A community newsletter was the most preferable media. From the beginning of the existence of human beings, they have always preferred to form and live in communities. While dwelling as a community, they can be able to learn collectively and accumulate their knowledge and new ideas, information, and rules into social practices, this has made their communities practice what is good for their lives and strongly discard what is not good for their survival (Cowley, 2007). Communities have grounds that are common in knowledge and this enhances mutual respect for one another and communal sharing and peaceful coexistence. From the community level, it is easy to drum up support for a forgotten or ignored case like nurses who work a lot to raise families and take care of the sick. More so most communities have people who are willing to learn, educate, give insight and share experiences with others.
There were so many obstacles that I encountered with negotiating with the editor. Just like other editors, he felt that they are paid well and therefore do not need any recognition since their salaries make them stand apart from the rest of the workforce. He also said that they have also ignored their lives since they “make themselves busybodies” and thus neglecting their welfare. He further retorted that if they wanted to be recognized in the society, it was their duty to work harder and forward their agenda in form of more activities than they are doing. He also opposed my article claiming that the space is fully booked with other articles and advertisements meaning that it may be impossible for it to fit.
I explained to him that it is good for the community to recognize the importance of the nurses. This can encourage and mentor the young students to take up the profession that is rarely acknowledged in society. This article will also challenge members of the community to participate and coordinate other activities like giving prizes to the hardworking and dedicated nurses who touch and change our lives every day. The community will also be challenged to help the nurses’ families in small chores like babysitting or looking after their kids since their jobs demand a lot of time and drain one physically, emotionally, and psychologically. The subject matter of my submission is why nurses should be recognized in society because of the great role they play in the well-being, of our health. My argument stemmed from the way nurses have been ignored by the mainstream media and consequently the society and yet they do a lot of work in the healthcare system both at the hospitals and at the community level (Sullivan, 2003). Their social lives have been greatly affected by this workload since they have to raise their respective families and take care of other responsibilities.
The role of the nurses in the community is to promote the general health of the people in the community. They also participate a great deal in preventing several illnesses because they can identify, isolate and arbitrate cases of people who are at high risk of contracting the diseases and give them the necessary treatment. This includes sexual and reproductive health, mental health, chronic illness prevention and food nutrition. They have managed to do this because they have developed a framework that is based on the community while working with children, school-going students, and families they can access the health needs of the community. Nurses work in collaboration with community groups with the aim of structuring initiatives that will make partnerships that will enhance the delivery of services to the community. They tend to develop ways to approach and address issues concerning health by recognizing what determines the health of the people and society in general. They also promote and improve the health status of those who have poor health through the formation and implementation of policies concerning health, form supportive environments where all people can learn skills on health as a part of community activities (Manitoba Health,1998). Nurses are the experts in public health and community health and therefore can give valuable information and substantial leadership to all health practitioners in the community for instance physicians and audiologists. Recognizing the role of nurses in the community can boost their morale and motivate their spirit a great deal. This can be done by including their efforts in the mainstream media. This will help in enlightening the community in general. Everyone needs to be educated on the role they can play concerning their health as this can help in preventing most diseases since curable services are very expensive. On learning this, the community as a whole can spend less on healthcare and save more to help those who are in need or invest in other community projects. I can become more influential by advocating for the rights of the nurses and presenting their plight to society (Sullivan, 2003). This can challenge them to work hard in their careers and leave a legacy for others to exemplify. The advocacy can help the nurses to reorient themselves at the workplace and also in their lives which can boost service provision to everyone in the society.
References
- Cowley, Sarah. Community Public Health in Policy and Practice. Bailliere Tindall. 2nd Ed, 2007.
- Manitoba Health. The Role of the Public Nurse within the Regional Health Authority. 1998.
- Sullivan, Eleanor J. Becoming Influential: A Guide for Nurses. Prentice-Hall, 2003.