Herbal Supplements:

The practice of using herbal supplements dates back thousands of years. Today, there is a renewal in the use of herbal supplements among American consumers. However, herbal supplements are not for everyone. In fact, some herbal products may cause problems for people treatments for chronic ailments. Because they are not subject to scrutiny by the FDA or other governing agencies, the use of herbal supplements is controversial.

Herbal supplements are products made from plants for use in the treatment and management of certain diseases and medical conditions. Many prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines are also made from plant derivatives. These products contain only purified ingredients and, unlike herbal supplements, are closely regulated by the FDA. Herbal supplements may contain entire plants or plant parts. Herbal supplements come in all forms: dried, chopped, powdered, capsule, or liquid, and can be used in various ways. Please address the followings:

1.     Discuss advantages and disadvantages of dietary supplements, including adverse reactions, drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, and specific laboratory issues that may arise from using these products.

2.     Discuss the position of the FDA and other governmental agencies on over the counter herbal supplements. Support your post with at least 2 evidenced-based guidelines published within the last 5 years.

A walk through the Business section of any bookstore or a quick Internet search on the topic will reveal a seemingly endless supply of writings on leadership. Formal research literature is also teeming with volumes on the subject.

However, your own observation and experiences may suggest these theories are not always so easily found in practice. Not that the potential isn’t there; current evidence suggests that leadership factors such as emotional intelligence and transformational leadership behaviors, for example, can be highly effective for leading nurses and organizations.

Yet, how well are these theories put to practice? In this Discussion, you will examine formal leadership theories. You will compare these theories to behaviors you have observed firsthand and discuss their effectiveness in impacting your organization.

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and examine the leadership theories and behaviors introduced.
• Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments.
• Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.

By Day 3 of Week 4

Post two key insights you had from the scholarly resources you selected. Describe a leader whom you have seen use such behaviors and skills, or a situation where you have seen these behaviors and skills used in practice. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain to what extent these skills were effective and how their practice impacted the workplace.

Carrie Smithson    1 posts   Re: Topic 8 DQ 1            Based on evaluation of my EBP project there are independent and dependent variables that need to be collected. A variable is something that varies or changes. “A variable in research simply refers to a person, place, thing, or phenomenon that you are trying to measure in some way” (University of California Libraries, 2019, para. 5). Independent variables are stable and unaffected by other variables you are attempting to measure. These are often manipulated by the researcher. Dependent variables are those that depend on other factors and change as a result of an experiment. This is the response that is measured. Dependent and independent variables are important because they drive the research process. A variable as opposed to a constant is simply anything that can vary and that many researchers consistently look at the relationship between the two variables. In order to evaluate my EBP project, I will have managers audit charts to determine if education provided to the patient was effective by not being readmitted with the same diagnosis. A few independent variable are patient’s willingness to learn, age, and time. These are important factors to consider when performing the audits. Some patients are not willing to make a change to their health and are set in their ways. The time spent with the patient is also important to consider. If the patient is being discharged and is ready to go, they aren’t going to fully be attentive to the teaching as they are eager to leave. Timing is key and having enough time to perform the teaching is important as well. Some dependent variables to consider are the patients who are admitted with stroke and chest pain who are tobacco users. The outcome depends on the effectiveness of the teaching performed by the nursing staff. The variables need to be collected because they will affect the evaluation. Surveys need to be performed on all different types of patient’s so that bias isn’t a factor.  Resource  University of California Libraries. (2019). Research Guides: Organizing Your Social  Sciences Research Paper: Independent and Dependent Variables. Retrieved  from https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/variables

Carrie Smithson    1 posts   Re: Topic 8 DQ 2            Not all EBP projects result in statistically significant results. In this discussion, I will define clinical significance, and explain the difference between clinical and statistical significance. “Statistical significance measures how likely that any apparent differences in outcome between treatment and control groups are real and not due by chance” (Leung, 2019, para. 2). There are common measures used with statistical significance such as p values and confidence intervals. The p values give the probability that any particular outcome would have arisen by chance with the assumption that the new and the control treatments are equally effective as the null hypothesis. Confidence intervals estimate the range which the real results would fall if the trial is conducted many times. “Clinical significance measures how large the differences in treatment effects are in clinical practice” (Leung, 2019, para. 3). Relative risk is independent of the prevalence of the disease and can be applied to populations with different prevalence of the disease. Relative risk is the ratio of the risks in the treatment group to the event rate in the control group. Statistical significance is all about numbers and data collection whereas clinical significance is how the EBP affects the clinical setting as a whole. I can use clinical significance to support positive outcomes in my project. Once the staff is taught how to teach the patients, and teaching is performed, patient outcomes start to progress. It is important to base education on what is specific to your unit so that the patients will receive the most optimal and pertinent information. When patients are educated more about what caused their diagnosis, such as tobacco use causing a stroke or heart attack, they can then take measures to prevent these diseases from occurring again. Patients use the information provided by the nurse staff to make informed decisions on their health care. When a patient makes a life changing change such as tobacco cessation, patient outcomes are more positive. This is my goal with my EBP project.  Reference  Leung, W.-C. (2019, March 1). Balancing statistical and clinical significance in  evaluating treatment effects. Retrieved from  https://pmj.bmj.com/content/77/905/201