Public Health Nursing - Assignment Example

Global health care emphasizes on transnational issues, determinants and solutions to health care problems and challenges, and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration that focuses on individual-level clinical care and population-based prevention. Global forces indirectly and directly affect the health of citizens such as infectious diseases, obesity and climate change. Health care and health system changes in one country can have a direct influence on another country through privatization trends and migration of health workers.

Unequal progress towards the Millennium Development Goals is one of the significant challenges facing the implementation of a standardized global health care system. Common differences between infectious syndromes and child mortality among other development programs may challenge the understanding of the interrelationships of diseases affecting those in poor nations. For example, the movie, Water First, directed by Amy Hart presents water shortage as the leading cause of waterborne diseases such as cholera and bilharzias, in Malawi.

Water shortage is also responsible for the increased school dropouts among female teenagers. This is contrary to the situations in developed nations such as the U.S. where child mortality, infectious syndromes and injuries are majorly caused by poor diets, overconsumption of alcohol, road traffic accidents and tobacco. In order to assess and understand the challenges facing the implementation of a standardized global health care system, let us consider and compare health statistics of the U.S. and of two other developing countries, which include Nicaragua and Peru.

The World Health Organization data repository indicates that the age-standardized mortality rate by all causes (ages 30-70, per 100,000 population), in 2008, was 460, 680 and 478, in the U.S., Nicaragua and Peru respectively. This data is summarized ion the table below;Table 1: Global Health Observatory Data Repository, in 2008Age-Standardized mortality rate by cause(Ages 30-70, per 100,000 population)U.S.NicaraguaPeruAll Cause460680478Cancer143124130Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes13723086Chronic Respiratory Conditions242115Consumption (Litres of pure alcohol/person/year8.53.73.

1Contraceptive Prevalence (%)78.672.473.2Diphtheria tetanus toxoid and pertussis (DTP3) immunization coverage among 1-year-olds (%)959779 There are factors that make these figures vary from one nation to another, and these include literacy level, poverty level, availability of food and drinking water, eating habits, and availability of physicians. From the data above, it is evident that the mortality rate is the U.S. (an industrialized nation) is much less than that of Nicaragua and Peru (developing nations).

This is probably because they have better health care facilities and highly qualified physicians. Additionally, different state governments, in the U.S. are capable of supplying clean water to almost every household in that state. This is contrary to the situation in Nicaragua and Peru where almost 26 percent of the population cannot access balanced diet and clean water. This is the reason why most deaths in developing nations (Nicaragua and Peru) are because of poor diets, waterborne diseases.

However, an assessment of alcohol consumption, in the data, indicates that many people, in the U.S., consume a lot of alcohol than in Nicaragua and Peru. Alcohol consumption is one of the key risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This is the reason why there is a high prevalence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases in the U.S than Nicaragua and Peru. Researchers indicate that effective public health nursing and disaster management cycle are some of the ways of achieving equitable implementation of a standardized global health care.

Disaster is any human-made or natural incident that causes destruction, disruption or devastation, which requires external assistance. For example, the south coast of the U.S. was recently hit by an adverse weather condition known as Sandy. This required nurses and military interventions to save life and property. Nurses have unique skills for all aspects of disaster management cycle, which include collaboration, assessment, priority setting, and addressing preventive and acute care needs. Additionally, public health nurses have skills, which serve the community during disaster that includes psychological first aid, rapid needs assessment, public health triage, population advocacy, disease screening, health education, and the ability to provide crucial public health services (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012).

The World Association for Disaster and Emergency offers disaster management skills for nurses. This body ensures that there is equitable implementation of global health care for all victims during disasters and emergencies. This also ensures that patients receive adequate medical care in spite of their geographical locations. ReferencesStanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2012). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community. Maryland Heights, Mo: Elsevier Mosbyhttp://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.country.country-USAhttp://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.country.country-NIChttp://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.country.country-PER