NUR357 PHN Role Essay Assessment Sample

Introduction of NUR357 Phn Role Essay Assessment Sample

Primary health care (PHC) is an important intermediate-level model, which aims oriented on disease prevention, health promotion and equal access to the necessary services. The paper seeks to explain the role of the Community Health Nurse, a position that entails nursing of the different vulnerable groups especially in disadvantaged regions. This role is important in responding to the health service delivery for various categories of clientele using principles like PHC. The particular client group that will be focused on in this essay involves low-income earners in rural areas most of whom are denied essential health care. Regarding demographic-relevant health issues expected for this group, there is a higher risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes due to worsened socioeconomic status and reduced access to health care.

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Examination of the Primary Health Care Nurse Role

The key concept of primary health care is also one of its key components, namely the Community Health Nurse (CHN) (World Health Organization, 2019). CHNs practice in a range of communities such as families, schools, community health care stations and centres, and provide care to individuals or groups of people who often cannot afford to seek usual/regular health care services. The roles central to the implementation of the CHN include health risk appraisal, disease prevention, and reporting, immunization initiatives, health promotion, and service connection. Moreover, by being employed within communities, CHNs can foster trust and have more ability to identify the social determinants of health affecting individuals.

CHNs that practice under the concept of PHC also align with the principles of equity where access to comprehensive care is promoted regardless of the monetary status or region of the community (Behera & Prasad, 2022). CHNs support their clients, working with other health and social care organisations to seek and identify larger concerns such as housing, education and the availability and quality of food, which adversely affect health status.

The common client group that CHNs take care of in the rural regions of the country is the low-income families which are confined to the status code table due to poor access to healthcare, lack of health facilities, and no financial power to procure health facilities (Grut et al., 2012). These families are more likely to have diseases, mental illness, and limited access to preventive services. To determine the health of this group CHNs make home visits, conduct community health surveys and collaborate with leaders to establish common health complaints. Being in the community, CHNs can learn the extent of chronic disease, types of health care services, and aspects of the environment that affect health (Grut et al., 2012).

Health Needs and Potential Health Issues

Affected families of low and middle income, socio-economic and geographic status of rural areas for which the Community Heath Nurses (CHNs) are assigned are complex with high number of diseases (May et al., 2021). Accordingly, the following demographic characteristic of these families entails poor health-seeking behaviour, low level of health literacy, difficult accessibility to health facilities, low education standards, and unemployment as major outcome indicators of poor health status.

The most emergent condition as a determinant of health for this client group is the rise in prevalence of chronic diseases of lifestyle: type 2 diabetes, Cardiovascular disease. Rural health research shows that these diseases are twice prevalent in rural poor due to, for instance, poor diet, few clinics and increased cases of truancy (Dowhaniuk, 2021). For instance, research points to the fact that people living in rural areas are likely to develop type 2 diabetes 20-30% earlier than people in urban areas because of the manner they lead their lives, and overdue diagnosis and treatment (Dugani et al., 2020).

Furthermore, by analyzing data collected from the survey it will be evident that type 2 diabetes is a major health concern among this group of people (Subramani et al., 2019). To eliminate this health concern, there is a need to incorporate both curative and community health approaches that will help bring health policies and increase access to healthcare, change the health behaviours and the social determinants that predispose low-income rural families to chronic diseases.

Health Requirement (Australian Context) and Potential Health Problems

For example, in Australia, groups in the rural areas and those in the low income earning bracket usually suffer high incidences of chronic diseases. Dempsey (2014) affirms that users residing in rural regions have poorer health than users in urban regions, whereby these rural users have higher developing rates of chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes according to AIHW (2020). This is due several demographic and socioeconomic differences such as poor health access, low health literacy and higher risk factors like poor diet and physical inactivity (Bourke et al., 2012).

Characteristics of the Client Group

The target clients for discussion are the low income families from rural areas of Australia. More than a quarter of Australians reside in the rural or remote zones, and they have increased rates of chronic diseases, lower health-literacy rates and poorer socioeconomic status than people living in metropolitan areas (AIHW, 2021). Smoking, obesity and physical inactivity is higher among rural Australians compared to that of major cities, 20%, 74% and AIHW, 2020 respectively compared to 11%, 65% and AIHW, 2020 respectively (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024). These factors explain why the areas are characterized with high incidences of chronic diseases including diabetes type 2 and cardiovascular diseases.

Chronic Disease Prevalence

A major concern in this classification of people is the increasing cases of Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes is also considerably more common among people living in the remote and regional regions, being 40% higher than in the major cities and urban centres (ABS, 2019). This is could be due to poor health care access, late presentation and social determinants of the concerned population. Furthermore, the specific indigenous reasons of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people among whom diabetes rates are nearly 3 times higher compared to non-indigenous Australians (AIHW, 2021) since these populations live predominantly in rural area.

Health Promotion Strategies

Developing Healthy Public Policy

One of the most effective ways of reducing the effects of type 2 diabetes in rural communities is through a political intervention that seeks to enhance healthcare facilities while encouraging healthy lifestyles among individuals (Subramani et al., 2019). Since CHNs directly work for the health sectors and the welfare of the communities and families in cooperation with the health authorities and policymakers, they are well-equipped to advocate policies that would favour the procurement of health services for these needy families. For instance, telehealth policies mean that great might help, especially when established facilities are few and far between in rural regions. Further, CHNs may ensure that healthy foods are made available at cheaper prices by suggesting policies that fund such initiatives in areas of the highest food deserts.

Strengthening Community Action

The other strategy is aimed at mobilizing the community and promoting its involvement in addressing the issue of type 2 diabetes. The process of building community capacity entails the enhancement of capacity, organizing and recruiting actual substances within a community and engaging community members within activities that seek to bring about healthy behaviour change (van Dongen et al., 2022). For example, CHNs could arrange for community health fairs where a team of healthcare workers could test the population for incidence of diabetes besides group sessions on diet, exercise and managing diabetes (Lubega et al., 2023). Therefore, these initiatives would not only create awareness but also contribute towards creating a positive behaviour change since the community would be fully involved in the act of changing their health status.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that it is crucial to emphasize the importance of the Community Health Nurse (CHN) in identifying and responding to the needs of low-income rural populations about chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Because CHNs know the socioeconomic and demographic status of their clients, they can easily recognize and address health problems at the individual and community levels. Using the Ottawa Charter for health promotion, it is possible to note that the four principles, namely building a healthy public policy and reinforcing the community capacity, allow the CHNs to provide sources and support for enhancing the healthcare available and encouraging healthier settings as a whole.

References

• Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019). National health survey: First results, 2017–18 (Catalogue No. 4364.0.55.001). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/national-health-survey-first-results/latest-release
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2020). Australia’s health 2020: Data insights (Australia's health series no. 17). AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2020-data-insights/contents/table-of-contents
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2021). Rural and remote health. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/rural-remote-australians/rural-remote-health
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Rural and remote health. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/rural-remote-australians/rural-and-remote-health
• Behera, B. K., & Prasad, R. (2022). Primary health-care goal and principles. Healthcare Strategies and Planning for Social Inclusion and Development, 1(1), 221–239. Ncbi. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-90446-9.00008-3
• Bourke, L., Humphreys, J. S., Wakerman, J., & Taylor, J. (2012). Understanding rural and remote health: A framework for analysis in Australia. Health & Place, 18(3), 496-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.02.009
• Dowhaniuk, N. (2021). Exploring country-wide equitable government health care facility access in uganda. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01371-5
• Dugani, S. B., Mielke, M. M., & Vella, A. (2020). Burden and Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Rural United States. Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, 37(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3410
• Grut, L., Mji, G., Braathen, S. H., & Ingstad, B. (2012). Accessing community health services: challenges faced by poor people with disabilities in a rural community in South Africa. African Journal of Disability, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v1i1.19
• Gu, J., Wang, Q., Qiu, W., Wu, C., & Qiu, X. (2024). Chronic diseases and determinants of community health services utilization among adult residents in southern China: a community-based cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18435-8
• Lubega, M., Ogwok, J., Nabunya, B., & Scovia Nalugo Mbalinda. (2023). Role of community-based health clubs in promoting patients’ health education for diabetes self-care management: an interventional qualitative study in a Ugandan urban setting. BMJ Open Quality, 12(4), e002473–e002473. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2023-002473
• May, S. Y., Clara, N., Khin, O. K., Mar, W. W., Han, A. N., & Maw, S. S. (2021). Challenges faced by community health nurses to achieve universal health coverage in Myanmar: A mixed methods study. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2021.05.003
• Subramani, S. K., Yadav, D., Mishra, M., Pakkirisamy, U., Mathiyalagen, P., & Prasad, G. (2019). Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes in the Gwalior-Chambal Region of Central India. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(23), 4708. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234708
• van Dongen, B. M., de Vries, I. M., Ridder, M. A. M., de Boer, M., Steenhuis, I. H. M., & Renders, C. M. (2022). Building community capacity to stimulate physical activity and dietary behavior in Dutch secondary schools: Evaluation of the FLASH intervention using the REAIM framework. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 926465. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.926465
• World Health Organization. (2019, June 18). Primary health care. Who.int; World Health Organization: WHO. https://www.who.int/health-topics/primary-health-care

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