Nursing Diagnosis
Heart diseases are identified as a health risk affecting Cuban Jews in Miami, Florida. There are different types of diagnostic methods for heart conditions, such as an electrocardiogram (ECG), sonograms, and chest x-rays (Lindenfeld, 2010). However, this paper focuses on sonograms as the main diagnostic method for the condition. The priority nursing diagnosis for this technique is cardiac output. This indicator captures different physiological attributes related to heart disease, such as heart rate changes, changes in blood pressure, urine output changes, and changes in peripheral pulses (among other factors) (Krum & Driscoll, 2013; Booth, Prevost, & Gulliford, 2015).
Changes in the heart structure and functioning often affect such physiological outputs. Therefore, sonograms help health practitioners to get a better understanding of these aspects of heart functioning. In fact, Lichtenstein (2010) says, sonograms may show enlarged chamber dimensions, or alterations in the structure and functioning of the heart, thereby enabling cardiologists to diagnose heart conditions. Using the same diagnostic method, health practitioners would understand the degrees of ventricular dilation or cardiac dysfunctions that would allow them to diagnose heart-related complications for the aggregate population.
Strategies to Tackle the Major Health Risks
The lack of proper education regarding the treatment of heart conditions is part of the problem experienced by patients who suffer from heart disease (Meischke, Eisenberg, Schaeffer, & Henwood, 2000). The strategies proposed in this paper to tackle heart disease among the aggregate population revolve around developing effective interventions through proper education on lifestyle choices. To do so, I use the MAP-IT technique, which adopts mobilization, assessment, planning, implementation, and tracking techniques in the assessment process. The outcome of the application of this framework appears below.
Mobilization: To manage the major health risks leading to heart problems, health care practitioners should have adequate equipment for diagnosing and managing the health risks associated with the condition. For example, patients may have a blood pressure monitoring device and instruments for measuring changes in weight to monitor blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Similarly, they should have access to specialized health personnel whenever they require emergency care (Krum & Driscoll, 2013).
Assessment
For screening, monitoring and evaluating changes in heart functioning, patients may have to fill a health questionnaire to assess their quality of life and the progress of their recovery process. The assessment tool would also be useful in evaluating their health risks to determine the efficacy of ongoing interventions (Lichtenstein, 2010).
Planning: The proposed health management plan would mostly involve mailing educational materials to patients suffering from heart conditions. The frequency of doing so would be four times a year, or twice a year, depending on the severity of the patient’s condition. The educational package would emphasize the importance of reducing salt intake, complying with dietary guidelines, blood pressure control, daily weight control, and smoking cessation because these are among the most common risk factors for heart condition among the aggregate population (Krum & Driscoll, 2013).
Implementation
The implementation of the health management plan should merge with the operational health and safety management framework of the health care system in Florida to institutionalize changes in the management of heart disease. This way, there would be a wider cultural significance of embracing heart management policies in the state (Krum & Driscoll, 2013).
Tracking
In the context of this paper, the tracking process would involve monitoring emergency department visits to understand the frequency of hospital admissions and to determine the progress of the treatment plan. It is important to do so to change the treatment plan for better health management if there is a need for such an action. Similarly, by doing so, it would be easier for health practitioners to understand whether other risk factors affect the recovery plan. Similarly, by doing so, it would be easier for the nurses to determine if further interventions need to be developed (Summerfield, 2015).
References
Booth, H., Prevost, A., & Gulliford, M. (2015). Severity of obesity and management of hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and smoking in primary care: population-based cohort study. Journal of Human Hypertension, 30, 40–45.
Krum, H., & Driscoll, A. (2013). Management of heart failure. Med J Aust, 199(5), 334-339.
Lichtenstein, D. (2010). Whole Body Ultrasonography in the Critically Ill. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
Lindenfeld, J. (2010). HFSA 2010 Comprehensive Heart Failure Practice Guideline. Journal of Cardiac Failure, 16(6), 1-3.
Meischke, H., Eisenberg, M., Schaeffer, S., & Henwood, D. (2000). The Heart Attack Survival Kit’ project: an intervention designed to increase seniors’ intentions to respond appropriately to symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Health Educ. Res., 15(3), 317-326.
Summerfield, L. (2015). Nutrition, Exercise, and Behavior: An Integrated Approach to Weight Management. London, UK: Cengage Learning.