The use of the nursing process
The article written by Dolan, Pachis, and Skelton (1990) is aimed at showing how various stages of the nursing process can be applied to home visits. The authors identify such stages as assessment, diagnosis, planning, and implementation; this procedure should be used by nurses at the time when they need to identify and minimize health risks to which community members may be exposed (Dolan et al., 1990, p. 73). For instance, the scholars illustrate the steps that these medical workers should take prior to a home visit. First, they need to identify environmental factors that can affect the health of a person (Dolan et al., 1990, p. 73). In this case, one can speak about the quality of air or water, housing conditions, waste management, and so forth. Moreover, one should examine mental or physiological conditions that may affect the health of a person. In this article, the scholars provide step-by-step instructions for the application of the nursing process. These are the aspects that should be identified.
Overall, this article is useful because it helps nurses increase the efficiency of their work. In particular, this framework can help them anticipate various risks that can be related to the social environment of a person. This argument is also relevant if one speaks about different environmental factors.
However, this article has several limitations. In particular, the authors do not include the evaluation stage of the nursing process. This stage is critical for eliminating possible malpractices and improving the technique which are used during the collection of data, diagnosis, or the design of medical interventions (Ralph & Taylor, 2005, p. 3). This is one of the details that should be considered.
Furthermore, this article may be improved considerably, if authors provide case studies showing how medical workers apply the nursing process in different contexts. One should keep in mind that communities differ dramatically in terms of their economic development, infrastructure, and environment. Similarly, the structure of families and their socio-economic status also vary. These examples better illustrate the efficiency of the nursing process and its relevance to home visits made by medical workers. This is another limitation that should be taken into account. Nevertheless, this article should still be considered because it demonstrates that this procedure can be applied to the field work of nurses. The guidelines offered by the authors are useful for the identification of threats to the health of families and separate individuals. These are the points that should be made.
Response to the video
This short video demonstrates that in many cases, people can develop sophisticated techniques that are necessary for responding to various emergencies. Nevertheless, they do not pay much attention to the underlying causes of these problems (Don’s Fable: Upstream/downstream, n. d.). To some degree, this story is applicable to various issues related to healthcare. For instance, one can speak about the treatment of patients who may suffer from cardiovascular diseases. At present, medical workers have developed sophisticated techniques for treating these diseases. The main problem is that not much attention is paid to the prevention of these health risks (Labarthe, 2011). For instance, scholars mention proper diet and physical exercises which significantly minimize the risk of such threats (Labarthe, 2011). The main issue is that the importance of such precautions is often underestimated. So, this story illustrates the typical problems in the functioning of the healthcare system. This is one of the arguments that can be advanced.
Additionally, it is possible to consider the importance of community assessment because this method is important for discovering potential causes of health problems. In this way, nurses can better identify those factors that prevent people from seeking medical assistance as soon as possible. For instance, it is possible to consider such a factor as poverty that influences health behaviors of a person. Apart from that, community assessment can throw light on some environmental factors that contribute to the risk of various healthcare problems. In this case, it is possible to mention such determinants as air pollution or contamination of water. For example, they lead to the increased risk of cancer in the community. So, nurses can contribute to the improvement of many policies that are related to healthcare and environmental protection. This is one of the benefits that should be identified.
The main benefit of this tool is that it throws light on the experiences of patients who are disempowered due to social or economic reasons. The information collected during the community assessment will be critical for promoting the rights of community residents. This technique helps nurses respond to the health problems faced by separate individuals. However, at the same time, this method is vital for the development of preventative strategies; in this way, one can minimize the occurrence of diseases which are typical of certain communities. To some degree, this discussion illustrates various roles that nurses are supposed to play. In turn, community assessment is one of the tools that they should apply on a regular basis.
Reference List
Dolan, G., Pachis, A., & Skelton, J. M. (1990). Evaluation of home visits using a nursing process approach. Journal Of Community Health Nursing, 7(2), 69-75.
Don’s Fable: Upstream/downstream. (n. d.). Web.
Labarthe, D. (2011). Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases: AÂ Global Challenge. New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Ralph, S., & Taylor, S. (2005). Nursing Diagnosis Reference Manual. New York, NY: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.