Community Health, Wellness and Nursing Practice in the film Rabbit-Proof Fence - Movie Review Example

Community Health, Wellness and Nursing Practice Customer inserts His/her name Customer inserts grade course Customer inserts Tutor’s name 13th December 2011 Introduction The relationship between community health, nursing practice and wellness is portrayed back from the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. The film setup is based on a true story of three Aboriginal girls from Australia. In the movie, the girls are taken away by the whites and trained to be servants. However, the girls decide to escape and return home. On their way home, they face many challenges both of food, health and external risks (Schultz, 2004). The movie shows the girls hunting down a big lizard in order to satisfy their quench for food. In addition, they pass through difficult terrain full of all sort of difficulties. They do not have shoes and drink water that is not well preserved as they work through the long distance. The film shows families lacking nursing practice for instance; people live under worst conditions of health where they struggle hard to meet their needs. In nursing practice, nurses provide life-saving and life-enriching care throughout the world. Often they are the first providers of wellness and are rather considered as the primary providers for patients with ailments. While medically focused trainings provide a valuable service to the doctors in care, nurses need training that is geared to their competencies and role in taking care of their patients. Healthcare is a risky and increasingly complex business and therefore the idea of keeping patients safe through their illness experience underpins the very essences of healthcare (Kidd, 2003). Discussion The concept of Patient safety in the film has gained prominence over the few years and Aborigines people have acknowledged health and how it is helpful to human being as a whole. This has led to enhancement on efforts to improve patient safety and further through emphasizing the need to ensure that patients receive care and treatment equally and are kept safe from any unintended harm be it physical or psychologically. Community health involves care that is offered by community to the members of the society. This care can be got from a parent or from the persons in charge to take care of the ill persons in community both the old, young and the middle aged. The wellness of an individual is achieved if the person is received good care in terms of the food and shelter that is being catered on. In most cases, the wellness of human being is expressed with the way of life that the person is living. Taking an example; from the film, the Aborigines never lived in a well formed society. They experienced several internal and external problems which affected them very much. Looking at how the movie is set, the children lived in a very sad and in a naked world where every person never knew of tomorrow. They lived in fear and agony expecting the next day to come and go. Women in the movie are shown to be so disturbed and in tears each time their children are taken from them. This thus affects them psychologically and emotionally thus affecting their wellbeing (Poad, West & Miller, 2004). Nursing practice involves assessment, evaluation, rehabilitation, observation, care and counseling of a person who is ill, infirm, injured or who is experiencing changes in difficult processes. The real issue is not about the patient it is nurses abilities to understand issues emanating from healthcare that affect the patient and also how they can offer full care considering that they are human being although professionally they are still prone to human weakness which every human being faces as they go on with their lives. However, they are expected to be care giver going out their way to see to it that patient are taken care off despite their status or what they are suffering from. In the movie, the actor highlights on the conditions of people. Here, there is lack of modernization in terms of how health conditions are tackled and that is why Neville picks the children who were referred to as ‘half cast’ to join the European schools in order to eliminate the traditional ways of living. In the movie, it is critically shown that, rehabilitation is done traditionally where people lack knowledge of maintaining health or prevention of illness. Nurses are people like us who have families and lives in community they may have their work ethic but that is not withstanding. They are still human being who has passion to serve others in their moment of weakness or vulnerability. It is the duty of authorities to ensure they support care givers so that they cannot give in their weakness meaning human weakness like stereotyping, bias, discrimination and all those social weakness (Bird, 2000). The complications and intricacy of health and community is well demonstrated where the constant growth of poverty, demands and the changes in health care have had a very serious impact on the viabilities and requirements for social setups in each areas and settings of healthcare. In the film, community does not understand the way diseases are spread and how small pox is killing the young children therefore, they continue to bath and wash in the water which they use for drinking. Here, nobody understands the need for protecting the water, food or whichever thing they are consuming that, it might be harmful for their health. Community here lacks the understanding of health and the issues that they might bring in the future. In the film, it is clearly shown neither how people in the land have various different social setups where no one is seen to understand the benefit of health nor how to take and preserve their lives (Arnold & Attwood 2009). The things that make this film interesting and complex about the exploration of health and community are well analyzed whereby community regards health as an aspect of growth. Women in the film try very hard to make their children grow. Initially, they are taught the way to survive with the use of certain leaves and adapt with eating fruits and some animals. In the film, one of the girls is demonstrated following the route where a big lizard has passed in order to catch it and it becomes a supplement for food. Health and community is exposed to being difficult since when the European comes to pick the children they chose the light skinned for they believe they are bright in their minds and are very clean and could be used as aspects for future generations. Community thus suffers so much for they do not have medications as the European are getting. However, the Aborigines believe in traditional medication which never heals small pox and thus majority dies because of ignorance and following their traditional beliefs (Rowley, 2001). Social issues of the Aborigines intertwines health in many ways their beliefs contradicts with health issues and nurses thus face difficulties in trying to solve their problems given a chance to revolve in community. In the film, I strongly believe that nurses would have major problems providing care since if people are not civilized they will tend not to participate in the exercise and regard the process as abnormal. The other aspect that makes it less possible for the nurse are the actions of language barriers this significantly provides them with great challenges since they will not be in a process to provide proper medical care as the patient is suffering (Russell, 2006). Community setup also is a very critical issue whereby, if the families believe in traditional healing so with the nurse they will find it difficult accepting them into community. Here it is difficult to come in as a nurse and provide care since nobody in the society wants to be associated for they are illiterate and do not understand the importance of care (Berndt, 2001). In this respect, after going through the movie it was very hurting and surprising how Aborigines people went through in terms of health and how they managed to live. In the movie, I felt pity for the children having travelled miles surviving on animals and leaves which they thought acted as supplement for their meal in order to come back home. In addition, it is very painful seeing how the children were snatched at a tender age to go and serve as servants to the European although a few benefited from them for thy got education and learned the importances of health which they helped the society later. More so, it was unpleasing how people feed on animals and never regarded European support as valuable but continued to maintain their lifestyle of living (Prentis, 2008). The text teaches of the need to maintain a healthy body for it helps in maintaining ones wellness both psychologically, mental and in growth. It is thus proper as a person to help in educating people to try and focus on good health since this helps them to ease of the burden of having to undergo several treatments which never heal or take time to heal. Wellness comprise of feeding and living well without complicating the body with toxins. Going through the film, it is proper to try and learn ways of maintaining body healthy and not stays in believing that through undergoing certain rituals the body will be strong and with the help of drugs and material substances without consulting a doctor one is able to live healthy. The film illustrates how the women and children suffered emotionally form fear of being taken to the river where they never knew what was going on in this aspect they suffered mental problems it is therefore necessary to seek medications that releases stress and which gives an individual rest from a lot of thoughts (Libby, 2001). The film setup shows a clear theme of suffering where it has facilitated my understanding of health as being a social and a persona problem that has its roots not just with biophysical elements of the individuals but also with their relationships to themselves and to others. I have come to understand that, lack of proper health can result to one suffering mentally and behaving as if one is insane. The relationships that people have towards certain ailments can be a hindrance to one healing because of the believes and reluctance to try and solve the problem before it goes further to affect and immune other parts of the body. People way of life can be as a result of how they have been brought up in the society. Majority of people lack understanding of health and this creates ailments to their future. Most people lack the understanding of wellness whereby they believe that if one suggests that the problem is not very severe it for sure remain that it is not very severe (Pilkington/Nugi Grammar, 2006). Conclusion In conclusion, nurses should not only have basic knowledge of the condition of health but, they should also have a deeper understanding of societal needs as well so as to be well equipped with necessary information of the challenges that faces people. Counseling sessions about wellness of individuals and maintaining healthy should also be provided because, at times caring for patients can take a toll on a person and at times even be traumatizing especially in the case where several close patients succumb to opportunistic diseases. The counseling will also help to get rid of fear that some have in caring for and treating their patients. Nurses should also go for training on how to effectively counsel and advice the patients as part of their treatment. This will ensure that the patients receive a holistic treatment for the mind, body and soul. Finally, legal and ethical issues within the hospital setup should be used since they help in achieving a measurable and attainable goal. More so, negligence and misuse of duty care by the medical doctors can cause a lot of problems to individuals and patients who have severe problems. It is through these reasons that every doctor or medical practitioner should learn to be careful and follow the nursing regulations carefully in order to avoid instances of death and causing problems to patients. References Arnold, J. & Attwood, B (eds), (2009). The Struggle for Aboriginal Rights: A Documentary History, Allen & Unwin, Melbourne, pp 65-79 Berndt, R.M (ed.), (2006). Aborigines and Change: Australia in the 1970s: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 3 no 3, 1990, Retrieved 6 June 2006. Bird, C. (2000), Bringing Them Home (ed.), University of Queensland Press, (54) 1: pp, 45-69 Briscoe G. (2009). Country health and identity: A history of Aboriginal health and demography in Western Australia and Queensland: Canbera, Aboriginal studies press, vol 3, 78-92 Chiarella, M. (2002). The legal and professional status of nursing: New York: Churchill Livingstone, Vol 6, Pp, 31. Dolan, Teresa. (2005). Community Arts: Helping to Build Communities: Taken from a Southern Ireland perspective. London: City University, 94 (1): 1–22.. Donatelle, R. (2009). Health: The basics. 8th edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc. v. 45 (3): pp, 203–17. Dooley, G. (2004). The transfer of Australian nursing education from hospitals to tertiary institutions: an annotated bibliography. Aboriginal Languages of Australia Virtual Library 47 (1): 101–17. Dooley, G. (2005), The transfer of Australian nursing education from hospitals to tertiary institutions: an annotated bibliography. Bedford Park, S. Aust: South Australian College of Advanced Education Library, vol, 10 pp, 27. Dreeszen, Craig. (2002). Intersections: Community Arts and Education Collaborations: Journal of Arts, Management, Law and Society vol, 22: pp, 211-240. Eckermann A–K, Dowd T, Chong E, et al. (2006). Binan goonj: bridging cultures in Aboriginal health. 2nd edn. Sydney: Elsevier Grimshaw, P., Lake, M., McGrath, A & Quartly, M. (2004). Creating A Nation: Quaternary Science Reviews 25 (19–20): 69–74 Hegarty, R. (2009). Is That You, Ruthie, University of Queensland Press Volume 15, pp, 79-82 Kidd, R. (2003). The Way We Civilise, University of Queensland Press, vol. 4, pp, 46-79 Libby Tudball (ed.), (2006). Australians Our Lives through Time, vol.1 & 2, Rigby Heinemann, McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., Thackeray, R. (2009). Planning, Implementing, & Evaluating Health Promotion Programs. 5th edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc, v. 4, pp, 75 Pilkington/Nugi Garimara, (2006). Follow The Rabbit-Proof Fence, University of Queensland Press, pp, 97 Poad, D., West, A & Miller, R. (2004). Contact: An Australian History, Macmillan, vol. 7/(2), 37-64 Joint Committee on Terminology (2001), Report of the 2000 Joint Committee on Health Education and Promotion Terminology: American Journal of Health Education, 2(8), 43- 78 Prentis, M. (2008). A Study in Black and White: The Aborigines in Australian History, Methuen, Australia, vol. 2(3), 98-107 Rowley, C. (2001). The Destruction of Aboriginal Society: University of Queensland Press Russell, R. (2006). Lynette from Nightingale to now: nurse education in Australia. Sydney: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Vol (2), Pp, 84-103 Russell, R. (2006). Lynette from Nightingale to now: nurse education in Australia. Sydney: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, vol. 5(3), pp, 57 Schultz, Bartz (2004). A tapestry of service: the evolution of nursing in Australia: Journal of Royal Australian Historical Society 94 (1): 1–22. Schultz, Bartz (2004). A tapestry of service: the evolution of nursing in Australia. Melbourne: Churchill Livingstone, pp, 23-59 Simons-Morton, B. G., Greene, W. H., & Gottlieb, N. H. (2005). Introduction to Health Education and Health Promotion: 2nd edition: Journal of Human Evolution 45 (3): 203– 17. Websites http://questgarden.com/03/16/6/050930043803/task.htm http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/library/rabbitproof.html http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/hreoc/stolen/ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7042/is_4_129/ai_n28133303/ Read More