Primary Health Care: Assignment
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Added on 2019-10-18
Primary Health Care: Assignment
Added on 2019-10-18
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Primary health care is defined as the first level of medical care accessible to the population andcomprising of a spectrum of health care services such as health promotion, prevention of illness,medical screening, early intervention, health care treatment as well as health management (SoulCity Institute for Social Justice, 2016; Australian Government Department of Health, 2013).Beside general practitioners, nursing professionals also play a role in delivering primary healthcare services to the populations (Australian Government Department of Health, 2013). Primaryhealth care covers a wide range of specialized professional practices for the nursing communitywhich involves community health nurses, general practice nurses, nurses employed in remoteareas, occupational health nurses, rural nurses, school nurses, midwives, mental health, andsexual health nurses (Australian Nursing Federation, 2011). Here, we will be focusing on schoolnurses and we will be discussing the professional practice role of school nurses in relation to theprimary health care system.Primary school nurses are known as health care professionals employed within the primaryschool setting where they play a crucial role in delivering preventative health programs; inlooking after the health and ensuring the well-being of students along with their families (StateGovernment of Victoria, 2017; Kaakinen et al., 2014, p. 152). Primary school nurses have anintegral role in the provision of a range of healthcare services to children at school that compriseof health promotion, health surveillance, school community development activities, healthcounselling, illness prevention (immunisation, injury prevention, nutrition, and management ofasthma) including health screening (hearing and optical testing) (McMurray & Clendon, 2015, p.114; Hoekstra et al., 2016). Primary nurses aim to promote academic success and non-absenteeism at school, by educating school-aged children on how to handle chronic illnesseswith medication administration (McMurray & Clendon, 2015, p. 114). Additionally, school
nurses also serve to advocate children and to assist school-aged people with special needs, intaking their medication, and with catheter care. Nursing team at school works in collaborationwith children, education staffs and parents with the outcome of enhancing physical and mentalhealth (Kaakinen et al., 2014, p. 152). Research highlights that school nurses have an importantrole in delivering immunization programs during which they sometimes must deal withchallenging situations, for instance, vaccinating children with special needs (Boyce & Holmes,2012). Also, study briefly reported cases where school nurses promoted disease prevention inadolescents with complex needs, by patiently convincing their parents about the importance ofgetting immunized for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), as a primary intervention against cervicalcancer (Boyce & Holmes, 2012). Additionally, school nurses promote positive mental healthconsequences in young people through early detection, by advising brief intervention andmaking referrals to mental health professionals available onsite or in the community(Bohnenkamp, Stephan & Bobo, 2015). To achieve the objective of preventing children fromturning obese and thus from experiencing long-term health issues such as cardiac or diabetesmellitus diseases, school nurses tackle obesity problems at an early stage by the followingpractices: (Holmes & Sheetz, 2016)Arranging for the screening of BMI.Working in collaboration with food service staffs and the management for the provisionof healthy meals or snacks onsite at school.Liaising with staffs at school for optimizing physical activity opportunities.Raising awareness in parents about lifestyles that promote good health.In a secondary school context, nurses work to raise awareness and knowledge to the youthcommunity about sensitive social issues such as misuse of drug and alcohol; suicide, depression,
disorders pertaining to eating; smoking, obesity, and injuries (State Government of Victoria,2017). For instance, to educate students about the issue of drug and alcohol abuse, nurses usevarious approaches which consist of the followings: (State Government of Victoria, 2002)Organising and encouraging students to participate in forums where they have access toexperts discussing issues in relation to drug and alcohol.Distributing informative posters and brochures to students and parents.Working in association with students and theatre teacher to organize plays portrayingdrug and alcohol problems present within the youth community.In England, school nurses from the NHS Trust, participating in a qualitative study, reported thathand sanitization, dental decay, oral health, sexual health, smoking, mental health, obesity, andhealthy diet, were regarded as topics of greatest importance during educational sessions(Hoekstra et al., 2016). Research also revealed that students find it better to learn healthcaretopics through presentations, preliminary sessions, or face to face school assemblies, conductedby school nurses (Hoekstra et al., 2016). According to the research inside the Australian General Practice recently, setting portrays theaccompanying parts of primary health care nurses; Patient care, coordinator, quality controllerand improvement specialist, critical thinking, instructor, and connectivity operator. Thesignificant importance of these roles will rely upon both the Nursing reference and theresponsibility and accountability of position of a nurse. According to in general Practice Nursing,the nurse is registered, their services and employment are, according to the recent statistics thereis an average of 12500 nurses who are working in General Practice. (As per the reports byAIWH). General Practice Nursing is the quickest developing zone inside the healthcare segment,and has included numerous ranges of nursing practice; Lifestyle Education, Aged Care, Women's
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