Public and Global Health Assignment

In this week’s media presentation, Dr. Louise Fitzpatrick shared how health and disease are global issues. She pointed out that with the mobility of today’s population, health issues experienced in one area of the world are easily brought to other areas of the world through such means as travel and immigration. They can also be brought to a nation’s doorstep through the migration of animals, insects, and birds. Consider the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, avian flu, H1N1, or SARS. These diseases have quickly crossed oceans and spread to multiple countries. They are a public health concern in the United States as well as other countries. To prepare for this Discussion: Reflect on Dr. Mancuso’s comments in this week’s media presentation; specifically, on the role of the BSN nurse in public and global health. Select one health problem that you will use as a basis of comparison between countries. Identify one developed and one developing country. Compare and contrast the health problems and countries you selected with the United States in terms of World Health Organization (WHO) outcomes. In your analysis, be sure to include information about workforce availability to deal with the country’s disease burden. Based on your examination of the research, how well is the United States performing in terms of public health as compared to the developed and developing countries you selected? Think about what countries with worse outcomes could learn from countries with better outcomes. Think about why nurses should be concerned with global health issues and what the role of the nurse should be in public health. By Day 3 Post your analysis of one health problem between one developed and one developing country in comparison with the United States in terms of the WHO outcomes and criteria listed above. State your opinion about how well the United States is doing in terms of public health. Public and Global Health Assignment Share what you think countries with worse outcomes could learn from countries with better outcomes. Explain the nurse’s role in public and global health and why nurses should be concerned with global health issues. Conclude by summarizing your view of the role of the nurse in public health. Support your response with references from the professional nursing literature. Note Initial Post: A 3-paragraph (at least 350 words) response. Be sure to use evidence from the readings and include in-text citations. Utilize essay-level writing practice and skills, including the use of transitional material and organizational frames. Avoid quotes; paraphrase to incorporate evidence into your own writing. A reference list is required. Use the most current evidence (usually ≤ 5 years old). This has to be written in APA 7th edition and sources that are 5 years or less. I have attached the rubric along with the transcript to the media presentation and other sources that were provided.

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The Role of the Nurse in global Health

Health outcomes have been defined as the change in health status of a given population that is the result of well-thought out and implemented interventions (Ferguson, 2017; Cometto & Campbell, 2016). In the context of this paper, this is the change in health status of an entire country’s population as a function of the country’s healthcare policies. These outcomes include mortality, timeliness of care, patient experience of healthcare services, safety of care, and effectiveness of care. This paper discusses healthcare issues in a developed and a developing country compared to the United States with regard to population health outcomes as espoused by the World Health Organization (WHO).Public and Global Health Assignment

The United Kingdom and South Africa Compared to the United States, Including Healthcare Workforce Availability

The Unite Kingdom (UK) is a developed country just like the United States (US). It would therefore ordinarily be expected that health outcomes in these two countries are identical. However, this is far from the truth. To begin with, the United States has one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world. The problem is however that the cost of this healthcare service is not reflected in the level of care given as well as the patient outcomes that are the health outcomes. The result is that the US has one of the highest levels of health disparities in the developed world, with the poor and marginalized populations experiencing high morbidity and mortality even with preventable illnesses. For instance, mortality in these populations that cannot afford the high healthcare costs (typically African Americans and Hispanics) is high and is caused by illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and colorectal cancer amongst others. Safety of care, patient experience, and timeliness of care for this population in the US is also very poor. All this comes down to the fact that the US does not have Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC) as opposed to other developed countries. On all those health outcome parameters mentioned above, the UK scores higher than the US. Part of the reason is that the UK National Health Service or NHS is tax-funded and is more comprehensive than the American Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act policy (Holder et al., 2017). Compared to these developed countries, South Africa is a developing country that neither has the capacity nor the resources to mount a UHC program for its population. For this reason, it is would be understandable if health outcomes in South Africa were low (as they actually are). One of the prerequisites for better health outcomes according to the WHO is the availability of adequate healthcare human resources (Cometto & Campbell, 2016). In the UK this is a reality, in South Africa this is a dream, while in America this is an ego issue as physician organizations are refusing to allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to have full practice authority and provide essential primary health care.

How the US is Performing and What Other Countries Can Learn from those with Better Health Outcomes

From the above comparison, it is clear that the US is performing dismally with regard to desirable health outcomes. It is far behind the UK which is a developed country just like it. Some of the health outcomes in the US compare well with those of the developing country South Africa. This is unacceptable since the US is a developed country with immense resources compared to South Africa. What other countries with poor health outcomes such as the Us can learn from those with better health outcomes such as the UK include that (i) social justice and equity should drive the formulation of healthcare policies, (ii) capitalism should never be allowed to rule healthcare as it is a matter of life and death, and (iii) the rich should help cushion the poor when it comes to healthcare coverage. This is what “Obamacare” or ACA attempted to do in the US.

Nurses and Global Health Issues

            Nurses must be concerned with global health issues because the nurse is by default the number one patient advocate. Because of this, the nurse must always champion policies that guarantee the best patient outcomes and by extension the best health outcomes.Public and Global Health Assignment

Conclusion

Compared to the UK, the US is behind in terms of the achievement of better health outcomes. This is partly because the US adopted a capitalist approach to healthcare and refused to adopt a universal healthcare coverage policy. This has meant that developing countries such as South Africa are the ones that compare favorably with the US in terms of poor health outcomes such as on timeliness of care.

 References

Cometto, G., & Campbell, J. (2016). Investing in human resources for health. Beyond health outcomes. Human Resources for Health, 14(1), 1-2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12960-016-0147-2

Ferguson, J. (2017). The who, what, and how of health outcome measures. Health Catalyst. https://downloads.healthcatalyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Who-What-and-How-of-Health-Outcome-Measures.pdf

Holder, J., Torprey, P. & Cage, F. (July 25, 2017). How does the US healthcare system compare with other countries? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/jul/25/us-healthcare-system-vs-other-countries

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Public and Global Health Assignment