Introduction
The purpose of the windshield survey paper is to make observations and collect data that define the City of Hialeah in Florida (zip code: 33013). It captures any shifts, stability, and developments, which have impacts on public health and the general well-being of individuals (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2011). The term ‘windshield survey’ has been adopted for the community assessment because the survey is conducted when one is driven through the selected neighborhood while making the necessary assessments through the windshield.
Geographic Assessment
Hialeah is about 51 km2 or 19.2 square miles. About 2.3 percent of the City of Hialeah is covered with water. The surrounding areas consist of Gardens, springs, and Medley.
There are various types of houses in the City of Hialeah. The population is purely urban. Most houses in Hialeah City are mainly new detached houses, townhouses, other attached houses and mobile homes, which are few. Some of these houses are relatively new while others appear to be a few decades old.
Most of these houses in appearing to be in good shape and well-maintained. In the City of Hialeah, the most commonly used building materials are mainly masonry, stucco and concrete.
There are some parts of the city, which appear to have characteristics of the inner city neighborhoods but not many. These areas tend to be slightly densely populated parts of Hialeah City. In most cases, not just a single family but also several many other families use these houses. Conversely, Hialeah City’s outer locations appear to be transitional locations with well-maintained streets and larger apartments and detached houses.
They reflect suburbanization in most parts of Hialeah City. Most of these homes have backyards surrounded by some fences.
The downtown parts of the city depict a different picture. These poor neighborhoods have been associated with illegal immigrants and other less privileged members of Hialeah. There is limited gentrification in these parts of the city. A few high-rise condominiums can be noticed with no proper maintenance and slightly littered streets. These changes have occurred because of a significant demographic shift in Hialeah City downtown noted in population displacement. There appear to be minimal changes in the renovation of old parts of the inner city. These parts of Hialeah City are associated with negative influences, poor living conditions witnessed in underdeveloped countries.
Abandoned homes and poorly maintained structures are also found downtown. Residents of downtown locations are not served with major grocery stores in the area but there are notable shopping centers such as “Miracle Mile Shopping Center, Westland Mall, Palm Springs Mall, El Mercado Shopping Center, Lago Mar Shopping Center and Westland Promenade Shopping Center among others” (Onboard Informatics, 2015, p. 1). Major retail chain stores consider downtown parts as low-income areas and, therefore, they do not have retail outlets in such locations.
Demographic Characteristics
Street people
During the community windshield survey, not many people were noted walking on the street. However, the number of street people significantly increased in the downtown part of Hialeah. Street corners have various identical faces of mainly a few cases of street people of various races and faces. Majorities are said to be illegal immigrants who seek cheap labor in the US. Street people are mainly found near many convenient stores in the city. Most people spotted who appeared to be homeless were generally adults. In addition, a few children were also spotted on the street. A section of people noted could have traditionally been homeless due to lack of housing. Children tended to be alone and were at risk of abusing drugs, crime and other illegal activities to survive. No animals were spotted on the street during the windshield survey. It is also imperative to note that other street people were engaged in city cleaning and maintenance of the landscape and garbage collection.
Race and ethnicity
The City of Hialeah had a significantly higher number of Hispanic, Cuban and Cuban Americans relative to other residents in the City. About 80 percent of individuals spotted were mainly Hispanic people. While it was difficult to distinguish the exact countries of origin of Hispanic people in the city, it was noted that some could have come from Mexico, Colombia, Dominica, and other parts of South America. The number of White people exceeded the number of African-Americans in the City of Hialeah. Few other races such as Asians and Native Americans were noted in the City. Majorities of the residents spoke Spanish, but English remained the most commonly spoken language for business.
The vulnerable population in Hialeah City is primarily the racial minority consisting of African-Americans, immigrants and other uninsured people. Nursing care should meet the needs of such populations (Kulbok, Thatcher, Park, & Meszaros, 2012).
The types of religion the local resident’s practice
Roman Catholic appeared to be the most dominant religion for many residents of Hialeah City. In addition, the Santeria religion of many Cuban was also noted with the Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. Many Roman Catholic churches noted included Meadowlane Church, Sharon Church, Sharon Church, Immaculate Conception Church, Immaculate Conception, and San Lazro Church among other churches.
The health indicators observed
Many hospitals were noted in the City of Hialeah. Glenbeigh Hospital of Miami is mainly responsible for emergency services for residents of the 4425 W 20TH AVE. Another notable hospital was Hialeah Hospital, which was privately owned and offered emergency services. The hospital offered emergency services for 651 E 25TH ST. There was also Palm Springs General Hospital on 1475 W 49TH ST, which was a voluntary not-for-profit care center. Other private hospitals were Palmetto General Hospital and Palmetto Same Day Surgery Center on 2001 W 68TH ST and 7150 WEST 20TH AVENUE SUITE 412 respectively.
Dialysis facilities were also observed during the survey. There were four dialysis centers, including Advanced Dialysis Institute, BMA – Hialeah, Flamingo Park Kidney Center, and Hialeah Artificial Kidney Center. Most of these facilities were private centers.
Further, nursing homes were also present in the City of Hialeah. On 5725 NW 186 STREET, there was Heartland Health Care Center Miami Lakes while HIALEAH NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER was situated on 190 W 28th Street. Besides, Palmetto Rehabilitation and Health Center and Susanna Wesley Health Center were located on 6750 West 22nd Court and 5300 W 16th Avenue respectively.
At least ten home health centers are located in the City of Hialeah. The median age of residents is 43.3 years and, therefore, majorities of the residents are in advanced age groups (Leuven, 2012). A and A Health Services is found on 3408 WEST 84TH ST STE 203 while Florida Home Health Care Services is situated on 3420 W 84TH ST STE A102. Other care facilities included Mima Professional Home Care; Angel Home Health Care; CareFlorida Home Health Services; Healthmax Home Care Services; Luz Health Care; Premier Home Health System; Quality Life Home Care; and Sunshine Good Care. Homes for the mentally retarded and ill are found in the City of Hialeah.
Services
The type of transportation people use
The City of Hialeah boasts massive road and transit network infrastructures. It has the Metrobus and Miami-Dade Transit as major transport networks. In addition, Metrorail, Tri-Rial and Amtrak all serve various destinations North 79th Street and West 37th Avenue, Okeechobee, Hialeah Market, and Amtrak-Miami, including Silver Star and Silver Meteor service.
It has been quoted that all major roads lead to the City of Hialeah. The City is in the heart of northwest Dade and, therefore, is the transportation hub for Miami. It serves all significant thoroughfare roads through “Interstate 75; State Road 826 (Palmetto Expressway); Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike; the US Route 27; and the State Road 924 (Gratigny Parkway)” (Onboard Informatics, 2015, p. 1). There are also other means of transportation used including bikes.
Evidence of social service centers
The main recreation centers, parks and tourist attraction sites in the City of Hialeah include Benny Babcock Park; Milander Park; Southeast Park; Triangle Park; Mattingly Park; and Goodlet Park. The City’s tourist attraction sites are mainly Rosy and Gorg Botanica Pet Shop (Botanical Gardens; 4061 East 8th Avenue) and the Flamingo Coin Company located on 8520 Northwest 185th Street.
Social services for doctors, dentists and pharmacies are also available. Pharmacies include Care Med Pharmacy Group; Palm Avenue Pharmacy; Drug Center Incorporated; Wal-Mart Pharmacy; and Med Star Incorporated among others. The City’s doctors are private practitioners with offices and on-call doctors, including Vicente Rodriguez; Ismael Morera MD & Associates; Gheiler, Edward; Yanssel Delgado; and Benidecto B Fernandez and others. Dentists have private offices and care centers, which include Causey Lee; Hialeah Gardens Dental Center; Julio Prieto; and Alawa Aziz among several others.
There are public and private schools, daycare centers and after-school programs for various grades in the City supported with Hialeah Public Libraries.
Most residents of the City are generally affiliated with the Democratic Party, and majorities voted for President Obama in the last presidential election. The second most popular party is the Republican Party. All forms of media types are found in the City of Hialeah.
The major hangout and shopping areas are Granada Plaza, Country Club Plaza, Westland Mall, Westland Promenade Shopping Center; and Lago Mar Shopping Center; and El Mercado Shopping Center. As mentioned above, parks and recreational facilities are available and depict a good use of public space.
Economics
The City of Hialeah has shopping malls, which are generally accessible through foot and auto. The major businesses include “construction; manufacturing; transportation and warehousing; retail trade; administrative and support and waste management services; accommodation and food services; and wholesale trade” (Onboard Informatics, 2015, p. 1).
Signs of wealth and poverty are noted in wide income disparities between immigrants and Americans who live in different neighborhoods. Most economically excluded majorities provide cheap labor to drive the economy of the city, and they mainly live in downtown locations while the rich live in affluent locations of Miami.
Conclusion
The windshield survey has covered the City of Hialeah. It shows the city’s geography, services, economic activities, recreational facilities, the use of public space, available healthcare facilities and other social amenities (Martinson, Jamieson, O’Grady, & Sime, 2010).
In most cases, these features of a city define the roles of community nurses and highlight the difference between community nursing and nursing at care facilities. Nurses require various competencies for such roles (Dawson & Lighthouse, 2010).
References
Dawson, L., & Lighthouse, S. (2010). Assessment of Self-Efficacy for Cultural Competence in Prescribing. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 6(1), 44-48.
Kulbok, P. A., Thatcher, E., Park, E., & Meszaros, P. S. (2012). Evolving Public Health Nursing Roles: Focus on Community Participatory Health Promotion and Prevention. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(2), Manuscript 1.
Leuven, K. A. (2012). Population Aging: Implications for Nurse Practitioners. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 8(7), 554-559.
Martinson, I. M., Jamieson, M. K., O’Grady, B., & Sime, M. (2010). The Block Nurse Program. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 2(1), 21-29.
Onboard Informatics. (2015). Hialeah, Florida. Web.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2011). Public health nursing: Population-centered care in the community (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.