Healthcare facilities are established as access points for healthcare services. However, they are sometimes limited in capacity, overcrowded, and cannot serve everyone at a go. Conversely, some cultures promote an attitude that discourages or prohibits people from visiting health facilities. Some individuals make the personal decision of never going to hospitals for their reasons. Such instances should not deny anyone the right of accessing healthcare services since they can receive the same services from their homes through home care plans. The home care plans may entail all services right from those offered by the doctors to those provided by the nurses in what is referred to as home health nursing. A home health nurse performs all duties appertaining nursing including offering preventive, rehabilitative, and therapy services with activities revolving around checking the hygiene, nutrition, and vaccinations, wound care, patient education and even the use of medical equipment. The community at Homestead (Naranja) may need the services of home health nurses especially because of the community’s lack of enough health facilities and the poor transport system that makes access to health facilities hectic. This paper seeks to analyze the applicability of the home health nurse in this community.
Community Setting
The community at Naranja is set in an environment where various factors limit access to healthcare services. For example, some members of the Naranja community are not in a position to go to the nearest hospital and consequently need the nursing services from their homes. These members include those using wheelchairs and have physical disabilities, and young couples with young children. Even those in good health and can take themselves to the hospital are restrained by the poor transportation system and the lack of healthcare transport solutions. The members of the community are poorly connected to the hospitals as the roads were potholed and the public means of transport for those who did not have personal cars was not reliable. Consequently, some health resources were underutilized including the food banks and refugee centers in downtown. Even when there were health resources for the community, there would still be a challenge in accessibility and affordability since there were many unemployed persons. These unemployed persons may not have a change in their convenience since there were no available jobs in local businesses or public institutions like the military.
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The community was also experiencing health risks of malnutrition and tobacco smoking yet there was little intervention for the problems. Food banks were inaccessible while there lacked a rehabilitation center for the victims of drug and substance abuse. There were also a fair number of homeless persons who could not access healthcare services, yet there were no shelters for these vulnerable persons.
With the above situations, introducing home health nursing services would ensure accessibility and the overall betterment of the health status for the community in question. For instance, a home health nurse can easily maneuver through the community setting to get to the patients. It would be easier for an individual to move about the community to serve several households unlike when the patients are required to travel in the lousy state roads with their families to the health facilities. A home health nurse could also provide missing services from the comfort of the patients’ home including rehabilitation and health education for tobacco smoking addicts. It would also be more comfortable for the nurse to address the issue of nutrition and dieting from visiting homes of the patients and having a firsthand experience of the same. The home health nurse could be an appropriate solution for the lack of a professional nurse in the community. The intervention by home nurses would improve the health status of the city to a great extent by directly participating in it.
Health Promotion Nursing Intervention
It is notable that it is inadequate or lack of preventive care and wellness centers, which is an essential component of health care. This status is also discoverable with the lack of health education initiatives on the issue of tobacco use and other health problems affecting the community.
Having a nurse that directly engages with the community from their homes would provide a solution to these problems. The nurse could carry out procedures of immunization and other preventive medical care to the members of the society and achieve a community that is free from preventable diseases ( Rayner, 2001) . While routinely visiting the homes in the community, the nurse may find opportunities of addressing the issues of dieting, nutrition, and excessive tobacco use as he or she discovers it in the context of the specific homes. Such intervention would contribute to the overall improvement of health among the members of the community. Besides, when visiting these homes, it is easy to identify the missing health safety and precautionary measures like slippery floors and advice the owners on the necessary interventions for such to avoid cases of incidents like accidental falls.
Professional Nursing Organization
The Home Healthcare Nurses Association is the national organization for all nurses that practice, research, study, and administer professional home health nursing in the USA. The organization is a platform that brings together all these professionals to raise issues, discuss, and set the standards for the practice (“ Affiliated Societies: Home Healthcare Now." n.d.) . The organization also provides a common bargaining platform for its members since it is mandated to protect the professionals in the field and provide solutions to any arising issues.
Currently, the organization is at the peak of seeking protection for home healthcare nurses. Members have complained of the security threats that may be physical, emotional, or poor conditions and hygiene standards in some of the homes. The organization is, therefore, seeking protection and increased risk allowances to the nurses. They are further advocating for evaluation of homes by other agencies before the visits to ascertain the security of these nurses.
Summary
The community at Najara is notably in serious health issues with very few health resources that are inaccessible to most of the members of the city. Cases of malnutrition and tobacco use are also notably high, yet there is little intervention that has been made to solve the problem and avoid its worsening since preventive and wellness care is unavailable in this community. The community also lacks a health facility that could provide comprehensive care, and the nearest one is a distance away. To control the situation, home healthcare nurses could be deployed to the community to ensure all nursing services and increase the deliverability of health services to the city for the achievement of a better health care system. These nurses could join or be drawn from the Home Healthcare Nurses Association that addresses all issues concerning them. Health policy makers in this community should consider this option but ensure that the nurses are several so that the program is produced.
References
Affiliated Societies: Home Healthcare Now. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/homehealthcarenurseonline/Pages/affiliatedsociety.aspx
Rayner, M. (2001). Manual of Home Health Nursing Procedures (2nd ed.). Home Healthcare Nurse , 19 (8), 518. doi:10.1097/00004045-200108000-00020
