Community Health Lecture

Today we talked about what community services means to us personally and professionally. We talked about the different roles nurses have in the community such as: case manager, legal consultant, counselor and educator. The main goals for a community health nurse is health promotion in the community, to reduce the number of hospital visits and prevent long-term illnesses such as coronary artery diseaseand hypertension, goals mirrored in Healthy People 2010.

Healthy People 2010 (originally Healthy People 2000) are goals outlined by our government to improve health and reduce health disparaties among minorities. The goals are targeted towards populations at risk for certain illnesses, such as African Americans and hypertension. The majority demographic in Miami-Dade County are Hispanics, which make up 56% of Miami-Dade's population. Non-Hispanic Blacks make up 18%, making minorities the majority in Miami-Dade -- 74% of the population! Consequently, the number one leading cause of death in Miami-Dade County is heart disease, which is why alot of health promotional teaching is focuses on nutrition and exercise.

I admire the good intentions of Healthy People 2010, but I think it's an unrealistic goal to set for this country. Some studies have shown the health disparities have not decreased but increased since the initiation of Healthy People 2010.

...The report, which surveyed Baltimore City and all but two of the state's 23 counties, found that affluent Talbot County on the Eastern Shore has the largest gap between the death rates for non-Hispanic whites and blacks. The death rate for backs was nearly 70 percent higher than that for non-Hispanic whites in Talbot County, the state's third-wealthiest by per capita income. The gap was narrowest - less than 5 percent - in rapidly suburbanizing
Charles County...Experts pointed to a number of reasons to explain the difference in death
rates between whites and blacks: availability of health insurance, differences in diet and
exercise patterns, and even availability of transportation to health care providers.

These problems are happening all over the country. Healthy People have met some of its goals -- getting the public aware of health problems and getting regular screenings for early disease prevention, but this is not enough. Many Americans already have chronic diseases that we often screen for. It's the ineffective and unaffordable health care system that discourages the public from seeking health care in the first place.

Community Health Nursing -- First Day!

On Thursday, Aug. 24th, we had our first day of NUR2680L, Community Health Nursing. Our instructor (Prof. E), has a very impressive list of master degrees and is working on a PhD in Nursing. Can you imagine, being a "Dr." in Nursing?? Congrats, Prof. E.!
Anyway, she talked to us about the benefits of serving the community. Essentially, part of a nurse's duty is to serve his/her community. We were given community T-shirts (WHITE -- as if we don't suffer enough from wearing it to clinicals!).
I'm trying to find a community project that is family-based and relates to microbiology (as I can have credit for both since I am taking MCB2010). I thought about teaching mothers/children about acute asthma attack prevention or methods to reduce air pollutants in the home.

I still have some time to think about this, but it would be nice to know where I would best serve Miami.