Public Health Nursing in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania - Assignment Example

AssignmentPublic Health Nursing in Lancaster County, PennsylvaniaLancaster is the sixth largest county in Pennsylvania State. It has a large rural population, but with a central city that is the County’s hub. Its city and rural population are faced with public health concerns. Lancaster County is faced with serious environmental health problems that are related to air and water quality, lead poisoning and ground contamination. These environmental problems are key risk factors for cancer, stroke, diabetes, cardiovascular and other heart related diseases.

This, therefore, implies that chronic diseases and lack of access to quality treatment and prevention services are the key health concerns, in this county. For instance, the most recent research on community health, in Pennsylvania State, indicated that more than 60 percent of people who participated in this study cited several unmet needs such as access to dental care, oral health education, mental health education and treatment services, access to health care through support and insurance services, and nutrition education and counseling (Elliott, 2012).

Delivery of quality health care services to people of Lancaster County is a significant duty of both the community itself and the available private and public health facilities. This paper, therefore, identifies and describes the problems facing public health nursing in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and provides appropriate solutions to these problems. Stanhope and Lancaster in their book, “Public Health Nursing”, provide some community health concepts such as community as a client, population-centered nursing in rural and urban environments and promoting health through communities and cities, and their significance in promoting quality health care delivery (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012).

The problems cited by Lancaster people are some of the significant health service needs, which are primarily community based needs. Improving health care delivery, in this county, requires more health care attention than what is currently being implemented by the public health in Pennsylvania. Lancaster community health is primarily challenged by two factors, which include management of chronic diseases and access to personal health (Elliott, 2012). There are crucial disparities in health status and access by geography and race/ethnicity with central city’s residents while the rural population faces the greatest challenge.

Many rural dwellers are suffering from significant public health problems such as STDs, lead poisoning, and tuberculosis while not getting the attention or resources required for understanding, preventing and treating these health problems. In this context, Lancaster community acts as a client of health providers (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). The other problem facing Lancaster community health is the lack of leadership for public health and coordination of health services. Other, than Pennsylvania Department of Health, there is no any other private health agency providing significant public health activities (Elliott, 2012).

Lancaster community health can be promoted through advocating for and maintaining healthy communities. Stanhope and Lancaster suggest that the best way of maintaining a healthy community and city is through practicing population-centered nursing in both rural and urban environments (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). For example, creating a county health department will have significant benefits, which include: there will be improved standards consistency and setting in addressing public health issues.

These will include disease prevention, disease surveillance, inspection and licensing of food restaurants; there will also be a county-wide coordination of public health related services by school districts, hospitals, municipalities, and other non-profit making private agencies (Elliott, 2012); and lastly, there will be improved priority setting and local control through an improved and effective leadership of health-related issues, in Lancaster County. ReferencesElliott, E. (2012). Health Examinations Past and Present and their Promotion In Pennsylvania.

American Journal of Public Health , 602-606.Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2012). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community. Maryland Heights, Mo: Elsevier Mosby