Motivational interviewing rulers and the Transtheoretical Model shape a two-can soda swap into the first goal of this NU432 Unit 8 plan, with the gym deliberately deferred. Searches like "nu 432 unit 8 assignment example", "nu432 unit 8 sample" and "nu432 unit 8 example" land here.
Two Cans, Not the Gym: A Behavior Change Plan Built From a Forklift Operator's Own Confidence Ruler
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU432: Primary Care in the Ambulatory Setting
Unit 8 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Composite patient written as a model document. No real person is described.
Assessment
A1c 6.1 percent; BMI 36; night shifts four days a week; four 20-ounce regular sodas per shift. In his words: "I'm not a gym guy."
Readiness
Stages of change describe how ready a person is to act, from precontemplation through preparation to action (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983).
Soda: preparation. Importance 7, confidence 8.
Walking on breaks: contemplation. Importance 6, confidence 5.
Gym: precontemplation. Importance 3, confidence 3.
Conversation Excerpt
RN: What would you be willing to change first? [open question]
Patient: Not the gym. Maybe the soda. I drink a lot of it at night.
RN: The soda is something you've already been thinking about. [reflection]
Patient: Yeah. It keeps me awake, though.
RN: You should switch to diet soda. [advice given too early; flagged]
Patient: I don't like the taste.
RN: Diet doesn't appeal to you, and the soda does a job for you on nights. [reflection, correcting the slip]
Patient: Right. Maybe I could just have fewer of them.
RN: How confident are you, from 0 to 10, that you could swap two of the four for water or coffee on work nights? [confidence ruler]
Patient: Eight.
RN: So: two cans swapped on work nights, starting this week. [summary]
The goal arrived from him after the RN stopped advising, which is the point motivational interviewing makes about who argues for change (Miller & Rollnick, 2013).
Goal
SMART form: for the next two weeks, on each work night, drink two cans of regular soda instead of four, replacing the other two with water or black coffee, and mark each night on a tally card. If-then plan for the 3 a.m. break: if I walk to the vending machine, then I buy a water first and decide on the soda after I drink it. If-then plans help people act on intentions in the moment they are most likely to fail (Gollwitzer, 1999).
Confidence Rule
A goal that scores below 7 on the confidence ruler is shrunk until it scores higher. The two-can goal scored 8; the four-can goal he first mentioned scored 5 and was not used.
Follow-Up
RN call at one week, tally card reviewed. A lapse is treated as information for the next call, not as failure. At three months: referral to a Diabetes Prevention Program, whose lifestyle intervention reduced progression to diabetes in the original trial (Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, 2002). Walking on breaks will be revisited at that visit.
References
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. (2002). Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. New England Journal of Medicine, 346(6), 393-403. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa012512
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493-503. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1983). Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: Toward an integrative model of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(3), 390-395. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.51.3.390
How this NU432 Unit 8 example is structured
The plan is built from his priorities outward, and its order shows that. Assessment comes first, then readiness, so the reader sees the goal emerge from the rulers instead of arriving from a guideline. The conversation excerpt sits in the middle as evidence that the goal was his; each reflection is labeled in the margin, and the one moment the RN slips into advice is flagged and corrected in the next turn. Goal-setting follows the confidence rule from chronic disease self-management programs: a goal scoring below 7 is shrunk until it scores higher. The if-then plan targets the one situation most likely to break it, the 3 a.m. break. A relapse paragraph treats a lapse as information for the next call rather than failure. Deferred behaviors, walking and the prevention program, are listed with the date each will be revisited.
Get an NU432 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
If the Unit 8 case gives a patient and a target behavior, send both with the rubric; if it asks for a self-chosen behavior, say so and name it. The model plan, rulers, conversation excerpt and SMART goal included, is returned within 24-48h and is free the first time. The patient stays a composite. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
NU432 Unit 8 questions, answered
Does the plan have to use motivational interviewing?
Not always, but most behavior change prompts in nursing courses expect a named approach, and MI is the common choice in primary care. If your course taught a different model, such as the Health Belief Model or social cognitive theory, the plan can rest on that instead. What matters is that the theory explains a decision in the plan.
Why start with such a small goal?
Because early success builds self-efficacy, and a goal the patient doubts is likely to fail and discourage him. Self-management programs commonly use a confidence rating of 7 out of 10 as the threshold for keeping a goal. The sample's soda swap cleared it easily; the gym did not, so it waits. Larger goals come after the first one holds.
Can the plan be about my own behavior instead of a patient's?
Some sections allow or require a personal behavior change project, and the structure is similar: assessment, readiness, goal, barriers and evaluation. Check the prompt. The sample uses a composite patient because this unit's scenario is usually clinical, but a personal version would keep the rulers and the if-then plan and drop the conversation excerpt.