NURS 6551 Week 3 Gynecologic Health Essay Assignment

There’s a reason birth control was included as preventive health care—a panel of doctors recommended it. The nonpartisan Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended that birth control be covered as women’s preventive care because it is fundamental to improving not only women’s health, but the health of their families as well. Medical research has demonstrated this fact for decades.

—Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc.

As this quote suggests, contraceptive care is a critical part of women’s health. Contraceptives not only help prevent unintended pregnancies—which account for nearly half of all pregnancies (CDC, 2012a)—but are also used to treat and manage gynecologic conditions. Although contraceptive care might be difficult to discuss with some patients, as the advanced practice nurse, you must facilitate this discussion and help patients select treatment options that meet their health needs. Imagine you are treating a 20-year-old patient who has questions about which contraceptive method is right for her. She says she does not have insurance, worries about potential side effects of contraceptives, and does not know which options are available to her or how to properly use them. What recommendations would you make and how would you educate this patient?

This week you explore contraception treatments, an integral part of women’s gynecologic health. You examine contraceptive options and strategies for selecting appropriate contraception treatment for patients.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, students will:

Evaluate appropriate contraception treatments for individual patients
Analyze ways to facilitate the selection of contraception treatments with patients
Understand and apply key terms, principles, and concepts related women’s gynecologic health
Evaluate diagnoses for patients
Evaluate treatment and management plans
Analyze nursing theories and feminist perspectives in relation to clinical practice*
Analyze differences between common screenings for younger women and common screenings for older women*

NURS 6551 Week 3 Discussion: Contraception Treatments

Considering the potentially negative consequences of unintended pregnancy for a woman’s health and well-being, effective contraceptive treatments are an important part of gynecologic care. There are a variety of contraceptive treatment methods available for women, including hormonal, barrier, and fertility awareness options. Each method has its own strengths and limitations, and each patient often has individual factors that might also impact appropriateness of use. In your role as the advanced practice nurse, it is important to keep in mind that while you may make contraceptive recommendations to patients, contraceptive selection is a joint decision between the patient and the provider. For this Discussion, consider which contraceptive treatments would be most appropriate for the patients in the following three case studies:

Case Study 1:

A 23-year-old Caucasian female presents with concerns about mood swings around the time of her menses. She believes she has PMS and wants to know if there is medication to control it.

Case Study 2:

A 25-year-old Latina female presents with menstrual cramping that has been getting worse over time. She has never been pregnant and she has one male sex partner. Her gynecologic exam is normal.

Case Study 3:

A 33-year-old Caucasian female is being seen in clinic for contraception. She is using birth control pills, but forgets to take them because her work schedule changes every week. She has been married for 14 years and has two children. She is looking for an effective method that will be easy to remember. She has a history of chronic headaches and hypertension during pregnancy. She has never been treated for a sexually transmitted infection and is in a mutually monogamous relationship. Family history is significant for an aunt with breast cancer. She smokes half a pack of cigarettes per day. She is 5 ft. 8 in. and 215 lbs. Her vital signs are: BP 120/78, p 72, reg.

To prepare:

Review Chapter 12 of the Schuiling and Likis text and the Dragoman et al. article in this week’s Learning Resources
Select one of the three provided case studies. Reflect on the patient information.
Consider an appropriate contraception treatment for the patient case study you selected.
Think about how you might facilitate the selection of contraception treatments with patients who do not agree with your recommendations.

By Day 3

Post an explanation of the contraception treatment that would be most appropriate for the patient in the case study you selected, and explain why. Explain how you might work with patients who do not agree with your recommendations.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who selected different case studies than you did. Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives.

Get Custom Nursing Paper Help: NURS 6551 Week 3 Gynecologic Health Paper Assignment