In essay format address the following: 1. Define the professional issue. 2. Discuss the significance of your chosen professional issue to nursing. 3. Discuss how your chosen professional issue impacts...

In essay format address the following:
1.    Define the professional issue.
2.    Discuss the significance of your chosen professional issue to nursing.
3.    Discuss how your chosen professional issue impacts on patient safety.
4.    Discuss the strategies that can be utilised to minimise the impact of your chosen professional issue on nursing practice and patient safety.
Discuss the significance of your chosen professional issue to nursing. (20 marks)
•    Approximately 500-700 words
•    How does the issue impact on nursing?

•    Why is it a professional issue?
•    What is the impact on nurses (individually) and the nursing profession?
•    You can include facts and figures in here e.g. how common is violence?
NB: Use evidence to back up your discussion – if you don’t you will fail this section

Discuss how your chosen professional issue impacts on patient safety (20 marks)
•    Approximately 500 – 700 words.
•    This should follow on from your discussion above – if the issue impacts on nurses then there must be a flow on effect to patients
•    Look at the key words here – “patient safety” – make sure you are discussing this and not just patient care in general – you could define what is meant by patient safety to focus your discussion
•    You can use facts and figure here e.g. how many adverse events are there each year as a result of medication errors?
•    What are the consequences of these adverse events to patients?
NB: Use evidence to back up your discussion – if you don’t you will fail this section

Discuss the strategies that can be utilised to minimise the impact of your chosen professional issue on nursing practice and patient safety. (15 marks)
•    Approximately 350 – 550 words
•    This is essentially asking what we can do to fix the problem
•    This should follow on logically from your discussion in the previous 2 sections
•    What strategies or approaches currently exist? E.g. policies, protocols, training
•    You need to include at least TWO strategies in this section or you will fail this section
•    It is a good idea to number these and discuss separately – that way you can ensure that you have identified the correct number and provided sufficient detail for each
•    There are 2 elements here that you are being asked to consider – so make sure you use this explicit language – nursing practice and patient safety – i.e.: if we use training how will this minimise the impact of violence on nursing practice and patient safety