Acute Otitis Media Atopic Dermatitis Asthma Severe Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Gastroent

For my capstone change project I would like to address breastfeeding trends. It has been concluded that breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of acute otitis media, atopic dermatitis, asthma, severe lower respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, necrotizing enterocolitis, leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012). Since it has been shown to have so many positive effects on health for an infant throughout their entire life, it is an important issue that should be confronted. According to Healthy People 2020, in 2009 only 33.6 percent of infants born were exclusively breastfed through their first three months of life (Healthy People, 2020). The goal that Healthy People 2020 formed was to have at least 46.2 percent of infants born to be breastfed exclusively in their first three months of life.

I chose this topic because I believe that this is a realistic topic to have change in. Another reason is because I find that it is quite a simple change that can drastically change the development of a child all the way into their adulthood. Most mothers decide to breastfeed once they know the benefits, proving that there is a lack of education on the topic for mothers, which is what I would focus on throughout my capstone project.

My change project is focused around education on breastfeeding. Encouraging and promoting breastfeeding could occur in many ways. The way that I would like to focus on is through prenatal breastfeeding educational classes. It is common for a mother’s first bit of education on breastfeeding to happen after their baby is already born, it does not always give them the time they need to prepare for it and commit to it. The people that would need to be involved are the hospital managers, education specialists, and lactation consultants. To ensure that this proposal will include everything necessary for the stakeholders, I must provide information on the cost of the proposal, the benefits of the proposal and who will be involved if the proposal is granted.

To prepare for this project, I need information on the benefits of breastfeeding, the current status in the amount of breastfeeding mothers, and how effective teaching on the topic has been in the past. I will need to find this information from credible sources that are reliable. For a start, the World Health Organization estimated that if all babies were breastfed for at least the first six months of their lives, the rate of morbidity and malnutrition would significantly decrease all over the world (Adriana, Simone, Angela, Romanaprosperi, Grazia,Helena Ban, & Onofrio, 2016). I have many questions as I go into this capstone project, most of which I hope to have answered through research. One of them is: what prenatal breastfeeding care is being done currently in the State of Arizona?

Women in Arizona who are pregnant (Population) should receive prenatal breastfeeding classes (Intervention) because the rate of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months in mothers in Arizona is 18 percent and will continue to be at this level without intervention (Comparison). This intervention will have numerous immense benefits on both the baby and mother and the goal is to have a rate of 25.5% of mothers exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months (Outcome) and the time frame is within the next ten years.

Discuss the diverse stakeholders in regard to your change project. What are their roles, and why are they relevant to your change project? How can they become involved? Why is it important to identify the needs of the stakeholders in the support of your change project?

There are many stakeholders that would be affected with the implementation of prenatal breastfeeding classes. Since different parties may have their own goals and objectives, it is extremely important to bring all of the stakeholders together to succeed. In an article about change, it was stated that: “The key to the organization’s success depends on bringing these disparate objectives and parties together to create the maximum benefit for all involved” (Friedman, & Miles, 2006).

There will be people affected on the educational and management side, but also the receiving side of the care. Some of the stakeholders that would need to be involved are the hospital managers, education specialists, and lactation consultants. These groups are involved and are relevant because they will be the ones preparing and scheduling the classes. They will become involved once the change project is proposed and they are exposed to the problem and a realistic way to go about changing it. The stakeholders on the receiving end of care would be mothers and babies that are affected by the new implementation. They are relevant to the change project because their effectiveness of care is different than what it would be without the classes. It is important to identify the needs of all stakeholders so that it is appealing to all and the efficiency and quality of care increase is proved.

What are the resources required for the implementation of your change project? Provide a brief cost-benefit analysis to determine if the benefits will be greater than the cost to implement your proposed change project. Discuss the return on investment (ROI) stakeholders can expect.

There are many resources that would be required to implement my change project. One of the most important aspects would be proper research. Being able to study and utilize proper research done on the topic will allow me to draft a plan on teachings. It is also important to have a way to measure rates at specific hospitals in order to compare the before and after rates of breastfeeding trends. Since it has been proven that breastfeeding is extremely good for a baby’s health in many ways, the benefits from the cost of prenatal breastfeeding classes would definitely be beneficial. The World Health Organization estimated that if all babies were breastfed for at least the first six months of their lives, the rate of morbidity and malnutrition would significantly decrease all over the world (Adriana, Simone, Angela, Romanaprosperi, Grazia,Helena Ban, & Onofrio, 2016). Babies would grow and develop in a healthier way, saving health organizations an incredible amount in the long run. This proves that the cost to implement these classes would not be near as much as they would have to spend on care down the road to combat all of the sicknesses that could have been prevented from breastfeeding. The stakeholders would be able to see a return on investment by having lower costs on these children all throughout their lives, especially since the cost of implementation would be so small compared to the possibilities that would result without putting these classes into practice.

Describe the clinical problem that is the focus of your change topic. Describe the some of the current research related to your clinical topic, and discuss how this provides support for the implementation or outcome of your project in a clinical setting.

The clinical problem that is the focus of my change project is the lack of education on breastfeeding for women who are pregnant. When women are not educated on the benefits, they are much higher to choose not to breastfeed. If a child is not breastfed, it can lead to many other clinical problems in the long term health of infants as they grow. Since breastfeeding is also good for the mother in postpartum care, their care would be negatively affected as well. The research around this topic shows how a lack of education leads to decreased amounts of women who breastfeed. Many women are not aware of the benefits for themselves and their children, and once they are made aware they decide to breastfeed. This proves that there is a lack of education, since the rate of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life in Arizona is at 18% (Healthy People 2020, 2015). There is also research on prenatal attitudes towards breastfeeding, saying that if the attitudes surrounding a soon-to-be mother are positive then they are more likely to breastfeed. Being educated before giving birth gives the mother time to develop an attitude that is positive and comfortable with the idea of breastfeeding. Research also shows how it is extremely beneficial it is to breastfeed. This provides support for the implementation of this change project because it shows how life changing the outcome can be if mothers breastfeed.

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