Healthcare issues are witnessed all over the world due to the lifestyle and the prevalence rates for various infections. Once a population is affected by a given health issue, there is a need to have urgent, critical, and concrete attention so that the matter would be leveraged adequately. Heath problems are challenging especially due to the policies that may be lacking and also the implementation strategies put in place. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) follows the sensitive public health problems. CDC has reported that approximately 17% of adults smoke which translates to 40 million people in the US (Hall & Doran, 2016). Although the percentage is declining in the last ten years, smoking is still a health issue and a significant concern to the citizens of the country. Tobacco usage in the US is the leading cause of preventable disease and death. This paper assesses tobacco use as a health problem in the US population.
Summary of the Problem
Smoking in the US is an issue that needs to be intervened for the better health of the population. Tobacco, being a leading cause of preventable disease and disability in the US, has led to many deaths in the country. More than 1600 persons under the age of 18 try to smoke for the first time every day (Hall & Doran, 2016). Nearly 200 out of the first group end up being addicted to smoking whereby approximately 480,000 deaths are recorded in a single year (Lee et al., 2021). Those who do not die remain with a smoking-related illness which costs society over $350 billion annually (Lee et al., 2021). If there are proper ways to prevent the issue, the costs could be reduced and help youths to have a healthy life.
The challenge of smoking is based on the body organs because there is a distortion of the normal way of functioning for the heart, the liver, and lungs. Additionally, as a result of smoking, cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes are also realized. There is a need to have the population advised on the ways to control tobacco usage so that people would be having better conditions health-wise (Lee et al., 2021). The study is important for a baccalaureate-prepared nurse since it helps in realizing the changing environment of tobacco use in the population. The project exposes an individual to basic skills in nursing theory, roles of clinical leaders, healthcare metrics among other benefits.
Analysis of Evidence from Peer-Reviewed Literature
There is existing research done by various authors on the issue of tobacco use. An article by Robinson et al. in 2017, explains why the health problem matters by highlighting the effect, the risks involved, and the drawbacks to the society at large. The content enlightens the reader about the current issues that lead to smokers having higher risks of severe illness from chronic diseases. More than 16 million people in the US live with a disease that is a result of smoking (Robinson et al., 2017). Smoking is associated with respiratory diseases, for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking not only affects those who smoke but also the group that does not use tobacco.
When a person is exposed to secondhand smoke, they may be at risk of dying. An estimation of the number of non-smokers who die due to the exposure is about 41,000 deaths as per the statistics derived from CDC (Robinson et al., 2017). Recently, there has been an increase in the familiarity with e-cigarettes among teenagers and youth. The most affected group by this health problem are men as opposed to their female counterparts. Adults from 18 years to 44 have been affected as compared to those who are older (Robinson et al., 2017). This literature addresses the significant barriers to the implementation of proposed steps to ending excessive smoking as the lack of strategy that can make the matter feasible. Therefore, when the states embark on the policies, it becomes hard to navigate the matters due to the absence of a streamlined and open course of action.
Some projections clearly show that many people have been affected. Through the research by Rodu & Plurphanswat article of 2017, the population aged between 18-40 years is at risk of getting smoke-illness relates problems. Anyone who has ever smoked at least 100 cigarettes can be defined as a smoker (Rodu & Plurphanswat, 2017). People with a general education certificate have the highest tendency to smoking with a low number among the degree graduates. Those with a low income rate are actively smoking compared to the middle- and high-class population.
The data would be unreliable if the samples used in the articles’ results are not well distributed based on the methodology. For instance, if the study’s main target was the older group that consists of only men from one ethnicity and social class, therefore, the data would be unreliable. The article explores the challenge towards implementation of reduced smoking rate among Americans as the pressure from the technology (Rodu & Plurphanswat, 2017). Many people watching films and the latest music genre term smoking as a fashion that is targeted to influencing others. Therefore, when young people smoke, they relate to what they learn online hence make the implementation a challenge for that matter.
This project targets to work with the population aged 23-40 years and largely men during the study. The group will provide basic and important information that can be reliable. The project shall have distributed samples having clusters to represents different blocks. For instance, men aged 23-28 years will be used to represent the young adults while 39-35 years can be used to cover the middle-aged adults. The reason why the study focuses on research about the smoking issue through the group is that at that age, people are known to have distinct traits on nutrition and may be obsessed with their choice of what to do (Lee et al., 2021). On the contrary, young people at teenage may not yet have discovered themselves while the older group start to conform to the health regularity requirements due to the weak immune systems.
The US Government Policy on Smoking
The government has imposed various policies that are made e-cigarettes, especially among young people. In 2019, Congress passed Tobacco 21 legislation that prohibits people under the age of 21 from buying tobacco-related items with inclusive of e-cigarettes (van Dorn, 2017). The policy has been implemented within 24 states and it helps regulate the rate of usage of tobacco in the US. The government has been on the move to help the population from the risks of cancer, heart disease, and possible deaths due to the addictive use of tobacco.
The government banned all flavors in all tobacco products such as methanol which has been in the market for a long while. Without flavors, young people may not have attractions from the cigarette hence one way of regulating smoking. For the population that this study focuses on, it is important since the life expectancy will be increased hence having few cases of people dying from the usage of tobacco (van Dorn, 2017). On a different note, training nurses to practice proper standards in nursing will help to reduce the prevalence of tobacco-related issues. With the nurses equipped with information and expertise power, they can assist the population by giving them the adverse effects that may be as a result of smoking.
Leadership Strategies to Aid in Leveraging the Health Problem
Optimization of processes across the healthcare field is important when controlling smoking issues. That means the US healthcare firms can opt to merge or partner with program developers for ending the increased rate of smoking. In this case, there must be collaborative bases between healthcare organizations and other concerned firms in educating the public about the dangers of smoking frequently (Lins et al., 2018). Through the leadership strategy, there is the likelihood to hinder complications as a result of tobacco use. Through the efforts, the firms will standardize processes that are conforming to clinical protocols which can assure consistency of health welfare.
The other leadership model that can be useful to help bring changes through the proper metrics for reducing the smoking problem is sustaining employee engagement during the change institutionalization. 40% of hospital staff are considered engaged but they are not well enlightened to push for the changes in health issues (Lins et al., 2018). When healthcare leaders manage to engage employees by letting them focus on drivers of change, the outcome will be significantly positive. For instance, healthcare workers can be given the liberty to research and develop frameworks that can lead to reduced instances of smoking among the group aged 23-40. In that way, nursing practitioners will be boosted with the skills to intervene during healthcare problems.
Collaboration and Communication Strategies to Address Smoking
The government of the US can boost the healthcare workers by providing expertise and people with information power on healthcare issues. The collaboration can be through the CDC and private medical sector with the inclusion of communal sensitization groups on the welfare of the population. To have effective change on smoking issues, there is a need to clarify the campaign goal to hospitals and the public who can understand the need to combat the problem. The message should be strategically expressed through materials such as daily prints, mainstream media, and social media platforms with the relevant subject (Hall & Doran, 2016). The important strategy here is to monitor the success and evaluate the potential risks and benefits that may be evident when tobacco use is regulated. The insights must be from the health professionals that have been on the frontline to change the nutrition requirements.
Practicum Focus Sheet
This project targets to work with the population aged 23-40 years and largely men during the study. The group will provide basic and important information that can be reliable. By interacting with the group, it will be possible to learn their habits in terms of responding to health problems such as smoking in the US. Through the study, it is easy to know the challenges that may make the problem escalate in various parts of the country.
The idea on the health problem in terms of the discoveries made through research will be presented to the group through scheduled programs that will engage them together. To ensure that the issue is familiar to them, convening a sensitization meeting will work towards drawing the attention of the group to the problem. It can also be presented through announcements that can be made from respective administration points of mass media to ensure the group under the issue, challenges, and risks associated with tobacco use.
Leadership skills that can be used when working with the Optimization of the process to make sure that the community as a whole will be partnering with healthcare firms towards combating smoking problems within the country. The collaboration shall be between the society and the government through policies set such as limiting the age that someone can purchase the drugs (Lee et al., 2021). Communication shall be through enticing the group by presenting the information by use of lectures and seminars. Change management skills used in this case shall be in terms of monitoring the progress and deciding the perfect way to end challenges that have the potential to arise.
The possible barriers may be consumerism habits that may lower the motive that is set towards reducing the rate of tobacco use in the country. Due to trends in buying behavior, there might be influential behaviors whereby youth will tend to follow what they see online or from popular people. To combat the barriers, the study proposes that the group shall be enlightened about the distinct ways in which a buyer can get information about a certain product through an expert (Lee et al., 2021). Thus, it means the group shall be advised to always listen to a physician before making decisions that are catalyzed by the peer pressure of bodily demands.
References
Hall, W., & Doran, C. (2016). How much can the USA reduce health care costs by reducing smoking?PLOS Medicine, 13(5), e1002021.
Lee, J., Thompson, L., & Salloum, R. (2021). Heated tobacco product use among us adolescents in 2019: the new tobacco risk. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation, 7(2), 1-8.
Lins, M., Balsanelli, A., & Neves, V. (2018). Leadership teaching strategies in nursing. Revista Da Rede De Enfermagem Do Nordeste, 19(9), e3226.
Robinson, J., Wang, B., Jackson, K., Donaldson, E., & Ryant, C. (2017). Characteristics of Hookah tobacco smoking sessions and correlates of use frequency among us adults: findings from wave 1 of the population assessment of tobacco and health (PATH) Study. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 20(6), 731-740.
Rodu, B., & Plurphanswat, N. (2017). E-cigarette use among us adults: population assessment of tobacco and health (PATH) study.Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 20(8), 940-948.
van Dorn, A. (2017). The PATH to smoking cessation in the USA.The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 5(3), 170.