Consider the definitions, differences, and utility of the two terms listed under your item selection. Your response will need to include both terms in the item selected.
Odds ratio and risk ratio
Mortality and morbidity
Incidence and prevalence
Consider how these epidemiologic measures strengthen and support nursing practice.
Assess practice limitations of not using these measures in nursing practice.
Conduct additional research in the Walden Library and other credible resources, and then locate two examples in the scholarly literature that support your insights.
By Day 3 of Week 5
Post a cohesive scholarly response that addresses the following:
Explain how your selected measures of effect strengthen and support nursing practice. Provide at least two specific examples from the literature to substantiate your insights.
Assess limitations of not using measures of effect in nursing practice.
The key difference lies in what they measure: incidence counts new events (risk), while prevalence counts all events (burden). The relationship between the two is that prevalence is influenced by both the incidence rate and the duration of the disease. A high-incidence, short-duration disease (like the flu) might have a lower prevalence than a low-incidence, long-duration disease (like diabetes).
Strengthening Nursing Practice
These measures strengthen nursing practice by providing a foundation for effective patient care, public health planning, and resource allocation.
Guiding Clinical Screening and Prevention: Nurses use incidence data to understand the risk of a disease within a specific population. For example, if a nurse practitioner in a community clinic sees an increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes among adolescents, they can advocate for and implement targeted screening programs, health education initiatives on diet and exercise, and early intervention strategies to prevent the disease from developing. A study by Kucera et al. (2018) highlighted how understanding incidence rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses can lead to the implementation of prevention programs, such as ergonomic training and mechanical lift policies, to reduce the risk of new injuries.
Informing Resource Allocation and Care Planning: Prevalence data is crucial for assessing the total burden of a disease. A nurse administrator, for instance, can use prevalence data on chronic conditions like heart failure to determine the number of beds needed in a specialized unit, the required staffing levels, and the demand for long-term care services. A study by Tork et al. (2020) demonstrated how knowing the prevalence of pressure injuries in a hospital can inform quality improvement projects and justify the need for more specialized wound care nurses and advanced patient care technology. This allows for proactive rather than reactive resource management.
Sample Answer
Incidence and Prevalence
Incidence and prevalence are two fundamental measures in epidemiology that provide distinct but complementary views of disease or health conditions within a population. Incidence refers to the number of new cases of a disease that develop during a specific time period in a population at risk. It's a measure of risk or the speed at which a disease is spreading. For example, if a community has 1000 people and there were 50 new cases of influenza in one month, the incidence rate would be 50 new cases per 1000 people per month.
In contrast, prevalence is the total number of existing cases of a disease at a specific point in time or over a period. It's like a snapshot of how widespread a condition is. Using the same community, if there are a total of 200 people living with diabetes on January 1st, the prevalence of diabetes is 200 per 1000 people.