The role of the public health officer and the public health nurse
The central role of public health officers rests with this application of preventive and public health knowledge in the reduction of chances of the occurrences of communicable diseases, food borne diseases, and other disaster-related illnesses. He or she is also responsible for the promotion of health principles through food safety practices. In addition to the above, he remains the supervisor of all activities related to public health and ensures that a high level of public health is achieved during and after the disaster period.
The public hearse’s nurse central responsibility is undertaking disease surveillance which forms a fundamental step incorrect detection of diseases brought about by the disaster. In addition to that, he or she is also responsible for ensuring that food services outlets not only adhere to the set rules within public health but also provide quality services within hygienic environments. In addition to the above, a public health nurse also conducts preventive medicine and communicable disease monitoring and control.
Apart from roles that are directly related to their profession, these two officers undertake several duties. The public health officer and the public health nurse during times of disaster should seek to show competency, compassion, and demonstrate accessibility. Their central role should demonstrate that the community is in safe hands during the time of disaster and avoid giving statements to the media that are either unconfirmed or can instill fear within the members of the community. In addition to the above, this group of individuals should lead the team in assessing the extent of the damage, evaluating the status of critical utilities, and identifying immediate and long-term effects of public health concerns. This group must also lead in the search and rescue efforts and take data to ascertain the number of residents who are unaccounted for at the time of the disaster.
Chain of command
The chain of command in disaster operations and rescue efforts must consist of individuals who have the capacity to handle their roles in professional manners. The process of recruitment must involve a close and thorough analysis of each and every team member strengths and capacity to perform. In this ace, this team would best be composed by Incident Commander at the top of the chain of command who must demonstrate excellent organizational and leadership quality to rally behind him other members of the team for effective disaster response efforts. The Incident commander should immediately be flanked by the Public Information and the Liaisons Officer. The Public Information Officer must take the role of understanding the needs of the public and providing accurate and relevant information to the media regarding the progress of disaster recovery efforts. Liaisons Officer must have considerable period of time within the community and have the capacity to report to the team various demographic factors that constitute the area residents. Below these two are the last four officers in the rank of this chain of command. These include the Operations Officer, Planning Officer, Logistics Officer and Financial and Administration Officer.
Resources available to the community health nurse
Nurses play very fundamental role during times of disasters and thus require a number of resources to adequately address the demands of their duties. While nurses have traditionally been given training that focus primarily on patient care in heath care institutions, disasters come along with unique and complicated problems that require more than simple training. The nurse must be equipped with not only physical resources to move around and assess the conditions of members of the community but also mental resources to handle the difficult situations adequately. In this regard, nurses need enough medical supplies with them, a generator to handle emergency issues that require power and other medical equipments that may come in handy.
Actions taken by the community health nurse
“Misuse of nurses in disaster, response and recovery, nurses must get involved in their communities through the local heath department or local government” (Stanhope and Lancaster, 2004).There are a number of actions that are taken by community health nurses during disasters times. These include an inspection on the conditions of everyone who is affected by the disaster, carry out a determination of whether anyone may be in need of medical attention, and determine whether the available medical supplies are adequate to handle the situation. After the assessment of these community demands, a community health nurse should move to provide the right solutions to these problems without delay. Furthermore, they must provide psychological counseling to the affected members of the community.
Actions taken by the community health nurse to help the people who were interviewed cope with the situations after the flooding
Disasters leave behind a lot of stress and psychological trauma. The community members require a lot of counseling to cope and carry on with their lives after the disaster. Nurses play a very active role in the provision of shoulders to lean on during such hard times. The effectiveness of a disaster recovery efforts are best measured by how fast the affected community manages to cope up with its effects. Nurses must therefore ensure that they provide the best of psychological support to the community.
Nursing personnel preparations to help in responding to a similar emergency with a much larger affected area
Disasters that occur in much large areas demand a lot on the part of community health nurses to effectively carry their duties. The ability to effectively respond to large scale disasters come from organizational abilities and skills. Nurses who handle large scale disaster situations must be able to acquire large amounts of resources and have the ability to move fester and easily across the affected regions. In addition to that, the ability to coordinate, liaise and communicate with the community members on their needs goes a long way in ensuring that their needs are met. Specific actions that public nurse must take include taking necessary measure that shelters are available before the onset of the disaster and that the amenities are not only adequate but are in good conditions.
He or she should ascertain that there is enough water during this period and it is enough to cater for the huge demands. The provision of food must be arranged and the public nurse must ensure that this is adequate and appropriate for human consumption. He should then proceed to develop an inventory for residents who could be having difficult complications and thus require special needs during this time of emergency. Lastly, the public nurse can only achieve his or her objectives effectively if communication channels are enhanced. In this regard, the public nurse must ensure that he or she remains in contact with the residents at all time to determine any urgent need that require swift response.
Reference
Stanhope, M. and Lancaster, J. (2004). Community and public health nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences.