been reached.

Headings: Headings are generally used more in research reports than in essays. The following rules should be followed to format headings if used.

Note: In general, if you are using headings in an essay, you will format them using ‘Level 2’ heading guidelines (see table below).
Level of Heading Format
1 Centred, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

2 Flush left, boldface, Upper and Lowercase Heading

3 Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

4 Indented, boldface, italicised, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

5 Indented, italicised, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

The above table has been adapted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References (2012).

Note: In general, if you are using headings in an essay, you will format them using Level 2 heading guidelines. Headings in a research report will be mainly formatted as Level 1, 2, and 3 headings, however all five levels of headings can be used in research reports (depending on the size of your report and the nature of information you need to discuss in particular sections).
When using Level 1 and 2 headings, your paragraph text will commence on the next line, indented by one tab space. When using Levels 3, 4 and 5, your paragraph text will commence two spaces after the full stop at the end of the heading (i.e. continuing on the same line as the heading). See the APA Annotated Exemplars (Essay and Research Report versions) in the ‘APA Referencing Guidelines’ section of the Griffith Health Writing and Referencing Guide website for examples of how to format different levels of headings and associated paragraph text.
Important Tip: When writing research reports, do not include the heading ‘Introduction’ at the start of your report. The heading at the start of your Introduction should be the title of the report that you have included on your title page. It should be formatted as a Level 1 heading (see table above).
Serial Comma: APA conventions require the use of a comma between elements in a series of three or more items. This is known as a ‘serial comma’. For example:

Examining height, width, and depth indicated that ……..

Use of numbers in assignment text:
Numbers between zero and nine should be represented in words. For example:
There were five experimental groups in the trial.
Numbers ten and above should be represented in numerical format. For example:
A total of 47 participants took part in the pilot test.

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