Community Health Nusing - Essay Example

Role of a School Nurse A community-based health nurse is responsible for a whole community. This means I am responsible for the entire Cesar Chavez High School community. I learnt that it was my job to improve community health, safety and increase care without overstepping my boundaries. I believed that prevention is a better measure of disease control than cure (Appleby, Frost & Sines, 2005). Therefore, I intended to use it as bases of controlling diseases and health issues that I discovered were rampant in this school.

I also learnt that it was my job as a community nurse to educate the community on health matters, especially the students and the staff. I learnt to design and implement health education campaigns and diseases prevention activities such as immunization, sex education, abstinence and screenings. To do this, I had to monitor health trends by looking at students’ past health records in order to identify heath risk factors that were unique to Cesar Chavez High School.I believe a person’s health is affected by factors like environmental changes, lifestyle and genetic composition.

Effective prevention measures would include health care education, proper nutrition, efficient safety practices, and early detection of common diseases (Appleby et al, 2005). I learnt how to identify and respond to potential health issues. I also learnt about the importance of patient-doctor confidentiality; hence I was able to encourage the students to come for medication irrespective of their medical conditions. Admittedly, the students have changed substantially since I got to Cesar Chavez High School.

Most of them have dropped their bad habits. Usually, high school students are curious and tend to pursue satisfaction of their curiosity by experimenting on new things. Some of them were into drugs while others were just naughty and would fake sickness in order to avoid exams. Teen pregnancies were also rampant.Most of them did not take their health seriously because those who were sick would take up to a week before seeking medical attention. This delay was making treatment difficult for me as a nurse.

In addition, cleaning the environment was perceived as a punishment to students. I set out to address these issues on the grounds that prevention was better than cure by educating both the staff and the students on the importance of getting rid of health prejudice. In addition, I stressed the importance of disease prevention. For instance, maintaining high hygienic conditions would lower the chances of contacting diseases such as dysentery. I would let them know of the dangers related to drug abuse and compulsive consumption of prescription pills even when in good health (Appleby et al, 2005).

I also emphasized the need for abstinence and pointed out the dangers of early motherhood, especially complications during delivery.I also encouraged them to observe proper nutrition through fewer intakes of sugar and junk food, and seek medication early before their health conditions advance. Though it was difficult to adopt the recommendations, they finally came around with the help of the staff.Both the students and the staff now takes their health status seriously. They take my advice to observe proper nutrition and hygienic conditions.

Students watch what they eat and shy from indulging in ill-health activities. They are now keen on aspects of lifestyle and physical fitness. The students no longer skip physical education lessons and actively participate in field games like football. With respect to the issue of pregnancies, it has emerged that most students have adhered to the proposed abstinence program. In addition, students are no longer afraid to seek medical care; hence are treated at an early stage thus enhancing maintenance of good health.

With time, instances of disease infections and teenage pregnancies have reduced, thus saving the school a lot of cash and resources (Appleby et al, 2005).ReferenceAppleby, F.M., Sines, D. & Frost, M. (2005).Community health care nursing. Oxford, UK: Backwell Publishing.