Community Crises

Create a 10–15 slide PowerPoint presentation that compares how different  communities respond to crises, describes obstacles to providing health  care services related to community crises, and explains current  practices for providing health care services related to community  crises. Recommend an evidence-based nursing response for providing  health care services related to community crises.

As in acute nursing, emergencies do arise in the community/public  health arena. These emergencies can take the form of manmade or natural  disasters. Health care professionals have had to increase their  awareness of their duty to care during these situations. The need for  planning and preparing for these possible events is being reinforced  (Tomczyk, et al., 2008). Public health nurses bring specific skills to  disaster response. Their roles can range from first responders to policy  developers.

Tomczyk, D., Alvarez, D., Borgman, P., Cartier,  M., Caulum, L., Galloway, C., … Meske, D. (2008). Caring for those who  care: The role of the occupational health nurse in disasters. AAOHN Journal, 56(6), 243–250. 

Preparation

Suppose you have been invited to participate in a roundtable  discussion meeting on the development of a community response to crises.  To prepare for this discussion, you have been asked to research ways  that other communities have provided health care services during crisis  situations, identify best practices, and develop a nursing response for  providing health care services. You would be presenting your research  and nursing response to the roundtable panel during the meeting.

Select two communities that have suffered a crisis of some kind  within ten years of each other. For example, you might choose to look at  New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina in comparison to New Jersey and  Hurricane Sandy. You might address the 2011 tornado outbreak and compare  the response of Joplin, Missouri with the response of Birmingham,  Alabama. Or, you might choose to look at the responses to volcano  eruptions in Hawaii as compared to Washington State. You are not limited  to natural disasters; feel free to explore environmental disasters and  outbreaks of disease. Try to choose the type of crisis situation that  could occur within your own community.

Once you have selected your two communities and their comparable  crisis situations, look in the Capella library and on the Internet for  scholarly journal articles on how health care professionals responded to  the crises.

Requirements

For this assessment, create a PowerPoint presentation that examines  provision of health care services related to community crises, from a  nursing perspective. In your PowerPoint, address the following:

• Compare the different approaches of two communities for responding to a community crisis.
• Explain how the crisis situation in each community affected the overall health of the community.
• Describe potential obstacles in your own community to providing health care services related to community crises.
• Explain current practices in your own community for providing health care services related to community crises.
• Recommend an evidence-based nursing response for providing health care services related to community crises.      
  • Your nursing response does not need to be overly detailed. In  real life, a nursing response would be the work of a committee or  another group, based on the research and recommendations of others.
  • Your nursing response should provide foundational research and  recommendations based on evidence. Consider things such as triage  points, communication methods, caring for staff, providing basic  necessities such as food and water, use of other organizations for  shelter, and so on.

Use the Notes section of each PowerPoint slide to expand your points and provide supporting evidence.

Additional Requirements

Complete your assessment using the following specifications:

• Include a title slide and reference slide.
• Number of slides: 10–15.
• At least 3 current scholarly or professional resources.
• APA format for in-text citations and references.
• Be creative. Consider your target audience.