CNA782 The Illness Experience
Assessment Task 2 Essay

Word Coun: 2000 words

This assignment requires you to evaluate nursing care from the perspective of patients and their families. You will identify one specific aspect of nursing care that significantly influences the overall patient experience. After selecting this focus area, you will analyse it in relation to the clinical unit and relevant literature, and then develop evidenceinformed strategies to improve the patient experience

• Choose a strong focus area (examples may include communication, discharge planning, pain management, cultural safety, etc.)

• Draft your introduction or structure your whole assignment

• Map your ideas to literature and patientexperience frameworks

STEP 1

A good starting point before you start writing is to ask yourself the following questions:

• Consider an aspect of care that impacts on the patient experience in your nursing context (where you work) - it does not have to be a large problem/issue. Sometimes it is the small things that make the biggest difference to a patient's experience.

• How do I (we) currently provide care? Describe the aspect of care, provide an analysis, and evaluate what you do. This requires you to reflect, you need to dig deep. Perhaps there is some history that you need to uncover.

• How does the environment in which I provide care impact this aspect of patients' experiences? Does the physical, social or political environment affect care?

• What strategies can I put in place to improve the patient experience? (not nurses, management, medical staff experiences - the focus here is on patient and family experiences).

STEP 2

• Provide a scholarly discussion from your professional perspective (and context) that describes, analyses, and evaluates experiences and concepts relevant to the topic.

• Justify how key themes presented in the unit and/or the literature relate to the topic and the application to practice.

STEP 3

• Evaluate the impact of the healthcare environment (physical, social, political) on the patients' and their families' experiences of illness.

• Present justified strategies and resources to improve the patient experience.

• Engage with the literature to support your writing. Your work must be supported with correct referencing.

Assessment criteria

Assessment Overview

This assignment asks you to reflect on your learning throughout the semester concerning your responsibilities as a nurse in relation to the illness experience and the impact you can have on your patients. Part of this assessment involves examining the strategies you will implement to enhance the illness experience for both your patients and their families.

Instructions

This assignment requires you to evaluate nursing care from the perspective of patients and their families. You will identify one specific aspect of nursing care that significantly influences the overall patient experience. After selecting this focus area, you will analyse it in relation to the clinical unit and relevant literature, and then develop evidence‑informed strategies to improve the patient experience

• Choose a strong focus area (examples may include communication, discharge planning, pain management, cultural safety, etc.)

• Draft your introduction or structure your whole assignment

• Map your ideas to literature and patient‑experience frameworks

• To assist you, I will share some examples in our second webinar.

• A good starting point before you start writing is to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Consider an aspect of care that impacts on the patient experience in your nursing context (where you work) - it does not have to be a large problem/issue. Sometimes it is the small things that make the biggest difference to a patient's experience.

2. How do I (we) currently provide care? Describe the aspect of care, provide an analysis, and evaluate what you do. This requires you to reflect, you need to dig deep. Perhaps there is some history that you need to uncover.

3. How does the environment in which I provide care impact this aspect of patients' experiences? Does the physical, social or political environment affect care?

4. What strategies can I put in place to improve the patient experience? (not nurses, management, medical staff experiences - the focus here is on patient and family experiences)

• Provide a scholarly discussion from your professional perspective (and context) that describes, analyses, and evaluates experiences and concepts relevant to the topic.

• Justify how key themes presented in the unit and/or the literature relate to the topic and the application to practice.

• Evaluate the impact of the healthcare environment (physical, social, political) on the patients' and their families' experiences of illness.

• Present justified strategies and resources to improve the patient experience.

• Engage with the literature to support your writing. Your work must be supported with correct referencing

Frequently Asked Questions

I work part-time in community palliative care and part-time on a medical ward - which professional perspective/context should I focus on? You can select either, but if you work in more than one professional context, just select one.

I am not sure what you mean by the physical, social and political environment, can you give me an example of each? Absolutely. In terms of the physical environment, this may reflect the design/layout of a ward - is your environment conducive to providing an excellent experience -is there natural light, are the rooms so small that privacy and dignity are hard to achieve? Are the bathrooms across the corridor? In an outpatient setting, are the chairs so close together, private communication is impossible?

The social environment, is really about the culture. Is turnover so high that you feel you work in a factory? Do patients feel the pressure to get 'in and out'? Are visiting hours restricted because it makes life easier for staff? You can have two medical wards side by side and the culture of each can be completely different - often this is determined by the ward/unit leadership.

The political environment refers to the external pressures we may face, for example, bed block and bed pressure, discharge pressures, meeting KPI's and other output measures.

You do not need to cover all three, only if they apply to your context.

Should I write in the first or third person? Please write your essay in the first person.