Caring for Populations Part 1 - Essay Example

Basically, nursing is concerned with human health and since the community has become a setting for constant illness, it has become the duty of a nurse to work for the well being of the community. Community Health Nursing refers to nursing outside hospitals or such institutions. It can be perceived as “nursing without walls” (Clemen-Stone et al., 2002, p. 31). Nurses in the community are in a position to work towards helping the families and population of unfamiliar and remote areas by making ethical and valued decisions.

The US population, apart from showing a trend of increase, is also becoming more diverse. Thus, the need for a change in the healthcare system in this country is imperative because a large number of communicable diseases including HIV/AIDS are prevalent among the population, especially young adults. Therefore, there is an urgent need for health care authorities, local bodies as well as citizens to focus on the causes and effects of such health problems in young adults and design suitable preventive measures through Community Health Nursing.

The young adult population has become a group that carries a set of problems and they have been identified as undergoing a decline in moral values as they are pleasure seekers, which result in the transmission of diseases due to unsafe sexual activities and drug usage. This issue is universal and the respective communities cannot absolve themselves from the responsibility for this. Many of the youngsters in age group of 10-29 are identified as unhealthy. About one third of this community is also obese or overweight.

Most of the males in this category smoke and another major part of them drink. On the other hand, females become victims of teenage pregnancy and transmission of infectious diseases. Studies have proved that many of the young people, especially the minor groups, ail health problems because they fear to seek healthcare and they do not have much knowledge about the health services available. They are the group who are badly affected by HIV/AIDS. Female includes a large share of HIV/AIDS cases among teens than the other adults.

This clearly indicates a lack of community involvement in healthcare of population, and a nurse has to play a key role in this environment by creating awareness in the local population about the gravity of the situation and by creating awareness in the community about the significance of preventing diseases. Studies also reveal that 1% to 5% of suicide prevails among adolescents and young adults. The tendency to commit suicide in the population derives from depression and lack of motivation or a sense of life.

Thus, the community, including parents has a vital role to play in showing the right direction to the young generation and ensuring their physical as well as mental well being. A community based approach will be of immense help for the prevention of such youth suicides and providing them proper mental health. Female students have been found to be comparatively more likely than male students to have thought about committing suicide and have planned to commit suicide. There are also cases of suicide which requires medical attention.

Community health nursing can provide counseling for such individuals and assure them the support to and create awareness in them about the relevance of social life and instill in them a sense of the worth of living a good life. The Youth Risk