A community can be defined as a group of people, who live, learn, work and play in an environment at a given time. (Yiu, 2012, p.213) There are many factors that may influence the community’s development and health status. These can include resources available, accessibility, transportation, safety, community needs etc… These influences may combine together to form community strengths and as well as community challenges or weaknesses. As a community health care nurse, it is significant for us to assess and identify these strengths and challenges within the community in order for us to intervene and provide the appropriate needed health care services for the community members. This individual scholarly paper will explore and focus on one challenge issue identified from our group community assessment. For our group community assessment, we assessed the neighbourhood of Moss Park. Throughout our assessment at Moss Park, we noted many of the community’s characteristics including physical environment, resources available, strengths and weaknesses etc… Moss Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, the area is mainly comprised of worn-out buildings and houses with a satisfactory number of resources including a public library, school, health care centers, pharmacies etc… During the assessment of this neighbourhood we noticed that the physical environment was contaminated with the presence of garbage on the streets and in residential areas. As we were walking through this area during our assessment, we noticed a strong smell of cigarette smoke in many areas on the streets and in some residential areas. We also observed many people smoking in the area which creates a harmful environment of second-hand smoke. Lastly, we noted th... ... middle of paper ... ...tthana, W., Ruangdej, K., & Turner-Henson, A. (2010). Outdoor air pollution and children's health. Pediatric Nursing, 36(1), 25-32. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/199446597?a ccountid=13631 Toronto Public Health. (2013). Toronto's health status indicator series respiratory disease. Retrieved from http://www.toronto.ca/health/map/indicators/pdf/respiratorydisease.pdf Yiu, L. (2012). Community care. In L. Stamler & L. Yiu (Eds.), Community health nursing: A Canadian perspective (3rd ed., p. 213, 219, 227). Toronto, Canada: Pearson Canada Inc. Wright, C. Y., & Diab, R. (2011). Air pollution and vulnerability: Solving the puzzle of prioritization. Journal of Environmental Health, 73(6), 56-64. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/818561631?a ccountid=13631
Another focus for change is that over the years the demand for home and community care over hospital care has continued to grow, as stated by the Queens nursing institute “Recent health policy points to the importance of improving and extending services to meet the health and care needs of an increasingly older population and provide services which may have previously been provided in hospital within community settings”.
Strasser, Judith A., Shirley Damrosch, and Jacquelyn Gaines. Journal of Community Health Nursing. 2. 8. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1991. 65-73. Print.
Loiselle, C. G., Profetto-McGrath, J., Polit, D. F., Beck C. T., (2007). Canadian essentials of nursing research (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Schmidt, C. (2004). In our community: One vision followed by thousands. Lippincott's Nursing Center.com,104(8), 36-37. Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/JournalArticle?Article_ID=517471
For this research paper, I chose to discuss the Louisiana air quality and its effects on the community. I was raised here in Baker, Louisiana which is north of Baton Rouge. Growing up I noticed something very striking and odd. We are overly exposed to chemical plants and their outputs. Driving around Baton Rouge at night and seeing a distant flame I often wonder what it really was. I wonder how this was affecting the community. How was this affecting our health? Upon doing research, I discovered it is called upset emissions. Upset emissions are unplanned events which release VOCs into the air. The Bucket Brigade which is an anti-energy group refers to emissions as accidents. Every year they release an annual report which gives information on the State of Louisiana air quality. A group called Energize LA made a rebuttal against the report. They argued that the Bucket Brigade facts were inaccurate. The views of both will be explained in detail. For this research paper, there will be a discussion on the upset emission effects on communities and health. As well how it correlates to the previous class discussions on the Clean Air Act.
Stamler, L., & Yiu, L. (2012). Community Health Nursing: A Canadian Perspective. (3rd Edition)Toronto: Pearson Canada
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: promoting the health of populations (5th ed.). St.Louis, MO: Saunders.
According to Allender, Rector, and Warner (2014), public health is a combination of both an art and a science (2014). The mission of public health nursing is to promote health, prevent disease and ultimately prolong life (Allender et al., 2014). In order for this to occur an assessment must take place. An aggregate or community assessment begins with a collection of data. This includes: the community’s health needs, risks, environmental conditions, financial resources through local census data, and a windshield survey (Allender et al., 2014). Through public health nursing, communities can collectively come together to help promote an overall better health standing.
Holistic nursing is a specialty practice that draws on nursing knowledge, theories, expertise and intuition to guide nurses in becoming therapeutic partners with people in their care. This practice recognizes the totality of the human being - the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotion, spirit, social/cultural, relationship, context, and environment (American Holistic Association, 2015, para 2). The learning topic can be found in the goals listed in module two. Specifically, learning the roles of community health in wellness. The second learning goal is how to correctly complete an assessment of the needs of a community. I hope to expand my professional goal into the admiration of a community based health program. Module 7 will give the background to determine the services needed in the community. Additionally, Module 8 will enable me to gather the data and
Harkness, G. A. & Demarco, R. (2012). Community and public health nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Health status of an individual is influenced by the person himself his environment. Community based programs will make health education available outside traditional health care setting which is able to influence various units of the community including an individual , family or the community as a whole. An educational program organized in a community based setting such as school, worksite, health care facilities and the community it...
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2008). Public health nursing: Population centered health care in the community (6th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.
Nies, M.A. & McEwan, M. (2015). Health a community view. In Community/public health nursing: promoting the health of populations (6th ed.) (p. 1). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2012). Population-Based Public Health Nursing Practice: The Intervention Wheel. In Public Health Nursing: Population-Center Health Care in the Community (8th ed.). Maryland Height, MO: Elsevier Mosby
An idea of a healthy community with a safe environment, accessibility to preventive health care services and screenings, education on health promotion that is stress-free and accessible and healthier grocery stores. Characteristics of a healthy community are ideas, activities, and resolutions derived from partnerships of diverse groups, regular self-evaluation that is part of the practice, which is the focus. A diversity of strategies, techniques, documents, and other resources would have to be executed to support and make a healthy community. If an individual 's knowledge of a healthy community is different from his or her belief then community strategy must be put in place in order to begin to achieve the goal of improving health. Community strategy must be supported by the individuals who are working together in order to be successful (Matthew, et al, 2001). In order for a strategy to become effective, a consistent plan should be created with achievable goals within a community. Also individuals that are strong, inspired, and truthful and determined should also carry out the