COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS OF PHOENIX
ALISHA HERMOSILLO
EMMAH MAINA
LISA GREENSPON
PRIYA CANALES
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
NRS-422V
AUGUST 18, 2013
COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS OF PHOENIX Community assessment and analysis by the community health nurse is of vital importance. This means understanding the community at large and in details on health matters and issues affecting health as well as the healthcare system used in the community. This is done through data collection and analysis, identifying community assets, resources, barriers to health and health needs in the community. The community health nurse then disseminates information on how to improve the community health. The writers used functional health
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The nurse can help qualifying community members in the application process. If the community member does not qualify, the nurse can aid in healthy food choices by creating a mock menu for them or helping with a food-shopping list.
Elimination
Phoenix topped the charts as the most polluted city in the United States when “judged by year-round particle levels,” (MNN, 2013). Air pollutants can cause adverse health effects on multiple body systems. Negative effects include “difficulty breathing, lung irritation, chest pain, headaches, eye irritation, wheezing, shortness of breath, pulmonary or nasal congestion and developmental delay,” (Ackley & Ladwig, 2008). Monitoring particle levels and contamination incidents, and following isolation and hazard precautions in the community are education pieces that may be taught by the nurse and the city’s Safety Committee (Ackley & Ladwig, 2008).
Activity and Exercise The prevalence of obesity has become a nation-wide problem as well as in the Phoenix area. Including members as part of the healthcare team may give them the encouragement they need to become more active and include exercise in the daily lives. The nurse can provide information on the positive effects of exercise on the body. Explaining to community members that starting with small steps can make large differences in their health can also help (Ackley & Ladwig, 2008). Suggest taking a short walk daily for the first 2 weeks, slowly
Pollution continues to pose an enormous threat to residents of urban cities worldwide. In the August 2008 Monthly Update, it is stated that approximately 800,000 deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, making pollution the single most harmful environmental hazard to human health in urban areas (Kallman). The fact that pollution kills hundreds of thousands of people each year alone portrays just how dangerous living in these conditions can be. Kallman writes about a study which proves an increase in upper respiratory diseases, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and low birth weights when exposed to air pollutants (August 2008: Monthly Update). These can be very serious diseases and complications which, when contracted, can lead to death or very serious illnesses. There
Community health nursing is a vocation; striving to improve the health of the community by promoting, stabilizing and protecting the health of individuals, families and identified aggregates. We are able to have the furthest reach when we can isolate a specific deficit of an aggregate through assessment and subsequently the development of a community support program. Community support programs promote health, access to services and self-advocacy.
Family health assessment is an integral part of the formula used in creating a customized plan of care for the families’ health care. Family health assessment is also a tool that can be used to identify and evaluate the family’s health concerns, their life style and also helping families make good decisions regarding their family’s health. Family’s perception towards health and health promotion could be very different and unique, which makes the Family health assessment even more challenging for the nurses and health care professionals. Nurse’s have a moral obligation towards the society to help them promote their families health. The
In Shreveport, LA, many residents suffer from respiratory issues that they believe are caused by the local refinery, Calumet (Moskowitz). Residents have suffered for generations losing family members to cancer that they believe is brought on by pollution that the refinery emits. Some residents suffer lesser but chronic health issues ranging from minor respiratory issues like asthma to blood clots in their lungs. “Calumet denies that its refinery is the cause of any of these health issues” (Moskowitz). Many chemicals that are released by refineries can cause respiratory problems, cancer, nerve damage, and in some cases even death. There is no absolute way to be sure that all health problems happening near Calumet are caused by the pollution that it emits, but it could be a contributing factor in worsening symptoms. A resident of Marrero, LA, a town south of Norco refining, stated that they could not leave their house due to excess levels of pollution triggering asthma attacks (Ludwig). Sulfur dioxide is a known chemical that can trigger asthma attacks, it is also one of the many harmful chemicals that can be released by refineries (Sturgis). Refineries will measure levels of emissions when there is a chemical spill, so they know almost exactly how much pollution they have emitted. Minor incidents are not always reported or are under reported, but they can have the same damaging effects on the environment and the overall health of the community (Sturgis). “LABB’s reports confirms what workers and residents have known for years-petrochemical companies to often skirt the laws for reporting serious incidents”
Community health is the process or characteristics that allow a community’s population and economy to survive. Community health is defined as the meeting of collective needs through identification of problems and
Gordon's Functional Health Patterns provide a useful structural guideline that help nurse or any health care provider to assess any family’s health status and develop a nursing diagnosis according to their need to improve their quality of life. Through each of these eleven patterns of health assessment, nurse can create a systemic approach and gather information which help them to understand a family values from each prospect of human health status. The health assessment begin with asking two or three open ended questions to a selected family. This family is a young
the FHSA’s * Community nurses provide nursing services in clients’/patients’ homes. * District nurses are concerned with promoting health and well-being as well as providing nursing care.
Community health nurses incorporate community participation and knowledge about the total population with personal, clinical understandings of the
As Nurses, we often ask ourselves what more can we do than is currently being done to improve the health of our clients not only in an individual sense but as a community. We are required by the scope and standards of nursing to ask ourselves this type of question by virtue of our profession and indeed is a baccalaureate nurse essential as well. We are in a unique position as nurses to have the most interaction with the community of patients we serve, and we often see the issues that affect the communities we serve more readily. One such issue that is undeniably
In an effort to promote the health needs within a community, a successful community health nurse (CHN) must focus on the entire population. In order to accomplish this task, the CHN utilizes a scientific approach to determine the priority population focused health needs for the community. According to Nies & McEwen (2011), a population focus involving an assessment of the community is a primary tool utilized in order to develop planning, interventions, and evaluations for the community at large. The purpose of this paper is to determine a priority
Community health nurses find out information about the community’s involvement and knowledge. They use their clinical understanding and experience to bring information to the community’s about different health issues in that area. For example if HIV was increasing in their area they would collect the numbers and data and bring it to the attention of other health care agencies to bring
Starting in the year 2004, the air pollution has reached an alarming level in the city o Toronto. Dr Barbara Yaffe, the acting medical officer of health of Toronto Public health, has released a report in July 2004 saying that the “air pollution [in the city] has contributed to over 1700 premature deaths and 6000 hospitalization admission in Toronto each year” (Yaffe, 2004, p.i). According to this report, pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and carbon monoxide have increased within the air of the city; these pollutants are tiny particles that are 2.5 micron in diameter or less and can affect people’s respiratory system and cause cardiovascular and respiratory problems such as “asthma, bronchitis in children, adult chronic bronchitis, and heart problem” (TPH, 2007, figure 1). Although it
Community health assessment is a process of systematic identifying and examining health indicators in a defined population. The purpose of this community health assessment is to gather and analyze information about health status, factors that can have an influence on community members’ health, and needs of the population within the target community. The collected data allow comparing the health status and needs of the residents in the Newmarket Health Centre (NHC) and residents in surrounding neighbourhood with the local health care services and resources available for them, which will help to identify health inequities among community members (Goodman, 2014).The main goal of this community health assessment is the strategic development of solutions to the identified health needs in a community.
For example, community education about current health issues is one of the functions of primary health care, so a registered nurse can assume the role of an educator and educate the community about the current threat. Community education is one of the most important aspects of nursing because their code of ethics requires them to keep the community accurately informed on health related issues (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council [ANMC], 2006). Furthermore, the education informs community about prevention methods because primary health care supports the active participation of patients for both individual and public health.
The role of the community health nurse in the participating family’s community is to focus on the health needs of the aggregate or group. Community health nursing refers to a systematic, comprehensive focus on wellness, health protection, and disease, and injury prevention for the population residing in a specific area. The nurse functions as advocate, case manager, consultant, health care provider, educator, and collaborator with other agencies for healthy outcomes of the entire community. Nurses involved in the health of a specific community such as the family participating will assess the members living in the demographic