NRS-428VN Community Teaching Plan: Teaching Experience Paper

Community Teaching Plan: Teaching Experience Paper Name School NRS-428VN Date Community Teaching Plan: Teaching Experience Paper Community Teaching Plan: Handwashing Teaching Experience Summary of Teaching Plan Keeping hands clean is the most important intervention we can take to avoid becoming ill or spreading germs to others. Diseases and illnesses are spread by failing to washing hands with soap and clean, warm, running water (Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives, Show Be the Science, 2018). This teaching plan will educate adults and children on maintaining and performing proper hand hygiene. Seniors and very young children have weakened immune systems and are susceptible to infection. Teaching proper hand washing techniques can help reduce infections on a global level (WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene: First Global Patient Safety Challenge, 2016). The teaching plan addresses when and how people should clean their hands. The goals of handwashing education programs are to educate the community on the benefits of washing hands with soap and water, proper handwashing techniques, and the critical times that hand hygiene should be performed (Kingston et al., 2016). Most people consider it appropriate to wash hands only after using the restroom, if at all. However, germs and bacteria can be present on any inanimate surface or object, so the teaching plan will instruct people that hand hygiene is required frequently for many different reasons. For example, it is imperative to wash hands after sneezing, blowing your nose, coughing, and toughing anything dirty. By the end of the teaching experience, it is expected that the students will adopt proper hand hygiene behaviors. The adoptions of proper behavior should result in health impact quantified by a decrease in diseases such as diarrhea or gastrointestinal illness and respiratory infections (Harber, n.d.). The teaching program must reinforce public policy resulting in resource allocation prioritizing handwashing with soap. This program's stakeholders will be caregivers, health care workers, children, parents, and the general community. Epidemiological Rationale for Handwashing The very young, immunocompromised, and the elderly all have decreased immune systems increasing the chances of developing illnesses such as colds, flu, RSV, or today COVID-19. The very young’s immune system is just starting to be strengthened by the use of a vaccine. Additionally, vaccines' effectiveness can be reduced, and the healing process may become prolonged as we age. There need to be more ways to reduce the risk of illness and disease in the very young, immunocompromised, and the elderly. Hand hygiene is the best intervention for reducing or preventing infections and illnesses such as pneumonia, asthma complications, skin infections, and upper respiratory infections (URIs) (Kingston et al., 2016). The epidemiological rationale of hand hygiene in the elderly is based on the fact that older adults sometimes have difficulties in completing some daily activities and that the very young are dependent upon the adults in their life to wash their hands correctly. People not performing daily living activities (ADLs) adequately put at-risk groups at increased risk of infection through the pathogens on the hands and left behind on other surfaces. Traditionally, the culture of hand hygiene has not been very good in society. The compliance rates of hand hygiene have continued to be low (Kingston et al., 2016). However, in today’s time of COVID-19, people seem to be taking extra precaution and buying out hand sanitizer. The teaching experience evaluation is meant to occur in three phases: the pram planning phase, the implementation phase, and the accountability stage. The first step is to select appropriate indicators relevant to measuring the outcomes of the teaching experience. A vital indicator for this teaching project is following the objectives of promoting effective handwashing with soap and water and the difference of using hand sanitizer by reducing the transfer of germs and bacteria from a person to surfaces and inanimate objects to relieve colds, flu, URIs, COVID- 19, and diarrheal infections among the population (Haber, 2018). If there were more time, we could dig deeper and measure clinical cases of diarrhea and URIs to see if there is a decrease from a sample group. Another way of evaluation is to monitor the population's adherence or sample group for the recommended practices that have recently been taught. It may be necessary to provide the sample group with a flow chart or diary to record their adherence to handwashing practices every time they perform hand hygiene. This would help to reinforce muscle memory and establish a routine within the community geared toward handwashing and, at the same time, enable the collection of data to help with the follow-up for adherence to the practice of handwashing. Similarly, it is necessary to monitor and evaluate the teaching process to establish new interventions and adjust goals at specific points. This will ensure that the program's expected operation is followed and a schedule of activities are followed. During monitoring, there is some crucial information, including resources used during the program's implementation, the number of personnel to be incorporated, the teaching activities involved, and the required materials. For this handwashing education experience, the teaching experience was monitored by evaluating the number of resources, the level of participation, the knowledge level of the students or sample group, and other used outlets in the program. Before monitoring and evaluation, it was necessary to identify the group of students' needs, the timeline within which the program was expected to occur, and the appropriate data collection methods. The outcomes are to be measured as direct results of the process as they occur. Additionally, the objectives that define the program's success must also be assessed during the current and end implementation process. For instance, the effects of the outcomes in the communities' broader health and well-being indicate the effectiveness of the teaching program. Another measurement is an increase in compliance with handwashing behaviors and the respective impact on the health of the group or community. Baseline and follow-up data should be collected to analyze the success of the program effectively. Voluntary consent was obtained from all participants at the beginning of the program and for any follow-up visits. Community Response to Teaching The group's response to the teaching of hand hygiene was determined by the collection of the follow-up data (Damiani et al., 2019). Feedback was collected following the completion of the educational program. The participants stated that “the program was educational, and the pictures and instructions were relative to the information being taught.” All the participants said they learned “new information related to washing hands with soap and warm water to minimize transmission of bacteria and germs.” All participants were excited that the presentation was interactive and enjoyed the glo-germ part of the participation.” All stated, “wow, we didn’t realize how many times we touched our faces and how many surfaces could be infected in less than an hour.” I expect adherence to the teaching program to be high. It will be more evident after the participants return their weekly journal to trach their handwashing practices and see if they were useful reminders for maintaining adequate and effective hand hygiene. The critical health concerns targeted by hand washing are upper respiratory viruses like RSV, colds, COVID-19, flu, and diarrhea illnesses (Harber, 2018). However, the program's primary concern was to educate the population on proper handwashing techniques to induce stricter hand washing routines, increasing muscle memory and behaviors. The overall outcome was positive, and I feel it will have a lasting effect on the community by improving the community's general health and preventing the increased spread of germs and bacteria, therefore decreasing the chance of illness and disease. Areas of Strengths and Areas of Improvement The teaching experience's strengths include the fact that the participants selected were responsible for the teaching program and were willing to participate until the conclusion. Considering that the population chosen was at the same locality, the teaching was easy to perform, and there is an ease of follow-up monitoring. Another strength is that the sample size selected for this study was small and intimate; therefore, the implementation process was straightforward and appropriate for the chosen demographic area. Another strength is going to be the collection of feedback and implementing any changes would be an easy process. The teaching experience was flexible, and therefore easy to adjust in accordance with the needs of the population. The challenges that were experienced during the course of the teaching experience included the requirement of additional time to measure the overall health outcomes. Measuring the outcomes of upper respiratory viruses and diarrheal illnesses is outside the scope of this teaching program. Essentially measuring the disease-specific mortality and morbidity to associate with causative factors of hand hygiene would require diverse expertise (Kingston et al., 2016). For instance, reported cases of respiratory or diarrhea illness would require the necessary analysis and investigation to determine if inadequate hand hygiene was a causative factor. Another challenge is that the current program would only accommodate a small sample size at this time. Larger sample sizes would be required to measure outcomes whether positive or negative. Similarly, a proper research program requires a comparison between a control group and an intervention group. Large sample size would require having repeated visits to the target population and at the same time measurement of disease among the eligible participants to determine desirable outcomes. The approach would be complex and the statistical analysis would be difficult in the time frame available for the teaching program. My audience included children age ranges two to twelve and I determined it is difficult to keep their attention for long periods of time. I had to shorten the sessions into smaller time frames in order to keep them engaged with the presentation. In order for this teaching assignment to have an effect on the community the program would have to be in conjunction with the State Department of Health and the Epidemiologists to follow up for a period of time. This is likely to result in logistical and time challenges for measuring the impact of hand hygiene. References Damiani, R., Kastrinos, A., & Shelton, S. (2019). Practice makes empowered: Cultivating patients’ voices to protect their health through interactive training. Health Communication, 34(12), 1494–1501. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from Handwashing: clean hands save lives, show be the science. (2018). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from Harber, N. (n.d.). Respiratory synctial virus. Medicine et maladies, (132), 377–382. Retrieved November 14, 2920, from Kingston, L., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2016). Hand hygiene-related clinical trials reported since 2010. Journal of Hospital Infection, 4(9), 309–320. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from 6701(15)00489 WHO guidelines on hand hygiene: first global patient safety challenge. (2016). World Health Organization [WHO]. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from