| Course | NUR 545 Advanced Health and Literacy Assessment |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 10 |
| Paper type | Closing reflective journal |
| Length | About 390 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Journal entry with APA 7 citations |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 545 Module 10
Module Ten Journal
Two Languages in One Visit
I have always been proud of my documentation. This course taught me that I was writing in only one of the two languages a visit requires. My SOAP notes were precise, and I spoke to patients in the same words, just more slowly. The moment that made this clear was scoring the clinic's own sheet on high blood sugar. I had handed that page to patients for years. It came out at a twelfth-grade reading level, and when I rated it with the PEMAT, it told patients almost nothing they could do (Shoemaker et al., 2014). The page was accurate. It was also useless to the man I wrote the new handout for, who needed three actions tied to his work night and a card with colors instead of numbers. Rewriting it took an afternoon; realizing I had never checked took most of the term.
The second moment came during the toddler's well visit. A teenage cousin offered to interpret, and a year ago I would have accepted gratefully. Using a trained interpreter instead, and speaking to the mother rather than to the screen, I learned about the night bottle and the grandmother who gives bottles during the day, and those two details explained the low hemoglobin. Research on interpreter errors showed me that my old habit was not a kindness but a risk (Flores et al., 2012).
The third moment was the smallest. At the two-week follow-up, I nearly asked my patient whether he had taken his metformin every night. I asked him instead to tell me about his week, and he mentioned skipping it twice because of an upset stomach. A closed question would have produced a yes. Teach-back and open questions are not extra steps; they are how I find out whether any of the rest has worked (Brega et al., 2015).
Two practices have already changed. I now write teaching as the words I will say, not as a description of what I will cover, and I ask patients to show or tell me rather than asking whether they understand. One change I want to bring to the health center is a small one: replacing our standard handouts with a short set of tested sheets, each scored and rated before use, and each tried with a patient before it is printed.
References
Brega, A. G., Barnard, J., Mabachi, N. M., Weiss, B. D., DeWalt, D. A., Brach, C., Cifuentes, M., Albright, K., & West, D. R. (2015). AHRQ health literacy universal precautions toolkit (2nd ed., AHRQ Publication No. 15-0023-EF). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Flores, G., Abreu, M., Barone, C. P., Bachur, R., & Lin, H. (2012). Errors of medical interpretation and their potential clinical consequences: A comparison of professional versus ad hoc versus no interpreters. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 60(5), 545-553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2012.01.025
Shoemaker, S. J., Wolf, M. S., & Brach, C. (2014). Development of the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT): A new measure of understandability and actionability for print and audiovisual patient information. Patient Education and Counseling, 96(3), 395-403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2014.05.027
What the NUR 545 Module 10 instructions ask for
A closing reflection is a common final assignment in NUR 545. Prompts usually ask how your approach to assessment and communication has changed, what you learned about health literacy that surprised you, where it will show up in your advanced practice role and which skills still feel unfinished. Entries are generally written in the first person for the instructor alone, about a page or two, with a few citations to course readings. The strongest reflections are anchored to specific assignments or encounters from the term, such as a readability score you calculated or a teach-back that revealed a problem, rather than to the course topics in general. Pick the moments before you start writing.
How this NUR 545 Module 10 journal example is built
In the entry above, a composite health center nurse reflects on keeping clinical and plain language apart. Three moments carry the reflection: scoring a familiar handout at a twelfth-grade level and rating it with the PEMAT, declining a teenage relative as interpreter and learning what a trained interpreter uncovered, and discovering a skipped medicine by asking an open question. Each is tied to something from the readings. The entry closes with two practices the writer has already changed and one specific improvement planned for the health center, supported by three references that connect the reflection to the readings: the PEMAT study, research on interpreter errors and the AHRQ toolkit.
Where the NUR 545 Module 10 rubric puts the points
Instructors reading these entries tend to reward four things: honesty about change, links to what the course taught, use in real practice and plain, clear writing. Honesty shows when you name a habit or belief you held before the course and describe the moment that changed it. Connection earns credit when that moment is linked to a specific concept, tool or source from the readings. Application is strongest when it names a practice you have already changed or a concrete plan for your workplace. Honest description of what you used to do is more convincing than general statements of growth, and it usually reads as professional maturity rather than weakness. Graders also notice when a plan names a real place and a real next step.
NUR 545 Module 10 help: the mistakes that cost points
End-of-term entries in this course lose marks when they read like a table of contents, when growth is claimed but never shown, or when the readings named in the prompt never appear. Go back through your graded work and mark the two or three places where your practice actually shifted: a score that embarrassed you, an encounter that went differently, a question you now phrase another way. Tell each as a short before-and-after, attach the source that explained it and finish with something you now do on an ordinary shift. Keep every patient composite or de-identified. A brief entry built on real moments outscores a long survey of the syllabus. If the last week is crowded, a draft in your own voice can be prepared from your notes for you to edit.
Get NUR 545 Module 10 written to your instructions
Share the journal prompt and a few notes on the assignments or encounters that changed how you work. A reflective entry in your own voice, anchored to your assignments and cited to the readings, is ready in 24 to 48 hours, and the first one is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
More NUR 545 papers and related MSN samples
- NUR 545 Module 1 Discussion: Why Health Literacy Belongs Inside Every Assessment
- NUR 545 Module 2 Screening Tools Paper: Comparing Health Literacy Screening Tools
- NUR 545 Module 3 Milestone One: A Comprehensive Health History With Literacy Screening
- NUR 545 Module 4 SOAP Note: A Focused SOAP Note for New Type 2 Diabetes
- NUR 545 Module 5 Teach-Back Script: A Teach-Back Conversation About Metformin and Glucose Checks
- NUR 545 Module 6 Patient Education Handout: A Plain-Language Handout on High Blood Sugar, Scored and Revised
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- NUR 545 Module 8 Older Adult Assessment: Assessing an 82-Year-Old Taking Nine Medicines
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- NUR 531 Module 2 Leadership Theories Paper: Transformational, Servant and Authentic Leadership Compared
- NUR 520 Module 9 Final Project: An Epidemiological Analysis of COPD With Population-Level Recommendations
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NUR 545 Module 10 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 545 Module 10 Journal sample?
The complete journal on this page is free to read: a nurse's reflection on clinical and plain language, readability scoring, interpreter use and open questions, with three real sources.
What should the NUR 545 final journal include?
How your approach to assessment and communication changed, what surprised you about health literacy, how you will apply it in practice and what you still want to develop.
How do I connect a reflection to course readings?
Name the tool, concept or study that explained a moment from your assignments, such as the PEMAT or research on interpreter errors, and cite it in APA format.
Can a reflection mention mistakes?
Yes. A habit you dropped, told plainly, demonstrates growth better than any claim, as long as patient details stay de-identified.
How long is the NUR 545 journal?
Expect roughly one to two pages, written as I and citing a few readings; the exact length is in your course shell.