Nurses play many roles when it comes to different forms of disasters. One of the primary parts in disaster nursing is emergency preparedness. The best way to respond efficiently is having a well thought out plan that is well known among staff and has been practiced. Collaboration is a key element for establishing and facilitating a good disaster paln. During a disaster, a nurse must coordinate communication between the care team and the patient. The nurse must be an advocate for the patient and educate them on how to stay safe after they leave. Provision 2 of the ANA code of ethics says that a nurse’s primary responsibility is to their patient, so it is important that they do everything they can to keep the patient safe. Also stated in the code of ethics is that a nurse owes the same duty to themselves. If a nurse is unable to care for themselves, then it is impossible for them to give the best care to their patients. For example, during this pandemic, nurses are working long hours and overtime shifts sometimes without breaks. If a person is not well rested, their body and mind will not have the capacity to do their best work. So not only is this detrimental to the nurse, but also to the patient. I am a strong advocate for people, and nurses in particular, to take care of themselves to the best of their ability so they can do the same for others. It is only fair that we treat ourselves in the same way we plan to treat others.
Public Health and Vulnerable Populations
There are many factors that influence the health of vulnerable populations. The first example is the ability to access healthcare. Many populations do not have health insurance, the means to pay for care, or even located near health care services. A second example is location where these populations live. Communities that are surrounded by air that is not clean, do not have yards to exercise in, or do not live close to grocery stores to buy healthy foods all have an increased likelihood of not being in good health. Historical forces can also prevent communities from trusting health care providers. For example, African Americans may be hesitant about contacting health services due to past unethical studies done on their population like the Tuskegee study.
A way to improve the health of these vulnerable populations include equality, equity, and justice. Equality is the assumption that every person will benefit from the same supports, and that everyone deserves equal treatment. Some parts of equality may be beneficial for these populations, but not all. Equity means that each population gets the supports that they need. This idea shows that different communities need different supports to allow for a healthy community. Lastly, justice means that the root causes of the inequity were addressed. Although there is not much an individual can do about justice, we as healthcare workers can provide better care through the understanding of these concepts.
