Community health nurses (CNHs) offer timely services to different people depending on their health demands. The selected community setting for this discussion is a hospice facility that provides medical support to patients with a wide range of terminal conditions. Every CNH in such a facility is expected to offer both treatment and guidance. These roles are essential since they ensure that all beneficiaries record positive health outcomes. The vulnerable population this hospital serves is comprised of persons with chronic diseases. The purpose of this paper is to describe the health services CNHs provide to increase life expectancy.
Community Setting
The selected community for this discussion is a suburban setting with several patients suffering from diabetes, obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. These individuals encounter numerous challenges and find it hard to achieve their health goals (Hooper, 2016). The absence adequate hospice facilities and resources make it impossible for members of this population to lead high-quality lives.
The CHN in this setting provide various health services to the targeted people. Firstly, they offer timely and exemplary medical services to patients depending on their unique needs. For example, those with diabetes and cardiovascular conditions are presented with the right drugs and injections. Obese patients receive quality information that guides them to manage weight and check their body mass indexes (BMIs). Secondly, CHNs design adequate educational programs to sensitize more patients about their specific health conditions and how to overcome every emerging challenge (Hooper, 2016). These services explain why many people seek the best support from this community facility.
Health Promotion Nursing Intervention
CHNs possess adequate theoretical concepts and competencies that empower them to meet the changing demands of their respective patients. The identified hospice facility can benefit from various health promotion interventions or strategies. The first one can entail the use powerful programs to educate more patients about their health conditions and how to manage them effectively.
If positive results are to be recorded, it is appropriate that CHNs engage family members and guide them depending on the nature of the targeted condition. Every patient will receive personalized information about the right drugs, disease management procedures, and the most appropriate exercises. The second health promotion intervention is to support the development of care delivery teams in the facility (Hooper, 2016). Such groups will be comprised of professionals with similar philosophies who focus on a specific terminal condition. CNHs can regroup depending on their expertise and knowledge regarding the nature of the targeted terminal disease. These measures will maximize the level of care delivery and eventually present desirable health outcomes.
CHNs can collaborate with different stakeholders in the community, such as religious groups, government agencies, and non-governmental agencies. Other possible collaborators include family members and learning institutions. The established partnerships will ensure that all members of the region are aware of the risk factors associated with various terminal conditions and how to prevent them (Nies & McEwen, 2019). These stakeholders can also be involved to support the above health promotion interventions.
Professional Nursing Organization
The increasing number of patients with chronic conditions is a major problem affecting the American health sector. The Association of Public Health Nurses (APHN) offers timely guidelines and resources to support CHNs whenever working in hospice-related facilities. This agency promotes the enactment and implementation of policies that can ensure that more patients with terminal illnesses receive exemplary services (Association of Public Health Nurses, 2019).
It goes further to offer new guidelines, incentives, and ideas that empower community health nurses to transform their patients’ experiences. Professionals who consider such ideas will find it easier to achieve their aims.
This organization has been keen to ensure that CHNs focus on the quality of life for persons with chronic conditions. This is a professional issue that all CHNs should take seriously than ever before. It has been presenting additional guidelines and practices that can empower nurses to meet the demands of more patients. This professional issue can be replicated elsewhere to empower every CHN and make it easier for him or her to maximize the life expectancies of persons in need of hospice care (Nies & McEwen, 2019). Different theories of nursing support the concept of quality life since people with chronic diseases should be empowered to achieve their potential.
Summary
Home hospice clinics have become common in the recent past due to the current epidemic of chronic conditions. The selected community setting has benefited significantly from the competencies of CHNs. These professionals provide timely medications and offer programs that guide more people to lead high-quality lives despite the fact that they suffer from terminal illnesses. The inclusion of teams with matched competencies and experiences can ensure that more patients receive reliable and sustainable medical support. The APHN is involved in various policymaking and health promotion strategies to meet the needs of people in need of hospice care.
The studied case can become a powerful model for all home nursing and hospice facilities to employ competent CHNs and guide them to provide adequate support to underprivileged populations. In conclusion, this approach will eventually transform the image and effectiveness of the American healthcare sector.
References
Association of Public Health Nurses. (2019). Public health nursing 3.0. Web.
Hooper, V. D. (2016). The Institute of Medicine report on the future of nursing: Where are we 5 years later? Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 31(5), 367-369. Web.
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2019). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier.