PHN 600-Topic 8 – Classmate Response (1) -Chayah Topic 8 DQ 1- Please provide feedback to the classmate’s post

QUESTION TOPIC 8 DQ 1- Discuss your topic you chose for your presentation in this topic. Discuss why you chose the topic and the impact it has on public health nursing. Provide feedback to your classmates to assist in the development of the presentation in this topic.
Classmate Response (1) -Chayah Topic 8 DQ 1
For this presentation I chose the natural disaster of the category 4 hurricane, Maria, that hit Puerto Rico in September of 2017. I chose this because this hurricane has serious consequences to the island impacting many systems including transportation, agriculture, communication, and energy (Newman, 2019). I also am curious to learn more about this topic since the brunt of the damage was to a US territory and not a state leading me to question what kind of extra challenges that this brought. Puerto Rico already had some troubling health statistics prior to the hurricane and I would like to research more into how this affected the people. The population prior to the hurricane reported high (compared to the mainland USA) rates of HIV, diabetes, infant mortality and the majority of Zika virus infections. After the hurricane it was widely publicized that the island struggled to regain electricity and to open roads which affected people’s abilities to get food, medicine, and other daily essentials (Michaud & Kates, 2017). This disaster impacted the population of course but also the public health professionals that responded to the crisis including nurses. Organizations such as FEMA, the Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen came to Puerto Rico to assist during the aftermath (Michaud & Kates, 2017). Working to get healthcare with very limited roads and electricity is a challenge and unfortunately was one that dragged on. Dialysis centers and hospitals had little electricity as well resulting more inability to access to healthcare (Michaud & Kates, 2017). This particular challenges required particular solutions in the work to attempt to get the healthcare to the people.
References
Michaud, J. & Kates, J. (2017, November 20). Public Health in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. KFF. https://www.kff.org/other/issue-brief/public-health-in-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria/.
Newman, K. (2019, December 27). These Are the 10 Most Unforgettable U.S. Natural Disasters of the Past Decade. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/the-10-most-unforgettable-us-natural-disasters-of-the-past-decade?slide

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Solution

Classmate Response (1) –Chayah

In the present day, natural disasters have become a frequent occurrence in the US and its territories.  One of such natural disasters included the category for hurricane Maria that affected Puerto Rico in September 2017. The serious consequences that the hurricane had on nearly all systems of the territory, including healthcare, transportation, agriculture, communication, and energy, therefore, made it one of the most debilitating natural disasters in recent history. I believe that the increase in the frequency of natural disasters affecting the US and its territories highlights the growing importance of the involvement of nurses and other healthcare practitioners in emergency preparedness at the local, state, and national levels.  Nurses need to play a more proactive role in building the resilience of communities to natural disasters, including taking part in planning, consumer and community education, and also providing direct care to individuals who are affected by disasters (Achora & Kamanyire, 2016). Nurses should therefore be involved in all stages of disaster preparedness and provide input within their communities and institutions to ensure that natural disasters such as hurricanes do not result in a complete collapse of important community systems such as the health care system, as was witnessed in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Nurses should therefore engage in assessing hazards and laying out elaborate plans related to disaster preparedness. Nurses should also plan for how to respond to health crises that may emerge after a natural disaster such as a hurricane and how they can assist in mitigating hazards caused by a natural disaster throughout the recovery phase (Achora & Kamanyire, 2016).

References

Achora, S., & Kamanyire, J. K. (2016). Disaster Preparedness: Need for inclusion in

undergraduate nursing education. Sultan Qaboos University medical journal, 16(1), e15–e19. https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2016.16.01.004