Signature Assessment

The data from the family and community assessments showed various revelations regarding community health nursing and community partnerships. The Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators (LHI) lists some of the most basic approaches that can be used to determine the livelihoods of people (“2020 LHI Topics | Healthy People 2020”, 2019). Among the LHI indicators that are listed, I identified access to health services as one the most significant indicators of community health nursing in the family and the community. The family and community members that were assessed revealed their ability to reach a medical center with ease when they are seeking medical help or when they want their medical questions addressed. The role of public health nursing and community partnerships was instrumental in the observation of the case study where it was established that access to healthcare services is helpful. It was however acknowledged that some of the community members were unable to reach health services due to many issues. 

One of the reasons that have ensured that there is such a high level of access to health services is culture. The culture of the community around here is one that is appreciative of the fact that people need to have access to medical facilities for their health. The culture of visiting medical centers and accessing medical facilities easily is influenced by the fact that there are high-level social networks, there are low levels of unemployment, and most of the people have stable incomes (Anderson & Olson, 2013). These social determinants enhance access to health services because they enhance affordability and also because the people are enlightened of the need to seek medical health. Due to the realization of the need for medical services in the locality, medical facilities have been increased in the locality.

Epidemiological data reveals that at least 96% in the locality have health insurance coverage and have access to health services in the locality. This number is such a high number compared to the presumably 91.2% of the people in the whole country who have access to medical services and health insurance coverage (Berchick, Hood & Barnett, 2018). The epidemiological data, therefore, shows that there is higher access to health services in the locality than there is at the state level. Consequently, it can be worth concluding that access health services in the locality could be due to favoring situations in the locality which are more influential at the local level than they are at the state level.

A community nursing diagnosis that relates to the case study family’s community is a diagnosis by Patricia Darbishire. Her diagnosis surrounded community pharmacy and it revealed that approximately two-thirds of all prescription drugs are dispensed in community pharmacies (Darbishire, 2018). She realized that increased diagnosis on the use of drugs counseling and education on the use of medications in community centers is on the rise because better patient care, reduced pricing, and transformation of pharmacies have increased. Her diagnosis relates to the one in the case study because it shows an increase in access to pharmacies which depicts increased access to a healthcare service just like it was witnessed in the case study.

Access to healthcare services is dependent on a few nursing interventions where one is access to a primary care provider. A primary care provider is a healthcare practitioner that addresses a group of people that have common medical problems. A primary care provider could, for instance, be a physician that concentrates with treating diabetic people. Such a practitioner will thus be a primary care provider for diabetic patients in the locality and serves them for an extended period which means that they will have easier access to him or her and could even have informal contacts with them. Healthcare partnerships in implementing this intervention which could be an effective step in ensuring easier access to health services would be signing up of more specialized medical centers that treat certain diseases alone such as diabetic and cancer centers. Such partnerships can be enhanced if hospitals engaged specialized wings where such patients can be addressed alone.

Plan for a Sustained Change

Goals

To reach a 100% access to medical services for all members of the locality. 

Planned Action 

Nurses are required to influence the members of the community who do not have access to medical services to ensure that they have access. This will be done by educating the members of the society who do not have insurance coverage of the needs of securing coverage as well as ensuring that they seek regular medical check-ups even when they feel like they are not ill. This will be reached by use of brochures, holding medical campaigns in the locality as well as in social forums and over the media.

Needed Resources

The resources that will be required for this process to be completed will be financial and human resources. Medical facilities in the locality ought to come up with a common-funding approach for the planned action and also give a portion of their medical workers who will be involved in effective campaigns.

Evaluation Timeframe

Reaching a 100% access to medical services will take a long time. However, the essence of the planned activity can be evaluated in three months’ time to see whether it is effective. 

References

2020 LHI Topics | Healthy People 2020. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-LHI-Topics

Anderson, K., & Olson, S. (2013). Leveraging culture to address health inequalities: examples from Native communities: workshop summary. National Academies Press.

Berchick, E. R., Hood, E., & Barnett, J. C. (2018). Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017. Current Population Reports, P60-264, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.

Darbishire, P. (2018). Community Pharmacy [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://www.omicsonline.org/editor-pdf/Patricia_L_Darbishire.pdf