Importance Of Epidemiology To Nursing

In order to determine how a nurse works as a professional, it is important to first define the duties of a nurse. Potter et al. says that according to the American Nurses Association, it includes: "the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities; prevention of illness and injury; alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response; and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations" (2015, p. 2).

According to CDC -The social determinants of health are the environment, conditions and system in which people are born, live and work. These environments are formed by a different forces that have a direct influence on the status of health such as economics, politics, and social policies.( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Many different factors have direct impact on state of health of individual, such as: diet, sex, age, smoking and alcohol use, income , environment where person live, insurance coverage and access to healthcare services ( quality ) and education level, social support, community safety. All these factors significantly contribute to well and how long we live. For example of how Social determinants can affect health - premature or low birth weight baby can be result of low income, low education level, alcohol use, inability to access prenatal care, environment where mother live, poor diet.

I researched the career of epidemiology, a branch of medicine in the health care realm that deals with the research and study of diseases and related infections in groups of people while trying to find the causes and cures. I compiled a variety of sources while researching this career. Although most of the sources were in print form, others came from the internet and interviews. Not all of my sources were beneficial since most of the information I needed came from a single source. In total, I had twelve sources. There were many steps taken to compile and complete my research on this career.

Population Health Management means proactive application of strategies and interventions to defined cohorts of individuals across the continuum of healthcare delivery in an effort to maintain and/or improve the health of the individuals within the cohort at the lowest necessary cost.

There are many different aspects of Advance Practice Nursing (APN) make that make the nursing profession unique and valuable. The competencies that comprise each advanced practice nursing discipline are vital in creating a solid foundation for clinical nursing. They prepare you to conquer challenges in the clinical setting and cultivate innovation to establish processes for clinical practice.

Health Promotion is vital part of the nursing profession, and is the first standard, in the Canadian Community Health Nursing Professional Practice Model & Standards of Practice. The nursing profession shares the same view on the concept of health promotion as the World Health Organization (WHO). Health promotion is defined by Community Health Nurses of Canada (CHNC) as “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health" (Community Health Nurses of Canada, 2011, pg. 10) Health Promotion in nursing focuses on education, action, and advocacy to build capacity, and empowerment in both individuals and communities in order to facilitate individual and community control, political efficacy, improved quality of community life and social justice. (Canadian Community Health Nursing Standards of Practice, 2008, pg. 7)

Nursing diagnosis is defined as “a clinical judgment about individual, family, or community experiences/responses to actual or potential health problems/life processes. A nursing diagnosis provides the basis for selection of nursing interventions to achieve outcomes for which the nurse has accountability.” (Herdman, 2012, p. 515).

Infectious diseases are disorders caused by organisms, such as parasites, bacteria, fungi and viruses, which many may live in our bodies ("Norovirus," n.d.) Symptoms of Norovirus can be diarrhea, stomach pains, nausea, and vomiting. Norovirus can be caught by a sick person, ingesting food or water that has been contaminated or by even touching infected surfaces and it is highly contagious. This infectious disease is of interest to public health as it can involve any individual and rapidly expand to a community and a population if proper precautions are not taken place. It is vital to a public health nurse to assess the individual as well as the public in order to put emphasis on priority interventions at that specific moment. Although there is no vaccination or drug that will help prevent contracting this infectious disease, it is important to the public health nurse to make the population aware of signs and symptoms, preventative measures as well as how others can be on alert in order to prevent the spread of this illness. Proposing a campaign to heighten and raise awareness of Norovirus within our community of Lee County can be beneficial to our local clinics, hospitals and privately owned physician offices.

This paper provides a description of the education program for nurse practitioners in the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Nursing, widely considered a leader in the discipline. It further reports the results of a study examining the roles and responsibilities of NPs and of the factors that, despite the impediments to progress the practice faces, motivate them to pursue development of their abilities in carrying out their duties and making “a difference.” NPs are proud of being a source of reference for their colleagues and believe strongly in inter- and intra-professional collaboration while acknowledging and respecting their limitations, by refusing to assume any responsibilities not delegated to nurse practitioners.

The purpose of this assignment is to identify key concepts in epidemiology that will assist the student in understanding the purpose of epidemiology as it relates to clinical practice, surveillance and prevention of disease, and healthcare research. You will work on building a foundation of definitions and an understanding of how they apply to monitoring disease in populations.

The role of a Community Nurse is multi-functional, their goal is to promote health, to help in prolonging life and is essential in preventing and tracking communicable diseases. In addition, they are instrumental in educating the community in risk factors, preventing diseases and promoting self- care. Furthermore, community nurses collaborate with several health providers such as; Doctor’s, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), along with senior centers, environmental control agencies and other, just to name a few. In doing so, they can facilitate in tracking, preventing, and promote health in their community (Nies & McEwen, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to discuss both the infant mortality and heroin deaths in Franklin County, Ohio and how community nursing are addressing this issue. According to Healthy People 2020, there have been significant strides met in decreasing the death rate in cardiovascular disease and stroke, but the overall disparities in health care for all people remain, especially in the area of infant mortality

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was established in the year 1972 and its dedication has been solely to health and continues to be a significant charity organization in the United States. It has played an enormous role in supporting programs and research offer support towards solutions to many health issues challenges. The goals and objectives of foundation are kick-starting and setting up initiatives that have been targeting specific areas that need a change in the health sector. One of the most crucial initiatives from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the Future of Nursing. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the Future of Nursing collaborated with the Institute of Medicine, and the collaboration resulted in the “Future

Current Research in Public Health Evaluation: Public health research and evaluation (July 2010) (focus Area profile) stated that program evaluation should be integrated into day to day management of programs; that the five elements of program evaluation should be integrated:

Epidemiology is the study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why. Epidemiological information is used to plan and evaluate strategies to prevent illness and as a guide to the management of patients in whom disease has already developed.

There are a few research studies and related pieces of literature that concerns disaster preparedness of nurses. This important due to the fact that nurses is a big chunk in health workforce. Moreover, nurses are considerably the first-line health professionals in giving health care services. As such in times of disaster, preparedness on a personal and professional level is important. As a result, it will enable nurses not only to ensure safety, health and well-being of their client or patients but also themselves.