150-200 word your thoughts about each post

discussion One (Brit)-“Health disparities refer to differences in the health status of different people. Some groups of people have higher rates of certain diseases, and more deaths and suffering from them.” (Medline n.d.) Many things are to factor in when thinking about health disparities, some things to consider would be race, disability, gender, income, etc. As nurses, we need to do our assessments on our patients, not only just the physical assessments but the economical, spiritual, and family history assessments. As nurses we need to observe behaviors and what is going on with our patients, when we have resources to help a patient we should always be offering those resources. Nurses should be an advocate for their patients, nurses should want to set each patient up for success before being discharged.

I am choosing to talk about Dale Mayman from Hondros Village. We know that this is a male, he’s known to have a drinking problem, he’s been married quite a few times, he appears disheveled, has poor eye contact and we have been observant to notice the wife has bruising appearing old and new. A health disparity in this situation is knowing he caused his cirrhosis of the liver and it appears he could be abusive. Even though this is something that most people would consider wrong, or not okay; we cannot treat him any different when it comes to his care. Also, we should always offer who appears to be a victim, 1:1 conversation to find out what we can do to help.

References:

“Medline Plus” n.d. Retrieved by:https://medlineplus.gov/healthdisparities.html

Discussion 2(Ilona)-Giddens states that, “Health disparities refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care among population groups that often parallel differences in socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic background, and educational level” (Giddens, 2017, pg.504). As nurses, we have an enormous responsibility to advocate for our patients regardless of the their culture, religious background, race, gender or sexual preference. Nurses should always fight for the greater good of our patients and help to ensure that our patients receive the best healthcare possible. In order for our patients to receive the best healthcare, all patients should have the opportunity to receive the same level of healthcare. Healthcare equality should be the focus of all healthcare providers and nurses.

Giddens also discusses functional ability, it states that “Functional ability is important across the life course because it is a major contributing factor to quality of life. It allows independence and participation in activities that are fulfilling to human nature” (Giddens, 2017, pg. 14). The patient in Hondros Village Terrell Wallace, is a 12 year old African American, sickle cell patient who was admitted to the hospital with an episode of sickle cell crisis. He comes from a middle class family who’s mother is a nurse and father is a school teacher. It states that Terrell is a B student at school and enjoys playing an instrument. As his nurse, I would ensure that Terrell receives the same care as my patient as he would at home. It is important that while he is in the hospital, he is allowed to participate in things that he loves to do. Keeping up with his school work and being able to socialize with his family and friends are important aspects to his care and should be care planned as such.

Reference:

Giddens, J. F. (2017) Concepts for nursing practice (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier