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.

TASK 

Post your initial response to the topic below.

Nurses as Change Agents in the Community

In the chapter, “How Community-Based Organizations Are Addressing Nursing’s Role in Transforming Health Care,” the authors describe the community as the focus of advocacy action for change. They list a series of questions that help community teams develop organizing principles to guide their interventions, and the aim is to attack social determinants of health to make community change.

Suppose a community team identifies lack of access to exercise modalities as a public health issue. If the team were to determine that pedestrian walkways need to be constructed:

• Discuss at least two factors that would facilitate the development of the walkways.


• Discuss at least two factors that would hinder the development of the walkways. 
  
  
  
  • Include in your discussions ways that the team might work to overcome those hindrances.
    
    
  
  
  
  

Peer 1

 As nurses, we are always faced with issues that can either push us to move forward or hinder us to rise to a different level. Pedestrian walkways, other the hand could be very helpful in a community that is striving to take action. One of the most important factors in facilitating the development of pedestrian walkways would be the wellbeing or safety for individuals. The pedestrian walkways would help keep people from getting hit by traffic, have a safe place to ride their bikes, walk their dogs, or take a brisk jog. Another  important factor would be the ability to exercise without the fear of getting hit or getting hurt while doing various activities. Exercising can lead to a healthier lifestyle with the help of the pedestrian walkways. To best meet the health needs of individuals, nursing must work in partnership with the community (Mason 2019 et al).

One hinderance with the development of pedestrian walkways would be the lack of support from the community to ensure that walkways would be successful. Many people do not like to contribute to anything if it doesn't help them directly. The biggest hinderance would probably be getting the appropriate funds to carry out the project of building walkways. This project would take a lot of careful planning and collaboration.

Mason, D., Gardener, D., Outlaw, F., O'Grady, E. (2016). Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care. 7th edition. Elsevier. 978-0-323-24144-1.

Peer 2

One factor that would help facilitate the development of walkways in the community would be that it would create a safe place for the people of the community to get out and walk or jog.  This would be a free way for people of the community to exercise without having to pay an expensive gym membership.  This would also help to get the children in the community more active.  According to Akande (2000), " Children and adolescents who exercised a lot coped more effectively with stress and had more positive identities than their counterparts who engaged in little exercise" (p. 759). This would help the overall health of the community.  Another way that this could help the community is that it would make the community look better overall.  Creating a friendly looking community will help bring more people to the area.  This will help generate more money for the community and will help the community prosper.  One thing that would hinder the development would be the cost of the initial process.  One way to help overcome this would be to get volunteers in the community to help with fund raisers.  Another hinderance of the development would be the need for maintenance.  One way to help overcome this would be a small tax increase to help pay for a maintenance crew.  This tax could also help pay for the equipment needed for maintenance as well.   

AKANDE, A., VAN WYK, C. D. W., & OSAGIE, J. E. (2000). Importance of Exercise and Nutrition in the Prevention of Illness and the Enhancement of Health. Education, 120(4), 758–772