NEEDS ASSESSMENT PAPER

NURS 402 Career Pathway Development

Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of the assignment is to provide the student the opportunity to discuss
the process and resulting outcomes when assessing a population of learners needs related
to an actual nursing problem, for the purpose of planning and teaching intervention.
Approach to Assignment
The recent infectious disease outbreak of Ebola brought awareness to the fact that
an infectious disease occurring in a distant region of the world can have a global affect on
many communities. Due to the increased interactions among countries and the ease of
travel, our susceptibility in the United States to infectious disease outbreaks is
heightened. I realized there was an opportunity to provide information from
authoritative sources regarding methods to limit the occurrence of an infectious disease
outbreak in ones community. The learners were identified based on their frequent
international travel and misinformation regarding infectious disease outbreaks.
Reason for Inclusion
This assignment is a reflection of the process, we as nurses use to assess the needs
of the patients we serve. A detailed analysis of the learners learning styles and the
chosen teaching methods were done. This paper gives a glimpse into the factors nurses
employ to provide the most effective teaching.
Critical Thinking

Revises actions and goals based on evidence rather than conjecture

The nature and scope of the problem I would be teaching to the selected group
was explored by reading current research on the subject. This group of learners was
assessed for the need for health education. Their learning styles were analyzed using
the Honey and Mumford Learning Style Questionnaire. Verbal questioning and
email correspondence were also utilized to determine teaching strategies.
Research

Applies research based knowledge from the arts, humanities and sciences to
complement nursing practice
Research was done on the scope of infectious disease as a problem to determine if

there was a need for health promotion and health education. The information
gathered from the research material was used to analyze what important aspects of
the research should be covered in the teaching session.
Professionalism

Understands the effect of legal and regulatory processes on nursing practice and
health care delivery, as well as limits to ones own scope of practice.
The educational session on infectious disease was geared towards community

residents. The public health nursing specialty was identified as being able to meet
the specific needs of the communities they serve. Their scope and standards of
practice were detailed in this paper.