NURS 8310: Epidemiology and Population Health Major Assessment Overview Major Assessment 7: Using an Epidemiological Approach to Critically Analyze a Population Health Issue Write a 12- to 15-page paper that addresses the following: Section 1: The Problem (developed as Assignment 2; submitted at the end of Week 6) · A brief outline of the environment you selected (i.e., home, workplace, school) · A summary of your selected population health problem in terms of person, place, and time, and the magnitude of the problem based on data from appropriate data resources (Reference the data resources you used.) · Research question/hypothesis Section 2: Research Methods (developed as Assignment 2; submitted at the end of Week 6) · The epidemiologic study design you would use to assess and address your population health problem. · Assessment strategies (i.e., if you were conducting a case-control study, how would you select your cases and controls? Regarding the methods and tools you would use to make these selections, how is it convenient for you as the researcher or as the investigator to use this tool?) · Summary of the data collection activities (i.e., how you would collect data—online survey, paper/pen, mailing, etc.) Section 3: The Intervention (developed as Assignment 3; submitted at the end of Week 8) · An outline of an intervention you would implement to address the population health problem with your selected population based on the results of the study in Section 2. Note: If you selected a descriptive study design, you are still required to outline an intervention that might be developed based on future research on. · A review of the literature that supports this intervention Section 4: The Impact (developed as Assignment 3; submitted at the end of Week 8) · An explanation of the health outcome you would be seeking and the social impact of solving this issue Section 5: Evaluation (developed as Assignment 4; submitted at the end of Week 9) · An evaluation plan based upon the health outcome that you have chosen and your anticipated results The Final Paper (with feedback incorporated) is due by Day 3 of Week 11. This serves as your Major Assessment for this course. Your written assignments must follow APA guidelines. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from appropriate Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct. © 2012 Laureate Education Inc. 1 1 Population Health: Healthcare-Associated Infections Anne Marie WouapetName Walden UniversitySchool NURS 8310 Section 03, Epidemiology and Population HealthClass March 18, 2018Date Well done 5/5 Healthcare-Associated Infections Healthcare-Associated infections (HAI) are infections acquired by patients in the course of receiving medical or surgical care. In modern healthcare, there .

1. NURS 8310: Epidemiology and Population Health
Major Assessment Overview
Major Assessment 7: Using an Epidemiological Approach to
Critically Analyze a Population Health Issue
Write a 12- to 15-page paper that addresses the following:
Section 1: The Problem (developed as Assignment 2; submitted
at the end of Week 6)
· A brief outline of the environment you selected (i.e., home,
workplace, school)
· A summary of your selected population health problem in
terms of person, place, and time, and the magnitude of the
problem based on data from appropriate data resources
(Reference the data resources you used.)
· Research question/hypothesis
Section 2: Research Methods (developed as Assignment 2;
submitted at the end of Week 6)
· The epidemiologic study design you would use to assess and
address your population health problem.
· Assessment strategies (i.e., if you were conducting a case-
control study, how would you select your cases and controls?
Regarding the methods and tools you would use to make these
selections, how is it convenient for you as the researcher or as
the investigator to use this tool?)
· Summary of the data collection activities (i.e., how you would
collect data—online survey, paper/pen, mailing, etc.)
Section 3: The Intervention (developed as Assignment 3;

2. submitted at the end of Week 8)
· An outline of an intervention you would implement to address
the population health problem with your selected population
based on the results of the study in Section 2. Note: If you
selected a descriptive study design, you are still required to
outline an intervention that might be developed based on future
research on.
· A review of the literature that supports this intervention
Section 4: The Impact (developed as Assignment 3; submitted at
the end of Week 8)
· An explanation of the health outcome you would be seeking
and the social impact of solving this issue
Section 5: Evaluation (developed as Assignment 4; submitted at
the end of Week 9)
· An evaluation plan based upon the health outcome that you
have chosen and your anticipated results
The Final Paper (with feedback incorporated) is due by Day 3 of
Week 11. This serves as your Major Assessment for this course.
Your written assignments must follow APA guidelines. Be sure
to support your work with specific citations from appropriate
Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as
appropriate. Refer to the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association to ensure that your in-text citations
and reference list are correct.
© 2012 Laureate Education Inc.
1
1

3. Population Health: Healthcare-Associated Infections
Anne Marie WouapetName
Walden UniversitySchool
NURS 8310 Section 03, Epidemiology and Population
HealthClass
March 18, 2018Date
Well done
5/5
Healthcare-Associated Infections
Healthcare-Associated infections (HAI) are infections
acquired by patients in the course of receiving medical or
surgical care. In modern healthcare, there are many procedures
and invasive techniques that are meant to improve the health of
patients. However, some of these healthcare procedures may put
the patients at the risk of infection, such as………... HAIs are a
leading cause of morbidity and mortality in healthcare
institutions in the United States (Sievert et al., 2013).
Additionally, these infections have led to an increased cost of

4. healthcare. HAIs occur in various healthcare settings such as
surgical centers, acute care centers, long-term care facilities,
and even outpatient centers. There is need to improve the
quality of care to reduce and possibly completely eradicate
HAIs to enhance the quality of healthcare. The purpose of this
paper is to discuss HAIs as a population health problem and
develop a research topic on this health issue.
About Healthcare-Associated Infections
Person
All people who visit healthcare facilities for medical or
surgical treatment can acquire HAIs. However, there are some
groups of people that are at a greater risk than others. The
elderly population is at the highest risk of acquiring HAIs
because of their increasing immune deficiencies (Sievert et al.,
2013). The elderly people’s deteriorating immune system makes
them more susceptible to infections by pathogens that are
commonly found in the healthcare environment.
Place
HAIs have been reported in every state in the United
States. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has two HAI
surveillance programs that track the rate of infections in all
U.S. states and records the trends. According to CDC reports
from 2015, at least 1 in every 25 patients acquire infections in
the healthcare setting (Umscheid et al., 2011). These infections
are most prevalent in specific areas of healthcare such as
surgical sites and intensive care units.
Time
The occurrence of HAIs is not seasonal. Patients are at the
risk of acquiring infections at any time of the year provided
they are exposed to an environment containing the pathogens
that could cause the infections to occur. However, patients are
at a greater risk at a time when they are undergoing surgical
procedures or during antibiotic use.
The significance of this Health Problem
HAI is one of the major population health issues that affect
the United States healthcare system. The United States

5. Department of Health and Human Services has reflected its
objective to reduce and eventually eliminate hospital-acquired
infections through the Healthy People 2020 initiative. Health
People 2020 identifies some of the risk factors that increase the
chances of acquiring infections while receiving medical care.
These include antibiotic use and medical procedures,
organizational factors, lack of handwashing among healthcare
workers and individual patient characteristics (Healthy People
2020, 2014). Various preventive strategies have been developed
in a bid to eliminate HAIs, but research shows that these
strategies have only been effective in reducing 70% of the
infections (Sievert et al., 2013). Therefore, there is still the
need to make more changes to reduce the infections and the
morbidity and mortality that they cause. Research shows that
proper education and training of healthcare workers in one of
the most important strategies that can help to reduce infections
in healthcare (Umscheid et al., 2011). This strategy helps to
improve the best practices for healthcare workers to enhance the
quality of care that they provide to patients.
Research Question
Does handwashing education among healthcare workers
compared to lack of handwashing education help to reduce the
rate of healthcare-associated infections among the elderly
population in healthcare facilities within a year?
P: Elderly population within healthcare facilities
I: handwashing education
C: lack of handwashing education
O: reduce the rate of healthcare-associated infections
T: a year
Conclusion
In spite of the many strategies in place to improve the
quality of healthcare, HAIs are still a great population issue
affecting medical institutions in the United States. Many
strategies have been put in place to eliminate these infections,
but there are still patients who are affected while in the course
of treatment for other medical issues. There is need to create

6. and improve more strategies that will enable the complete
eradication of HAIs.
References
Healthy People 2020 (2014). Healthcare-associated Infections.
Retrieved from: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-
objectives/topic/healthcare-associated-infections
Sievert, D. M., Ricks, P., Edwards, J. R., Schneider, A., Patel,
J., Srinivasan, A., ... & Fridkin, S. (2013). Antimicrobial-
resistant pathogens associated with healthcare-associated
infections summary of data reported to the National Healthcare
Safety Network at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2009–2010. Infection Control & Hospital
Epidemiology, 34(1), 1-14. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/668770
Umscheid, C. A., Mitchell, M. D., Doshi, J. A., Agarwal, R.,
Williams, K., & Brennan, P. J. (2011). Estimating the
proportion of healthcare-associated infections that are
reasonably preventable and the related mortality and
costs. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 32(2), 101-
114. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/657912