The Importance Of Global Health Issues

People in the United States are urged from day one that vaccinations are important for the well being of their children and for everyone that your child may come in contact with. Recently, childhood vaccinations have been stigmatized as a negative process. Parents have become increasingly concerned about the effects and side effects of vaccinations. The problem being, that the infectious diseases that are being prevented for, are being forgotten about. Vaccinations have been doing their job in protecting us for so long that the infectious diseases are less scary than vaccination process itself (Austvoll-Dahlgren & Helseth, 2012, p. 271). Vaccinations are a preventative measure and one that will continue to be implemented in children for their individual safety and for the safety of the public. However, it is still the families’ choice whether or not they want to proceed with the vaccination process or not. Most vaccinations are going to be administered by a registered nurse, therefore, it is the role of the nurse to supply information, and answer questions when counseling families through this process. The goal is to make people feel as comfortable and as informed as possible so that they can make a decision on whether to submit to the vaccination process or not.

To revert such adverse outcomes, as advance health providers, we need to educate our patients about the importance of getting vaccinated and staying protected. The public, in general, requires a higher understanding of the two fundamental reasons of vaccination, which includes protecting ourselves and protecting those around us. Successful prevention depends on the initiatives of every individual to get vaccinated to avoid the spread of diseases ("Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives",

My first test of motherhood came sooner than I expected: “Do you authorize us to administer vaccinations?” The question that came from a nurse ten minutes after I delivered my son took me off-guard; my son was minutes old, and to me it seemed too soon to be giving him his first vaccinations. The vaccination debate has been popular in media outlets in recent years, and as a first-time expectant mother I had done some research of my own into the safety of vaccinations. While I ended up vaccinating my son on the standard schedule, my research had laid the groundwork for my interest in pharmacology and toxicology.

Not only have the vaccinations created a healthier community as it avoids preventable diseases, it also reduced healthcare costs exponentially; 9.9 billion dollars in direct costs are prevented and 33.4 billion dollars of indirect costs are avoided as a direct result of immunizations (Nicastro & Rejman, 2012). Given these facts, it is surprising to see that 85% of healthcare providers that see children have

In the last century, vaccinations have become the single most leading achievement in public health because these vaccines have saved millions of lives as well as prevented illness and lifelong disability. These childhood diseases that once resulted in hospitalization, death or lifelong consequences only a few decades ago have now become preventable. If we do not vaccinate against diseases such as RV, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Influenza, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella there could be serious outbreaks. It is my belief that as parents, the goal is to give children a healthy start in life and one of the most important decisions that can be made is to get your child vaccinated, especially since there are no effective alternatives to immunization.

The number of young children who are not fully vaccinated for preventable diseases has been steadily increasing over the last decade.

In response to the public’s questioning and challenging current vaccination standards, some physicians have begun to question the logic behind the current schedules and have even implemented their own ideas as a result. Dr. Robert Sears, a pediatrician, created

It stresses on the importance of the Health care providers, patients, families and caregivers getting vaccinated. Registered nurses are the patients advocates for the vaccines throughout an individuals’ health care continuum. Vaccinations help protect the caregivers and the public, including individuals who reside in both urban and rural communities from preventable diseases. Healthy individuals, as well as the most vulnerable, benefit from vaccinations. Neonates, pediatric, immuno -compromised and individuals experiencing chronic diseases are especially at high risk for developing preventable disease complications, and should be encouraged to become vaccinated (ANA, 2015). American Nurses Association also has a policy that supports immunization. Their policy also protects and believes that nurses have the professional and ethical obligation to be immunized. The American Nurses Association (ANA) also supports the CDC and the WHO in encouraging health care workers to become immunized to protect themselves and the community. Vaccine administration has been shown to decrease the spread of disease, preserve a healthy workforce, promote the safety of the healthcare provider, and the community, reduce the likelihood of an outbreak of a communicable disease within the healthcare

As a future nurse practitioner I will continue to provide awareness to protecting patients with the common practice of immunization

For many years, vaccines have been implemented in the healthcare of Canadian infants and children. They are the best and safest way to prevent against many deadly illnesses that can be contracted in a person’s lifetime, such as measles, rubella, and polio. It has been the standard practice of many health care professionals, however many people are choosing to not have their children vaccinated. The anti-vaccine movement has caused many mothers and fathers to not have their children complete their recommended vaccinations. Many are given false information regarding immunization, therefore as pediatric nurses, it is essential to perform health teaching with parents to provide them with the proper information regarding vaccines. As nurses, we need to be sure families made aware that vaccines are the safest and most effective way children can be protected from a variety of deadly illness, remove any barriers families may face with getting their vaccines, and help families feel less anxious when having their infant immunized.

In recent news there have been concerns over the controversy of whether or not vaccinations are necessary for our youth. There have been many incidences where certain individuals’ immune systems put them at risk of becoming more ill and this keeps them from receiving their scheduled immunizations. The benefits that these shots provide outweigh the risks for most of the country’s youth. In order to maintain the safety of the public and protect the health of children, the scheduled vaccinations should be maintained by all families throughout our country. This is the only way to lessen the effects of disease and keep our young protected.

Vaccinations go through rigorous testing and research to ensure its safety before being distributed to the public. Each step of creating, research, and distribution of treatments are surveyed. Each prevention, policy, and prevention display ethical principles of beneficence, justice, and non-maleficence.

As a nurse who is studying to become a nurse practitioner, I truly believe that vaccinations are one of the greatest medical advancements ever made. I feel that APRNs should place a high priority on childhood vaccinations because they are essential to both the healthy life of the child as well as the general public’s health. I believe we should value quality time spent with parents and families and skillfully build positive, veracity type relationships with parents. Efforts should be made from the APRN to understand the parents’ perspective and provide them with important research to encourage acceptance of immunization practices. I strongly believe that vaccines are incredibly safe and effective and protect children when they are most vulnerable.

Health is a complex concept, and global health adds to this complexity. When I think of health as a concept, I view it as being absent of disease. This understanding is a very biomedical approach to health and is a very narrow viewpoint of health. According to the World Health Organization (1948), health is defined as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (a cited by Jacobsen p. 2). This definition does give a better understanding of what health is from a broader perspective. At the University of Victoria’s Global Health class, I have become to understand better the WHO’s definition and that it is linked to the social determinants of health. In this paper, I will reflect and analyze the learning that occurred for myself while taking the Global Health class, and how this knowledge has helped my nursing practice evolve at the local and international level.

Credibility Statement: My mom is a pediatric nurse practitioner, and has always made me to get all of my shots and vaccinations. Over the past few weeks, I have spent a considerable amount of time reading up on this topic.