Enactment Of Health Public Policy



Enactment Of Health Public Policy

Introduction

This paper identifies the problem & provides the solution for the emergency plan policy for the older residents. The problem is that there no emergency plan for the evacuation of older community residents during an anticipated weather disaster, such as flooding.

The rationale for the selection of the said problem lies in the fact that due to anticipated weather disaster such as tornado, hurricane or flood, nursing homes are woefully unprepared to protect frail residents in a natural disaster, government investigators say. Emergency plans required by the government often lack specific steps such as coordinating with local authorities, notifying relatives or even pinning name tags and medication lists to residents in an evacuation, according to the findings (Haugh & Mildon, 2008).

Nurses Role In Influencing Health Policy

The field of public health encompasses a variety of aspects. As opposed to the provision of health care services to individuals, public health utilizes population based measures such as disease surveillance to more broadly protect the public. Particularly in recent years, initiatives to control public health emergencies and events have become fundamental to the public health system (Gebbie & Qureshi, 2012).

The possibility of a disastrous event has always been a reality, but increasingly, the ever-present media bring the aftermath of disaster into our living rooms 24 hours a day(American Nurses Association., 2011). The media's ubiquitous presence denies us the comfort of detachment through distance, and the misery and suffering of others is brought to our awareness as we experience the disaster vicariously. Additionally, the events of September 11, 2001, and the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have brought the issue of disaster preparedness to the forefront of most people's minds.

When a community experiences large-scale trauma, it's affected at many different sociocultural levels. Community members question their assumptions about safety, perceived vulnerability, powerfulness, and political effectiveness. Often, people feel powerless to influence how their communities will respond to threat and need to depend on others to assure their safety.

Nurses are often involved in the institutions that can influence change, and because of their unique skills, in many cases they'll be the first responders and key providers of care during a disastrous event. Whether man-made or natural, any event that causes large-scale devastation calls for an organized community response, and nurses should play an integral role in planning that response(Gebbie & Qureshi, 2012).

Public health nurses contribute specific skills in times of disaster. They not only serve as first responders to some events, but they also embrace a population-based vision, and have the necessary skills and competencies to develop policies and comprehensive plans, conduct and evaluate disaster response drills, exercises and trainings (Haugh & Mildon, 2008). Public health nurses are integral members in emergency operations and command centers, in leadership and management roles, as well as in the field where they provide frontline disaster health and core public health services. Public health nurses collaborate with other experts, including environmentalists, epidemiologists, laboratory workers, biostatisticians, physicians, social workers and many ...