In this essay you will explore the symptom burden of one chronic health condition, and, with reference to the evidence-based literature, critically analyse nursing management strategies. As part of your role, you are required to develop a supportive self- management plan for a person with a chronic health condition encountered in clinical practice. The plan ought to be based on a critical application of a chronic disease model. The aim of the plan is to prepare the patient for discharge by enhancing their knowledge and skills related to the self- management of the chronic health condition in their home setting. Task Choose one of the following chronic health conditions and focus on the end-stage of the disease process where substantial nursing interventions are required to manage the increased symptom burden: a. Cancer (pre-terminal stage) b. End stage kidney disease (CKD stage 5 – either conservative care or long-term dialysis patient) c. Heart failure (NYHA stage 4) d. Other – discuss with prof alternative chronic health conditions of interest Your essay should conform to the following format: 1) Introduction (essay) In 100-250 words, provide a brief introduction of what you intend to discuss in the essay including a brief description of the chronic health condition. 2) Symptom Identification, Burden & Evidence-Based Management (essay) Describe the subjective symptoms and the burden of the symptoms related to the domains of physical, psychological, sociocultural and environmental health. Describe the holistic management of symptoms. This should include: • Nursing assessment • Nursing specific interventions (including a critical review of the evidence underpinning these interventions) • Nursing responsibilities associated with pharmacological and non- pharmacological therapies • Criteria to evaluate the outcomes of these interventions 3) Chronic Disease Model of Care & Self- Management Plan (tabular format) • Identify and discuss a chronic disease model of care that will enable you to help the patient with self-management • The self-management plan needs to include: o A brief introduction to your setting and the chronic health condition o Critical application of a chronic disease model of care used to inform selfmanagement. o Articulation of short and long term goals. Goals need to be realistic, achievable and patient-orientated which are clearly linked to a chronic disease model of care. o Identification and critically examination of specific strategies/interventions to support self-management. o Identification of the tasks/actions necessary to complete each strategy, as well as who will perform these tasks. o Examination of the effectiveness of the self-management plan (i.e. how the achievement of goals will be evaluated). 4) Conclusion In 100-250 words, summarise the content of the essay, emphasising the most significant factors that must be considered in nursing and patient-self management of the health problem you have discussed. Your assignment needs to incorporate both formal essay style writing and a professional plan (structured tabulated information) which is used to summarise the goals, strategies/interventions, tasks/actions and evaluation. It is a requirement that you use the Turnitin software. Instructions are provided on Blackboard under Assessments. You can check a draft assignment as guide to reducing plagiarism and correct any errors. A printed copy of the final Turnitin report must be attached with your assignment submission. Marking: See Criterion Referencing Assessment grid provided on Blackboard General notes on the assignment At postgraduate level, you are expected to present your assignment in a scholarly fashion. It should conform to the following academic conventions. Penalties will apply if these conventions are not adhered to. Use the following points as a checklist prior to submission: ◊ The assignment cover sheet is attached to the assignment prior to submission ◊ An assessment criteria sheet should be attached for all written assignments ◊ The assignment should be stapled in the top left-hand corner ◊ Please ensure a word count is included on the title page. You may have plus or minus 10% of the designated word count, not including in-text references and the reference list. Word counts above or below the specified number will be penalised ◊ Use size 12 font, Times New Roman or Arial font and double line spacing for all assignments, left and right justify, and ensure margins of 2.5cm on the left, right, top and bottom of the page. Adherence to these conventions ensures readability, and allows adequate space to provide comments on your essay in the body of the work ◊ Include a footer with page numbers “x of y” and a header with your name and student number on all pages ◊ Use a separate page for references. The reference page is not included in the word count ◊ Reference according to APA convention only. Please refer to QUT Cite/Write for these referencing conventions. Marks will be deducted for referencing that does not meet scholarly standards. Students are strongly advised to use the EndNote referencing program and associated instructions, which are downloadable from the QUT website for postgraduate students. This program will ensure exemplary and consistent referencing ◊ Judicious use of headings is appreciated in this assignment; overuse of headings will be penalised. As a rough guide, this 1500 word assignment should have no more than 6 headings, including those for the introduction and conclusion ◊ Bullet points and numbering are not appropriate in this assessment item ◊ Evidence of the use of information literacy skills in search and retrieval, critical appraisal and synthesis of recent and topical information for justification of argument. (As a general rule, postgraduate work should contain one new reference per 100 words. So a 1500 word assignment should have a minimum of 15 references). ◊ Please do not include appendices in your assignments. You should adhere strictly to the word limit. Extra content included in appendices will not be examined. ◊ References to abstracts that are not referenced as ‘abstracts only’ are not acceptable and will be penalised ◊ Aim to use references that are primarily peer-reviewed journal articles, published within the last five years. Consumer websites, Wikipedia and websites that are not government-based or related to professional organisations are unacceptable. Examples of acceptable websites are those of the National Health and Medical Research Council, the state Departments of Health, and the publications aimed at health professionals from organisations such as Diabetes Australia, the Heart Foundation, Cancer Council Australia and the Asthma Foundation. The consumer materials published on these websites are not acceptable. If you are unsure whether a reference is acceptable, please email your lecturer for clarification.