NURS4020 Community Project St. George



NURS4020 Community Project St. GeorgeKami CuffDixie State UniversityNURS4020 Community Project St. GeorgePublic health nurses have the opportunity to assess the needs and provide necessary interventions to improve health outcomes for a targeted community. This paper will discuss an assessment of the general St. George area, the issues derived from the assessment, the targeted population, and the objective, goals, and intervention implemented for the selected problem.Assessment/AnalysisThe assessment discusses the St. George area in general. This portion of the paper describes the population and housing. It also illustrates the strengths and resources through education and environmental and safety programs currently in effect in the St. George area. PopulationSt. George, Utah is home to an estimated 76,816 residents and 27,552 households, of which 18,684 are family led. In 2010, the population per age group was broken down to 19% age 65 and older, 44.2% ages 18 to 64, 28% age 5 to 17, and 8.7% under the age of 5. The 2010 census also reported 32,089 housing units of which 21.4% were multi-unit dwellings. Single family homes constitute the majority of housing in St. George (United States Census Bureau, 2015). Religion. The predominant religion in St. George is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) at 68.1%. Catholics constitute 4.23% and another 1-2% are of other Christian faiths. Of the entire population 75.6% consider themselves religious (Best Places, 2014).Environment/SafetySt. George has a variety of programs in place to provide a clean and safe environment. Some of these services include water and sewage services, solid waste disposal, and animal control. St. George also provides a variety of emergency services.Water/sewer. Drinking water comes from surface water, wells, and springs. There are two major reservoirs that store the water (Quail Creek, and Sand Hollow), and the Quail Creek Water Treatment Plant pumps it to residents of Washington County. St. George City also has a Wastewater Division that maintains a high functioning sewer system throughout the area ("Water," 2014).Waste disposal. Solid waste disposal is provided by Washington County for the St. George community. Trash is collected weekly for residential areas. Building materials, and industrial and hazardous waste can be picked up by a variety of private disposal companies in the area on an as needed basis (Washington County Solid Waste website, 2008).Animal control. Animal control is provided by the St. George Police Department. Their Animal Services Department works in concert with the Best Friends Animal Society to find homes for abandoned pets. City regulations state that each residence can only have two dogs and the dogs must be licensed to avoid fines and citations ("Animal Services," 2014).Fire and rescue. St. George City employs 31 full-time firefighters as well as 70 on-call reserves. The Fire Department has eight stations placed throughout the city (“Fire Department”, 2014). There are 17 different Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provided to the St. George area including 911 response, rescue services, emergency transport, and Life Flight. In addition to full-time paid employees, there are also volunteer ambulance drivers, Emergency Medical Technicians, and paramedics (Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, 2015).EducationThe Washington County School District includes over 13 public elementary schools, three intermediate schools, four middle schools, five high schools, and two post high schools. The school district also provides special needs pre-school programs to ensure children are ready for kindergarten. Each public school has a school lunch program, and beginning in fifth grade, the public schools provide a maturation program for students. Sex education is a secondary school program through the public school system, as well as health education (Washington County School District website, 2015). In addition to the public school system, St. George has several private preschools, Headstart preschool location, charter schools, and private schools that focus on troubled youth such as Cinnamon Hills Youth Crisis Center ("Academics," n.d.).Health StatisticsMortality and morbidity rates in St. George are consistent with the statistics for the entire state of Utah. The leading cause of death in Utah is heart disease, which accounts for 102.4 deaths per 100,000 people. The second leading cause of death is malignant neoplasms which constitutes 89.9 deaths per 100,000 people. 1,005 deaths were recorded in St. George in 2013 and 2,350 births were documented for the same time period. The number of births has been declining steadily since 2009 (Utah Department of Health, 2014).Health ManpowerIt has been estimated that the number of physicians per 100,000 people in St. George is 172. In contrast the US average is 261 per 100,000. Therefore, St. George has 65% of the National average of physicians (Best Places, 2014). In the State of Utah, there are 6,032 physicians, 19,100 nurses, and 1,886 dentists (State Health Facts, 2011).Problem IdentificationProblems or issues identified through the assessment process are related to healthcare. The first issue is that St. George has one hospital, and only 65% of the national average of health care providers. With the leading causes of mortality and morbidity being heart disease and cancer, a majority of health care resources are directed at management of related chronic illnesses. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the United States spends 75 percent of the $2.2 trillion health care budget to treat chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (Andrews, 2009). According to the Healthy People 2020 initiative, tobacco use is the most preventable of all risk factors for heart disease, cancer, and lung disease. Over 443,000 people die each year in the United States due to chronic illnesses related to tobacco use (Healthy People 2020, 2015). The problem this author chose to address is that of tobacco related chronic munity DiagnosisIncreased risk of tobacco related chronic illnesses in adulthood related to tobacco use in adolescence, as demonstrated in the halting of the steady decrease in tobacco use from 2009-2011 (Healthy People 2020, 2015).Objective/Goal/ Immediate ImpactThe Healthy People 2020 objectives chosen for this project are first to reduce the rate of children, adolescents, and adults from initiating tobacco use. The second objective is to reduce tobacco use in adolescents, which will naturally take place if the first objective is met (Healthy People 2020, 2015). The goal and outcome for the community intervention is to decrease the number of tobacco related chronic illnesses in adulthood. The goal for immediate impact is to decrease the number of adolescent smokers by educating children who may have tried tobacco, and those who have not yet started. The importance of tobacco use prevention through education is illustrated in a study by Talstrup et al (2014). Findings suggest a strong link between smoking and coronary heart disease in people of all ages, but risk was found to be more significant in younger versus older adults. Thus it is more important than ever to educate the young on the dangers of tobacco munity InterventionThe target population to which the community intervention was focused was on fourth grade elementary school students. The reason for this choice was due to the increased prevalence of smoking initiation between the ages of 12-17 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). In a longitudinal study on the impact of early initiation of smoking, researchers found that the earlier a person starts smoking, the longer they will continue to smoke. Even though there were a few cases of children as young as five years of age smoking, it was relatively uncommon for them to start before the age of ten years, but the rate of initiation rapidly increases from age ten until seventeen (Chen & Jacques-Tiura, 2014).The intervention took place at Bloomington Elementary School. In a presentation and discussion, the children were educated on the dangers of tobacco use. The presentation included what tobacco is, the different kinds of tobacco products that are available, the dangerous chemicals that cigarettes and other tobacco products contain, and the diseases and health problems that tobacco causes. The discussion involved reasons people start using tobacco, and suggestions on how to avoid the initiation of smoking. Facts were reinforced with YouTube videos, worksheets, and a catchy take-home message with a treat (“Hi-Chews to say No to tobacco”). The children were also given a handout that included resources to help parents and family members stop smoking. EvaluationThe presentation was well received by the students. Some children openly discussed their experience and exposure to tobacco. Some children expressed a desire for family members to stop smoking, and gratefully accepted the resource sheet for help in quitting. Each student made a commitment not to use tobacco as they repeated the phrase “Hi-Chews to say No to tobacco.”It is this authors hope that the implemented intervention prevents these children from using tobacco and will help them encourage their family members to quit.ConclusionThis paper discussed the assessment and analysis of the St. George community, including strengths, resources, and problems. An explanation of the community diagnosis, goals, objectives, and intervention was presented. In addition, an evaluation of the intervention was discussed. This project has made it evident that through diligent use of the nursing process, Public Health nurses can have lasting impact on the community.ReferencesAcademics. (n.d.). Retrieved from , M. (2009). Chronic illness accounts for 75 percent of health spending. Retrieved from services/shelter. (2014). Retrieved from of Emergency Medical Services. (2015). Retrieved from for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Smoking and tobacco use. Retrieved from , X., & Jacques-Tiura, A. (2014, February). Smoking initiation associated with specific periods in the life course from birth to young adulthood: Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. American Journal of Public Health, 104, 119-126. Retrieved from Department. (2014). Retrieved from People 2020. (2015). Tobacco. Retrieved from People 2020. (2015). Tobacco use objectives. Retrieved from Best Places. (2014). Retrieved from Best Places. (2014). Retrieved from Health Facts. (2011). Retrieved from , J. S., Hvidtfeldt, U. A., Flachs, E. M., Spiegelman, D., Heitmann, B. L., Balter, K., ... Feskanich, D. (2014, January). Smoking and risk of coronary heart disease in younger, middle-aged, and older adults. American Journal of Public Health, 104(1), 96-102. Retrieved from States Census Bureau. (2015). St. George (city), Utah. Retrieved from County School District website. (2015). County Solid Waste website. (2008). services department. (2014). Retrieved from ................
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