| Course | NURS 6710 Public Health Nursing Theory and Practice |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 5 |
| Paper type | Windshield survey writeup |
| Length | About 600 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 6710 Week 5
Windshield Survey of the Corridor: Two Passes, Four Segments and a Log With Observation in One Column and Interpretation in the Other
Student Name
College of Nursing, Walden University
NURS 6710: Public Health Nursing Theory and Practice
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Windshield Survey of the Corridor: Two Passes, Four Segments and a Log With Observation in One Column and Interpretation in the Other
Methods
Route: the state route through the composite corridor from the rail overpass south to the county line, about two and a half miles, divided into four segments by cross streets. Passes: two, one on a weekday at 0730 by car, driving at the speed of traffic with stops at each segment, and one on a Saturday at 1600 partly on foot, walking the half-mile between the manufactured-home park and the warehouses. Recording: notes were written at each stop, not afterward from memory. Photographs were taken of streets, signs and buildings only; no person, license plate or house number was photographed, and the photographs are listed by segment rather than reproduced here. Rule for the log: the left column records only what could be seen or heard; anything interpretive goes in the right column, written as a possibility to check. The windshield survey is a standard first look at a community in nursing assessment, and its value depends on keeping observation separate from assumption (Anderson & McFarlane, 2019).
Log by Segment
Table 1
Observations and Possible Meanings
| Segment | Seen or heard | What it might mean (to check) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Overpass to Mill Road | Two vacant storefronts; one with a sign for a new vape shop | Commercial decline; possible youth tobacco access |
| 1. Overpass to Mill Road | Sidewalk ends at the overpass on the east side | Walking north requires using the road shoulder |
| 2. Mill Road to Depot Lane | Pharmacy with papered windows and a sign directing customers to a store 4 miles away | Loss of pharmacy access for people without cars |
| 2. Mill Road to Depot Lane | Laundromat noticeboard with job ads and offers of rides, in Spanish and English | Informal transportation network; bilingual households |
| 3. Depot Lane to warehouses | Bus shelter with no bench, on the warehouse side, facing the truck gate | Riders wait standing; most walk from across the highway |
| 3. Depot Lane to warehouses | At 1600, three people crossed four lanes mid-block from the park toward the shelter | Crossing pattern matches crash report timing only partly; more observation needed at night |
| 3. Depot Lane to warehouses | Six trucks idling in a staging lane beside the park's fence line | Diesel exposure for homes nearest the fence |
| 4. Warehouses to county line | Manufactured homes with window air conditioners and several with plastic over windows | Older housing; heating and cooling costs; possible moisture problems |
| 4. Warehouses to county line | Church with a sign for a Tuesday food distribution | Existing trusted gathering place |
What the Survey Suggests Checking
Three observations deserve follow-up with data. The idling trucks beside the park's fence line fit a plausible exposure pathway for the corridor's childhood asthma, since exposure to traffic-related air pollution has been associated with the development of childhood asthma (Khreis et al., 2017); the survey cannot show exposure levels, and air monitoring or at least a count of idling hours would be needed. The missing sidewalk at the overpass and the shelter's placement fit what the built environment literature says about pedestrian risk (Ewing & Dumbaugh, 2009), and they add detail to the determinants analysis. And the pharmacy closure is new information for the data inventory: its effect on medication access for older residents and families with children is not visible in any table listed so far.
The survey also found strengths: the laundromat board's ride offers and the church's food distribution suggest existing networks the assessment should work with. Those belong in the right column too, marked as possibilities to confirm with the advisory group.
References
Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. (2019). Community as partner: Theory and practice in nursing (8th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Ewing, R., & Dumbaugh, E. (2009). The built environment and traffic safety: A review of empirical evidence. Journal of Planning Literature, 23(4), 347-367. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412209335553
Khreis, H., Kelly, C., Tate, J., Parslow, R., Lucas, K., & Nieuwenhuijsen, M. (2017). Exposure to traffic-related air pollution and risk of development of childhood asthma: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International, 100, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.11.012
What the NURS 6710 Week 5 instructions ask for
Most Week 5 prompts ask you to conduct and write up a windshield survey or similar observation of your community, organized by categories such as housing, transportation, services, commerce and signs of community life. Some supply a template; others leave the format to you. Expect a methods paragraph, the observations themselves and a short interpretation; length varies, and a log table is usual. Record when and how you observed, keep what you saw apart from what you think it means, and avoid photographing people. Then say which observations deserve checking against data and what data would do it. The observations must be your own; only the structure can be modeled.
How the NURS 6710 Week 5 example is put together
A methods paragraph states the route, the two passes, the note-taking rule and the photograph rule, and cites Anderson and McFarlane on the survey's purpose. Table 1 carries nine entries across four segments, each with an observation and a possible meaning. The follow-up section chooses three: fence-line idling as a plausible asthma pathway that would need air monitoring, citing Khreis and colleagues; the missing sidewalk and shelter placement as pedestrian risks consistent with Ewing and Dumbaugh; and the pharmacy closure as new information no data table had shown. A short final paragraph records the ride offers and the church food distribution as strengths to confirm with the advisory group.
Where the marks sit in the NURS 6710 Week 5 rubric
Windshield survey rubrics usually look for systematic observation, coverage of the required categories, a clear method, separation of observation from interpretation and a sensible link to later assessment. Systematic observation earns credit when the route, time and conditions are stated. Coverage rewards touching each category the prompt names. The separation criterion is where many papers gain or lose the most, since instructors watch for assumptions about residents presented as fact. Interpretation earns credit when it names what would confirm or refute each possibility. Many rubrics also reward attention to community strengths, not only problems, and to ethical handling of photographs and privacy. Where a prompt names categories, graders often check each one against the log, so a skipped category loses marks however good the other entries are.
NURS 6710 Week 5 help from the desk
Survey writeups lose most when they describe residents rather than places, such as guessing at incomes or habits from appearance. Another loss is a single pass at one time of day, which misses the corridor at shift change or at night. Some papers mix observation and interpretation in the same sentence, so the reader cannot tell which is which. Others list problems and never mention assets. Observe at more than one time, use two columns, photograph places not people, choose a few observations to test and record strengths. For help structuring your own notes into a writeup that fits your template, the desk can assist. Finally, date every entry and name the segment, so an instructor can see exactly where each note was taken.
Get a NURS 6710 Week 5 example written to your instructions
A rough list of what you recorded, in any order, is enough to start, together with the Week 5 survey instructions and the rubric. Those notes come back organized into a log a stranger could repeat, although the observations themselves remain yours, since only a visit produces them. First sample free, within 24-48 hours.
More NURS 6710 papers and MSN samples
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- NURS 6710 Week 2: Determinants analysis
- NURS 6710 Week 3: Epidemiology brief
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NURS 6710 Week 5 questions, answered
Did the author of the example actually drive the corridor?
No. The corridor is fictional and the log was written to show the form, so none of its entries describes a real street. A windshield survey for your course depends on your own presence in the community, and that observation cannot be supplied by anyone else. A sample supplies the frame your notes go into, including how inferences are kept apart from what was seen.
Why separate observation from inference so strictly?
Because the most frequent criticism of windshield surveys is that they record assumptions about residents as though they were facts. A two-column log makes the boundary visible. A closed pharmacy is an observation; reduced medication access is an inference that needs a source. Instructors reading the example can agree with the first column even where they doubt the second, which is the point of the format.
Are photographs allowed in the writeup?
Many prompts allow them and some require them. The example includes photographs of streets, signs and buildings only, with no faces, license plates or house numbers, and it says so in the methods paragraph. Your instructor or agency may have stricter rules about images, and those rules govern. A sample marks where your own photographs would sit and captions them in the same restrained way.
Where can I find a free NURS 6710 Week 5 sample paper?
The full survey writeup, methods, log table and follow-up, is posted free on this page. Structure for your own notes, set to your instructor's categories, can be requested.
When were the two passes in the NURS 6710 Week 5 example made?
One by car at 0730 on a weekday and one partly on foot at 1600 on a Saturday. Using two times and two modes shows the corridor at different levels of traffic and activity.