ESSAY : Clinical Epidemiology

For the MSN prepared nurse, knowledge of epidemiology and its application to preventive screening guidelines is important in many clinical areas; administrative, informatics, education and nurse practitioner fields. Consider you are working in a clinic and need to order a preventive screening on a patient for one of the conditions listed below. (While this is a preventative measure, it also can be a diagnostic tool in other circumstances. For this Assignment the screening is a secondary prevention measure.)

Please select one screening. Your screening methodology must come from the National Clearinghouse guidelines.

Cervical Cancer

Explain the guideline, the correct application of the screening, and the epidemiology behind the guidance. Content required should include epidemiologic data such as statistical information as available ex. morbidity, mortality, incidence and prevalence of condition. Identify risk factors, risk assessment, testing interval, description of the patient population, screening test recommendations and other factors relative to the guideline.

This paper should be 2–3 pages, excluding your title page, and references. This paper should adhere to appropriate 6th edition APA format. If using a journal as a reference, please include the DOI.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Clinical Epidemiology

Papanicolaou test (Pap smear) is one of the cervical cancer screening methods provided for by the National clearinghouse guidelines (NCG). Pap smear is a cytological screening method that involves scraping off microscopic cells from the cervix and examining the cells under a microscope. The method continues to be most effective and accessible in detecting cancerous cells in the cervix. It can be used for purposes of both screening and diagnosis. Besides, a pap smear may also reveal normal Inflammation or dysplasia not related to cervical cancer. The method is used for screening and diagnosis. When used for screening purposes, a woman with no symptoms of cervical cancer is screened. The results may either indicate presence or absence of cancerous cells. When used for diagnosis, a woman who already has symptoms for cervical cancer is diagnosed, and the results confirm its existence or absence. Pap smear screening is a useful preventative measure due to the extended time it takes a low-grade dysplasia to develop into invasive cancer. The much time taken allows time for detection especially when the test is done within the recommended timelines. In addition, detection at early stages of the cancer is curable due to the available…