The simulation is based on the natural disaster where different public health care specialists are to give their responses in reference to the summer storm. These professionals are inclusive of directors, nurses, and environmental specialists all in public health departments. Through the simulation, there is the identification of the emerging health concerns that these specialists meet where they give their responses depending on the most effective immediate action needed.
The public health personnel played a very significant role in the disaster inclusive of the public health nurse. They were involved in addressing both immediate and long-term public health care concerns. Some of the health concerns included the drinking water which needed to be boiled because it was already contaminated and food. The shelter was also an immediate concern that needed to be addressed like in the development of temporary housing. The health personnel was also involved in the response to command and emergency operations which were of many benefits to the society (Clark, 2007). The public health nurse involved himself in the door knocking where he identified different emergency problems and tried to offer the necessary responses and actions. The health personnel played very significant roles in the dissemination of the health information that was needed to the public.
A chain command was used in the simulation for the community health nurse. The incident commander briefed on the number of houses where electricity had gone out about 1500 and also where stabilization of waters had happened. The director in public health gave information concerning the vaccines provided initiatives on the assessment of the hotels. The public information officer promoted giving out of the appropriate as well as the adequate information to the general public. The operation chief gave information on the damages which had already occurred thus devising various ways of coping with the development in implementing strategies. The Logistics chief held the role of making things operational for the developmental strategies. The planning chief held the role of information analysis as well as its dissemination. The administration chief was responsible for all financial processes involved in the developmental strategies of coping up with the disaster. This command system helped in the organization of quick emergency response to the disaster. The community nurse should, in this case, report to the planning chief who is responsible for the collection and transmission of the information and making accurate decisions on that information.
Some of the situations were outside the nurse’s scope of practice. However, there were resources that were available to the community health nurse which assisted him in dealing with situations such as the boil water notice for about five minutes. Radio communication was also used since the telephone lines were out of work, mental health service providers helped in counseling the affected victims. The Mutual Aid Pack also helped the community health nurse in the services which were provided to the victims. The health specialist in the environmental field helped the community health in addressing the environmental hazards that were present and the means of dealing with them (Clark, 2003). The press as a resource helped in passing the relevant information and the updates to the victims that the health nurse was dealing with. The Health Alert Network played a great role in alerting the public to the best health tips which were to be effectively used.
The health nurse experienced some emergencies which needed to be addressed during the door-to-door interviews. For instance, where one explained that his basement was already flooded with some paints and oil, the health nurse had to send an environmental health specialist who was well conversant on the cleanup process since the paints and oil were hazardous. Another emergency the health nurse had to deal with it was when he was faced with a situation where the family had run out of everything. They had a small baby who needed the diapers; the family was also in need of food and drinking water. The husband to the family was away whereas he had brought his mother who added the cost of the expenses needed in the house. The action taken by the health nurse was depended more on the decision of the victim since she is already an adult on the suggestion of moving into a better shelter where there were electricity and the availability of hot meals.
The language barrier was another challenge that the health nurse encountered in the door-to-door interview. In one of the households, the owner only spoke Spanish but the nurse used gestures so as to have an assessment in the house of the resident where he realized that one of the sons was in the backyard where the generator was thus, he was able to instruct the son on how to handle the generator indoor. The health nurse also met someone who had blood pressure but the pills had run out. The action taken by the nurse was first the assessment of the blood pressure where he was to arrange for the delivery of the medication afterward as well as assessing other medical circumstances that needed an immediate action where he also arranged for the evacuation into a sheltered environment (Clark, 2003).
After the flooding people had difficulties in dealing with the situation out of the trauma but the health nurse played a very significant role in helping them to deal with the situation. One of the women found it difficult to deal with the husband who had lost his job out of the disaster where he used to yell a lot while the daughter had developed a habit of drawing moody pictures. the technique used by the health nurse in calming the woman’s fears was to make her understand that the husband and the daughter just like any other person were trying to adjust to the situation. She was also advised to attend counseling services to them that deals with mental health. One of the houses grew mold on the walls where the owner experienced weird headaches where the health officer took an action of involving the environmental specialist in dealing with the problem. Another residence made a call due to the massive reaction which happened to his kid where chemicals were involved and he was advised to call 911 to secure the environment and avoid such instances.
Interviewed people had to cope with stress and fear after the flooding; so, health care providers had to choose the methods to help them. In this respect, the community health nurse can be the health care representative to help people that suffered from the flooding to cope with their problems. As the psychological condition of the population, as well as their physical condition, could have been better, it was necessary to use certain techniques that could have been used to calm the fears of the people interviewed. Through group sessions that could be more appropriate in this situation, work therapy might have been used as well to distract people from their thoughts about the disaster and direct their emotions on attempts to help others. Other nursing personnel could be prepared to help in responding to a similar emergency with a much larger affected area, for instance, the effect of Hurricane Katrina. Teaching people to boil water and follow the easiest rules that can be applied to such situations can be the most appropriate help provided by nursing personnel. Though the nursing personnel is not sufficiently trained to respond to disasters of that scale, they can be trained to become the first responders in such situations. So, it is possible to train the nursing personnel to make appropriate decisions and report to people who are in charge of the situation and control the flow of information as well as decisions made on each separate case.
In conclusion, the community health nurse had successfully conducted a door-to-door interview but he was also needed to do some listings. In the listing, there was to be a press release on various information on coping strategies. Property inspection was also necessary where the information was to be passed to the EHS. Out of the trauma and the depression experience, the mental health service was meant to play a very significant role whereas the issue regarding the chemical incident was to be met by the EHS.
It is good for other nursing personnel to be always prepared when faced with such disasters or related health problems. I would therefore recommend them to improve the way the health information is transmitted. Announcements based on the food donations should always be made to avoid some being thrown away especially those that are homemade. They should also work with the federal agencies so as to reduce unnecessary legal issues that act as barriers to the emergency responses which are effective. Community assessment should be conducted so easier communication, especially with the diverse culture.
References
Clark, M. J. (2007). Community Health Nursing: Advocacy for Population Health. Chicago: Prentice-Hall.
Clark, M. J. (2003). Community health nursing: caring for populations. Chicago: Prentice-Hall.