Reply to my peers

Begin reviewing and replying to peer postings/responses early in the week to enhance peer discussion. See the rubric for participation points. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing viewpoints with a rationale, challenging aspects of the discussion, or indicating relationships between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Always use constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of positive progress.

Peer 1

After reviewing the Healthy People 2020 topics and objectives for some, I have identified objectives that are amenable to parish nurse intervention. First and foremost, faith communities can contribute to the accomplishment of these objectives and accomplish the goal of improving the health of the public by integrating body, mind, and spirit, offering a way to promote health, healing, and wellness of the individuals, families, and communities (Pappas-Rogich & King, 2014). Florence Nightingale first showed the need for nursing to honor the psychological and spiritual aspects to help promote health, but the 19th and 20th centuries have shown health care to be more concerned with curing illness and providing medically prescribed treatment instead (Pappas-Rogich & King, 2014). Faith community nursing (FCN) assists families to become more engaged participants in the care of personal and communal resources (Pappas-Rogich & King, 2014). There has been evidence to show church-based programs have formed great impacts on varieties of health behaviors, especially in the range of nutrition and physical activity and have had greater lasting effects on individuals that make a change by linking it between healthy behavior and taking care of God's child (Pappas-Rogich & King, 2014). These health messages and activities can then be shared with friends, family, and even social media that may help reach greater populations and have a positive effect towards improving health. The trust between community nurses and parish nurses within the community can help develop partnerships to obtain these goals.

Reference

Pappas-Rogich, M. & King, M. (2014). Faith-based nursing: supporting healthy people 2020 initiatives. Journal of Christian Nursing, 3 (4), 1-7. doi: 10.1097/CNJ.0000000000000104

Peer 2

In this week’s lecture we continue to learn about the nursing profession. Likewise, we focused on several specialty areas in nursing as they relate the progression of healthcare. In this week’s discussion I’ll focus on the role different health departments play in healthcare. Programs in public health have become an essential component in healthcare as it has show to improve the health of a population (Lancaster, M, J 2020). Corresponding my local and state health department, have a major role when it comes to establishing health promotion. In my current state, the health department is known as the Pennsylvania Department of Health. My states department of health plays a role in health promotion by promoting healthy lifestyle habits, education on disease prevention, and ensuring that the community has access to receive quality care in the state of Pennsylvania (Department of Health, 2020).

The goal of Health People 2020, it to promote healthy living amongst people of all ages. By having public health nurses, my local health departments is able to educate the community on risk factors associated with various diseases, offer health screenings, and education and resources to maintain a health life. In addition, federal public health departments create reforms to establish funding for activities pertaining to public health, so that the community can achieve quality living as a whole (Lancaster, M, J, 2020).  Public health nurses can patients change unhealthy habits at the primary prevention level by offering immunizations and local sports teams for the community. Likewise public health nurses can also promote health behaviors by conduction community clinics that offer health screenings such a blood pressure readings (Ali & Katz, 2015). Ultimately, it is our job as a community to preserve our environment, actively participate in exercise, and maintain a good nutrition because it will allow us to improve the world of healthcare as a community.

References

Ali, A., & Katz, D. L. (2015, November). Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: How Integrative Medicine Fits. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4615581/. 

Department of Health. (2020). About the Department of Health. Department of Health. https://www.health.pa.gov/About/Pages/About.aspx. 

Lancaster, M.S. J. Public Health Nursing. [South University]. Retrieved from https://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9780323582247/