Magnifying a Nurse’s Role in Public Health
Population health (community-based) nursing is focused on identifying and improving conditions for persons to prevent or mitigate illnesses. I became interested in the impact of environment and stimuli that precipitated and exacerbated respiratory illness in children as well as the general population. I was teaching students in a community health nursing clinical in the inner city of an impoverished community in Illinois. The students were charged with performing a community assessment of an assigned zip code. They identified a community with water, soil and air contaminants that aligned with the bio-statistical data they researched on the health conditions affecting the population. Their work led them to look closer at the schools, day care and Head Start programs to measure the burden of disease and impact related to air quality. As a result of the students’ work and over the subsequent three years of additional nursing students and other inter-professional students, a comprehensive program centered on lead, asthma and allergy triggers was developed and deployed.
In working on air quality, I met a woman who was an advocate for Radon Awareness. I began researching the topic of radon and its impact to persons that more times than not, only came to light when a lung cancer diagnosis was made in a non-smoker. Radon is a topic that needs awareness and can be detected with easy, in-home, self-administered monitors. Radon, if found can be treated and mitigated from a home. In-home testing is the easiest way to identify if your home has a radon problem. It is easy to obtain radon testing monitors at local hardware stores and home improvement centers. The monitors are placed in a structure for a set period and then sealed and sent into a laboratory for analysis after the detection period has expired. To find an EPA-approved qualified tester, visit the Nevada state site.
As we return to being back in the community, we will have the opportunity to identify communities or schools that would benefit from a community based environmental health scan and intervention program, driven by nursing students with a long-term impact of not only environmental health but a healthier southern Nevada. Radon related lung cancer is preventable, do a home test today to protect you and your family.
References:
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https://www.unlv.edu/announcement/recognizing-radon-role-nurse
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Recognizing Radon: The Role of a Nurse | | University of Nevada, Las Vegas (unlv.edu)
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