Instructions: Respond to each peer in 1 paragraph . Using 7th ed and 2 citations. Citations must be within 5 years .
Peer 1 : Public Health and Medical Services, provides guidance for medical and mental health personnel, medical equipment and supplies, assessment of the status of the public health infrastructure, and monitoring for potential disease outbreak (Stanhope et al., 2022). As a novel virus with no immunity from prior exposure, it was challenging to reach herd immunity. The community did not know if the virus was safe and if it was going to be effective against the virus. Yes, my community’s response to COVID-19 is effective. In Dillon County, SC, 16,609 people (54.5%) have received at least one dose, 14,246 (46.7%) have received at least two doses or a single Johnson & Johnson dose, 5,928 (19.4%) have received a booster dose, and 2,017 (6.6%) have received an updated bivalent booster dose. There is not any data available for the 2023/2024 updated boosters. Over the last week, the Marion, SC – Dillon, SC Health Service Area had 4 new COVID hospital admissions (6.5 for every 100,000 residents) (COVID.org).
With disparities in healthcare, the pandemic shed some bright light on systemic inequalities with healthcare in the country. No access to healthcare, economic opportunities, and bias were some of the issues many communities had to face. The people affected had an exacerbation of existing chronic illnesses. In 2020, all lab tests performed for COVID-19 must be reported regarding people’s race and ethnicity. Some risk factors were financial circumstances, no access to testing sites or the lack of treatment, and underlying health conditions. Staffing shortage and inadequate resources were barriers during the pandemic. The unvaccinated community was another barrier that impacted the health response in the community.
With our existing healthcare infrastructure, we are currently unable to clinically manage the onslaught of COVID-19 (NIH.gov). To stay abreast of disasters, nurses must continue to participate in training and plan in all hazards environment. The critical members of the multidisciplinary team are the public health nurses because of their knowledge base in epidemiology and community assessment. The four stages of disaster management are prevention (including mitigation and protection), preparedness, response, and recovery. Being proactive is the best way to address disaster. Preventive activities for the nurse during this stage could be aimed at inspections, testing, isolation, and quarantine. Being prepared for a disaster means including and informing your family and community about the disaster plan. The nurse must equip her family with the knowledge to cope during a disaster. Preparedness is an ongoing process for the community to plan and train for what to do in a disaster. Response is what happens after the disaster occurs. The recovery process can take years or decades depending on the disaster.
Peer 2: Despite funding for both hospitals and public health preparedness, the efforts to utilize nurses for disaster planning and response have been both scarce and hard to sustain (Veenema, et al, 2016). Nurses and healthcare professionals must be equipped to deal with natural disasters or public health emergencies, as it is common knowledge that nurses play a crucial role in disaster response. With these natural disasters and public health emergencies, disaster management begins with effective decision making and it entails a few elements, such as warnings to the community and its victims and providing abrupt assistance during and after the disaster (Arifah, et al, 2019). The main goal of disaster management is to ensure individuals’ safety and meet their basic needs.
North Augusta, South Carolina is well equipped to deal with the Covid-19 situation, as there is a website to reference testing centers, closures, and how to minimize the spread of infection. South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster even launched a website for South Carolina residents to obtain information and resources regarding the pandemic and this resource is updated frequently. On April 7, 2020, Governor Henry McMaster ordered a “Home or Work Order” to limit outside activities and gathering of large groups of people.
The public health response in North Augusta, South Carolina could be impacted by individuals who continued to gather despite the Governor’s orders to abstain from getting together. The homeless population could also be impacted more severely because they have no access to the internet/resources, are in close contact with one another, and they do not have access to adequate healthcare. The homeless population is considered a vulnerable population for these reasons.
The disaster management cycle is separated into crisis management and risk management. Crisis management is comprised of response, assessment of impact, and recovery/rehabilitation, while risk management is comprised of prevention, mitigation, and preparation, which is then followed by the response phase and the recovery phase (Arifah, et al, 2019). Nurses can help assist with prevention by education and screening/testing individuals. Nurses can also provide tertiary prevention with recovery and rehabilitation.
