NURS-FPX4900 Assessment 5-1: Capstone Project for Nursing

Intervention Presentation and Capstone Video Reflection

Bipolar disorder is among the health burdens that require proactive leadership, collaboration, communication, coordination, and effective use of technologies to optimize care outcomes. Improving quality, safety, and cost of care for patients with bipolar means initiating and implementing evidence-based and patient-centered strategies. The approach entails adequate knowledge and response to determinants of health in underserved and under-resourced communities. For this project, I focused on self-care practices as viable and sustainable means of safeguarding individuals from escalating moods, energy, and distorted ability to function optimally.

Intervention

For this project, I identified self-management as a viable means of empowering patients to take care of their health and well-being. I identified self-care practices as non-pharmacological interventions ideal for improving health and quality of life. The adverse impacts of bipolar disorder on relationships, work, and financial stability reveals the need for renewed commitment to making essential health services available and accessible by patients across the continuum. Patients and families access social support, primary care providers and specialists within and outside their communities (Rush & Thase, 2020). With the right leadership, patients overcome disparities persistent in underserved and under-resourced communities. Leaders collaborated with patients, families, communities, and healthcare providers to mobilize resources and achieve integrated primary and specialty care. For this project, health promotion and education will enable patients to make informed decisions. My focus is on motivating individuals to monitor and manage symptoms through healthy diet, exercise, substance use cessation, and other personalized interventions.

Practicum Experience

My first interactions addressed quality, safety, and cost of bipolar disorder treatment. The open-ended conversation allowed the patient to respond to questions on experiences, enablers, and barriers to successful bipolar disorder management. The respondent agreed that lack of insurance coverage exposed individuals to high out-of-pocket expenses. Such challenges increase the risk of delayed or postponed care due to negative health-seeking behaviors and attitudes. The patient also acknowledged the relevance of self-management in making everyone committed to preventing escalating symptoms. For example, the patient appreciated efforts to use self-care practices to safeguard patients from high costs of therapies and pharmacological interventions. Patients also benefit from reduced travels and emergency care visits when the care team fails to consider self-management as a viable means to reduce the cost of care. Throughout the discussion, I focused more on educating the patient about an individualized care plan relevant for improving symptoms management across the continuum.

My second experience was an extension of initial conversation on aspects of care that help improve quality, safety, and costs of health services. The patient acknowledged the impact of care coordination, technology, and community resources in improving quality, safety, and cost of patient care. The patient’s high health literacy enabled him to understand and embrace self-care practices as means of improving health and quality of life. For instance, the responded recognized community health resources such as educational sessions and group recreational activities as key to making meaningful progress towards monitoring and managing symptoms. I informed the patient about eMood and relevant in facilitating coordinating disease management. The patient acknowledged the need for enhanced commitment to using virtual resources to interact with healthcare professionals and identify improvements necessary to reduce the risk of severe symptoms. From the conversation, it was evident that self-management is ideal for patients to overcome health disparities within their communities.

eMoods for Bipolar Disorder Self-Management

I realized that technological advancements enhance access to essential health care services. Patients benefit from tools such as eMoods to monitor and manage symptoms. I identified eMoods as the tool that allows patients to track emotions, sleep, medication adherence, and other symptoms. One emails progress to a physician or therapist at the end of every month for better discussions about triggers and mood cycles (Mohr et al., 2019). eMoods gives patients the confidence to monitor and manage symptoms based on the ease of tracking, journaling, graphing, and reporting symptoms related to bipolar disorder (Ryan et al., 2021). Patients easily notice triggers and take control of moods, behaviors, and actions. Further, individuals set life goals based on self-management and coping strategies intended to facilitate meaningful progress towards achieving wellness goals.

The Affordable Care Act and Quality of Bipolar Disorder Care

The Affordable Care Act helps healthcare professionals to initiate well-coordinated and collaborative prevention and treatment. Healthcare providers adopt structured activities including communication and flexible access to promotion and education on self-management. The emphasis on affordable, quality, and safe care makes ACA ideal for minimizing severity and frequency of mood swings and adverse reactions that undermine health and quality of life (McIntyre et al., 2022). The care team works with patients to develop evidence-based and patient-centered approaches for preventing deteriorating symptoms. Patients also benefit from culturally appropriate and quality-driven practices relevant for encouraging positive health-seeking behaviors and attitudes across the continuum. Medicare and Medicaid programs enhance ease of accessing screening, prescription drugs, and counseling (McIntyre et al., 2022). ACA also expands availability of mental health, substance use, and behavioral health care for underserved and under-resourced patients and communities. Nurses are responsible for collaborating with different stakeholders among them community based organizations, policymakers, healthcare providers, and insurance providers to make services available and accessible by more people. The nursing team should share knowledge and experiences that encourage a whole health approach and integrated primary and specialty care (Norris, 2020). The goal is to provide comprehensive health solutions, reduce out-of-pocket expenses, and facilitate consistency in using community health resources to optimize care outcomes.

Capstone Project Outcomes and Predictions

The outcomes met the prediction on bipolar self-management and interventions necessary to optimize care outcomes. Firstly, I realized that meaningful progress is achievable through effective leadership and change management. Bipolar disorder exposes individuals to uncertainty, decreased social connections, and lost opportunities to work ad fulfil other daily activities. Competent leaders understand health needs of the vast majority of patients. I chose servant leadership as the ideal approach for addressing structural, health inequalities, and other challenges that undermine health and quality of life (Langhof & Güldenberg, 2020). The servant leader initiates holistic approaches to health care and innovations around how to deliver quality, safe, and cost-effective care. The leader connects patients with specialists, community health workers, support networks, and others that influence the quality, safety, and cost of care.

Secondly, excellent communication and collaboration helps improve the quality of bipolar disorder care. The process promotes evidence-based guidelines, patient education, and shared decision-making ideal for optimizing care outcomes. Psychologists, behavioral health counselors, and others allow patients to share experiences, acknowledge their bipolar condition, and feel empowered to overcome health disparities. Jones et al. (2023) associated effective communication and collaboration with successful self-care across the continuum. Specifically, I focused on the need for individualized training and education and social support for consistent bipolar disorder self-management.