Assignment 1: Prescribing for Children and Adolescents

Off-label prescribing is when a physician gives you a drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to treat a condition different than your condition. This practice is legal and common. In fact, one in five prescriptions written today are for off-label use.
—Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ingram Publishing

Psychotropic drugs are commonly used for children and adolescents to treat mental health disorders, yet many of these drugs are not FDA approved for use in these populations. Thus, their use is considered “off-label,” and it is often up to the best judgment of the prescribing clinician. As a PMHNP, you will need to apply the best available information and research on pharmacological treatments for children in order to safely and effectively treat child and adolescent patients. Sometimes this will come in the form of formal studies and approvals for drugs in children. Other times you may need to extrapolate from research or treatment guidelines on drugs in adults. Each individual patient case will need to be considered independently and each treatment considered from a risk assessment standpoint. What psychotherapeutic approach might be indicated as an initial treatment? What are the potential side effects of a particular drug?

For this Assignment, you consider these questions and others as you explore FDA-approved (“on label”) pharmacological treatments, non-FDA-approved (“off-label”) pharmacological treatments, and nonpharmacological treatments for disorders in children and adolescents.

Reference:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2015). Off-label drugs: What you need to know. https://www.ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/patient-involvement/off-label-drug-usage.html

To Prepare

• Your Instructor will assign a specific disorder for you to research for this Assignment.
• Use the Walden library to research evidence-based treatments for your assigned disorder in children and adolescents. You will need to recommend one FDA-approved drug, one off-label drug, and one nonpharmacological intervention for treating this disorder in children and adolescents.
• My  assigned assignment is on (Generalized Anxiety disorder.)

The Assignment (1–2 pages)

• Recommend one FDA-approved drug, one off-label drug, and one nonpharmacological intervention for treating your assigned disorder in children and adolescents.
• Explain the risk assessment you would use to inform your treatment decision making. What are the risks and benefits of the FDA-approved medicine? What are the risks and benefits of the off-label drug?
• Explain whether clinical practice guidelines exist for this disorder and, if so, use them to justify your recommendations. If not, explain what information you would need to take into consideration.
• Support your reasoning with at least three scholarly resources, one each on the FDA-approved drug, the off-label, and a non-medication intervention for the disorder. Attach the PDFs of your sources.

Professional Leadership Communication and the Practice Scholar Guidelines

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide the student with the opportunity to explore and explain verbal, non-verbal, and written communication at the highest professional level. This assignment allows for the assimilation of professional leadership competencies as a doctorally prepared practice scholar. Assignment content supports professional formation, communication, and dissemination of skills relevant to the DNP practice scholar.

Course Outcomes

This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:

CO3: Differentiate attributes of effective leaders and followers in influencing healthcare. (PO 6)

CO4: Assimilate attributes for intra-/inter-professional collaboration across healthcare settings (PO 8)

CO5: Formulate selected strategies for leadership and influence across healthcare systems. (PO 8)

Total points possible: 350 points.

* Preparing the Assignment

Follow these guidelines when completing each component of this assignment. 

1. The assignment will include the following components within 5-7 pages (not including title page or reference page):
   1. Title Page (Title matches the first-page title)
   2. Use the following required Level 1 headings:
      1. Verbal Communication Competencies and the Practice Scholar
      2. Non-verbal Communication Competencies and the Practice Scholar
      3. Written Communication Competencies and the Practice Scholar
      4. Conclusion
   3. Introduction (Note: Do not use “Introduction” as a heading). Place the paper’s title on the first line.
      1. In a brief paragraph, introduce your paper’s topic and establish its importance.
      2. Present a clear purpose statement and a mini-outline, in sentence format, of the paper. The best introductions outline the paper according to the major sections in the assignment guidelines (which are the required level 1 headings for the body of the paper).
   4. Verbal Communication Competencies and the Practice Scholar
      1. This section describes the leadership competency of verbal communication for the DNP practice scholar.
      2. Present your understanding of the components, comportment, and collaborative nature of effective and ineffective verbal communication as a leader.
   5. Non-Verbal Communication Competencies and the Practice Scholar
      1. This section describes the leadership competency of non-verbal communication for the DNP practice scholar.
      2. Present your understanding of the positive and negative behaviors of non-verbal communication as a leader and examples of each.
   6. Written Communication Competencies and the Practice Scholar
      1. This section describes the leadership competency of written communication for the DNP practice scholar.
      2. Include your understanding of (a) professional tone & style, (b) use of standard English, and (c) strategies for effective writing as a DNP leader in documents such as emails, memos, curricula vitarum, grant proposals, white papers, poster presentations, project dissemination manuscripts, and other formal written forms of professional leadership communication.
   7. Conclusion
      1. Recap the paper’s purpose statement and mini-outline criteria.
      2. Draw major conclusions from the body of your paper.
      3. Summarize the importance of effective communication competencies for the DNP leader.
   8. Clarity of writing
      1. Use consistent standard English grammar and sentence structure is evident throughout the paper. The sentences and wording should be clear and concise, without slang, colloquialisms, street language, or conversational style.
      2. Paper should be generally free of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and typographical errors.
      3. The paper should be organized and use the required Level I Headings headers and others as needed to organize the content.
   9. APA Style and Organization
      1. Format as required in APA or “Chamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers” (e.g., font, margins, title page, matching title on the 1st page, running head, level headings, reference pages, etc.).
      2. Citations in the text must match the APA table on p. 266 or “Chamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers,” and there are no quotations used in the paper. (Minimum 6 scholarly sources that match the reference)
      3. References must match APA examples starting on p. 313 or “Chamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers.” (Minimum 6 scholarly sources)
   10. All Chamberlain University policies related to plagiarism must be observed.  This written assignment will be screened for originality by TurnItIn

Rubric

NR703 Week 5 Professional Leadership Communication and the Practice Scholar Rubric

IntroductionRequirements:
1. First page title matches title on Title page.
2. Introduces paper’s topic and establish its importance.
3. Present a clear purpose statement and a mini-outline of the paper.

Verbal Communication Competencies and the Practice ScholarRequirements: This section describes the following criteria of effective and ineffective verbal communication as a DNP leader:
1. components (what)
2. comportment (how)
3. collaborative nature

Non-Verbal Communication Competencies and the Practice ScholarRequirements: This section describes the following criteria of non-verbal communication for the DNP leader.
1. Positive non-verbal behaviors
2. Negative non-verbal behaviors
3. Examples of each

Written Communication Competencies and the Practice ScholarRequirements: This section describes the following leadership criteria of written communication for the DNP practice scholar.
1. Professional tone & style.
2. Use of standard English.
3. Strategies for effective writing as a DNP leader in professional documents (providing examples).

ConclusionRequirements:
1. Recaps the paper’s purpose statement and mini-outline criteria.
2. Draws major conclusions from the body of your paper.
3. Summarize the importance of effective communication competencies for the DNP leader.

Clarity of WritingRequirements:
1. Consistent use of standard English grammar and sentence structure is evident throughout the paper. The sentences and wording are clear and concise, without slang, colloquialisms, street language, or conversational style.
2. Paper is generally free of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and typographical errors.
3. The paper is organized and uses the required Level I Headings headers and others as needed to organize the content.

APA Style and OrganizationRequirements:
1. The document is formatted as required in APA.
2. Citations in the text are APA formatted, match the references, and there are no quotations in the paper
3. A minimum of 6 scholarly references match the citations and are APA formatted  

 Please review the attached document and let me know if you have any questions as this paper is worth 350 points.

Note that you are required to have 6 scholarly resources – please review what a scholarly resource includes.

You are to have NO quotes in the paper at all.

You have specific level one headings that are required. You also have recommended level two headings which would be good to use.

Again, you may find it helpful to open up the attached document and print it off when writing or reviewing your paper prior to submission.