Epidemiologic surveillance is used in public and global health. For this Assignment, begin by locating a recent article about an outbreak of an infectious or communicable disease. The article can come from a newspaper or other source but your paper must be supported with at least three scholarly sources of evidence in the literature which may include your text or course readings.
A summary of the article, including the title and author
Identify the title of the article with in-text citation and corresponding reference in reference list.


The relationship among causal agents, susceptible persons, and environmental factors (epidemiological triangle)
Summarize the role of the nurse in addressing the outbreak
Possible health promotion/health protection strategies that could have been implemented by nurses to mitigate the outbreak

A study by Holmgren et al. (2019) discusses the “Nurses’ experiences of health concerns, teamwork, leadership and knowledge transfer during an Ebola outbreak in West Africa.” The study employed a qualitative design and recruited 44 nurses as research subjects. The nurses had worked in a treatment center and responded to email questionnaire. The nurses responded that their health preparation was adequate owing to their participation in pre-deployment courses. The participants also reported that the pre-deployment training was critical and filled a key role. The study recommended that there is a need to conduct better pre-deployment training of nurses to equip them with adequate knowledge in addressing pandemics.

Literature

The epidemiological triangle of Ebola involves the Ebola virus as the causative agent, the host factors that favor disease development, and the environmental factors that mitigate or exacerbate transmission. The causal agent Ebolavirus belongs to the filoviridae family which consists of 5 members (Liu et al., 2015). Ebolavirus is a non-segmented negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus (Liu et al., 2015). The instability of the RNA genome of Ebolavirus renders it highly mutative. The immunosuppression of Ebolavirus is a huge hindrance to vaccine development. Nurses’ Role in Public Health and Global Health Essay.  Deceased patients often fail to elicit an effective immune response after infection. However, effective immune responses are always sustained in Ebola survivors. The virus can survive for several areas in blood and other body fluids at 20°C−25°C (Liu et al., 2015). In low temperatures, the virus can survive for weeks making it difficult to eliminate.

The next component of the epidemiological triangle is the host factors that relate to the disease transmission. Most human-to-human transmissions occur when the patients reach the contagious stage. The incubation period is less than 21 days which is considered the epidemiological basis of quarantine (Liu et al., 2015). The common symptoms include fever, headache, and fatigue (Liu et al., 2015). Because the initial clinical manifestations are not conclusive, laboratory findings are required to confirm the diagnosis. Asymptomatic carriers do not contract the disease on physical contact with Ebola virus disease patients. Close contact is the main route of transmission although cases of oral transmission have also been documented. Nosocomial infections have been critical in regions with poor hygiene.

The third component of the epidemiological triangle of Ebolavirus transmission is the environmental factors such as war, population growth, and cultural (burial practices). The rapid population growth and the increased rate of rural-urban migration have exacerbated Ebola virus transmission (Liu et al., 2015). Human mobility has specifically played a key role in disease transmission and outbreak. Infected individuals moving from one location to another causes an increased rate of transmission in major urban centers. Nurses’ Role in Public Health and Global Health Essay.

Decades of war and civil unrest have also contributed to the Ebola virus outbreak. Vulnerable refugees and displaced populations lack social cohesion and appropriate healthcare services. Moreover, the deteriorating mental and physical health of such vulnerable groups has sparked further human to human transmission of the virus. Moreover, bushmeat consumption has been linked to Ebolavirus spillover from wildlife reservoirs (Liu et al., 2015). Also, timber extraction and opening of road networks have led to the influx of people into forested areas facilitating viral transmission.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM -FREE PAPER NOW

Role of nurses

Apart from being the core providers of primary care to Ebolavirus patients, nurses were also an integral part of the healthcare team. During the Ebola virus outbreak, nurses were among the first-responders to the global crisis (von Strauss et al., 2019). Health organizations mobilized resources and cooperated with nurses in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of infected patients to prevent the spread of the disease (Holmgren et al., 2019). Nurses’ skills and competencies in both emergency and acute care were instrumental in fighting the outbreak.

In intensive care units, nurses were essential in adjusting fluids, medications, and therapeutic devices such as ventilators. They also collaborated with other care providers in addressing complex health issues and technologies such as pulse oximeters used to ensure high-quality patient care. In critical care, nurses were vital in patient assessment and making clinical decisions that influenced the care process (Holmgren et al., 2019).

Health promotion

One healthcare promotion activity that would have been carried by nurses include communicating with the patients’ community. For a successful health promotion during an outbreak, it is critical to understand the population and culture. Factors such as language, religion, and spirituality affect the perception of health and healthcare services.  Nurses’ Role in Public Health and Global Health Essay.Understanding the risk exposure of a particular group of people is important in establishing contact. Particularly, funeral practices were identified as one of the factors that fostered Ebola virus transmission (Khalafallah et al., 2017). Thus, health promotion strategies should have been aimed at educating the community on Ebola virus transmission and the correlation between burial practices and disease transmission.

The lack of effective therapy for the virus necessitates the need for contact tracing and the involvement of community health nurses. The involvement of community health nurses would have been effective in tracking patients suspected of the disease to limit human to human transmission. Also, nurses would have been vigilant in advocating for policies that encourage access to healthcare services by vulnerable groups such as refugees (Khalafallah et al., 2017). Nurses’ Role in Public Health and Global Health Essay.

References

Holmgren, J., Paillard-Borg, S., Saaristo, P., & von Strauss, E. (2019). Nurses’ experiences of health concerns, teamwork, leadership, and knowledge transfer during an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Nursing Open, 6(3), 824–833. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.258

Khalafallah, M. T., Aboshady, O. A., Moawed, S. A., & Ramadan, M. S. (2017). Ebola virus disease: Essential clinical knowledge. Avicenna journal of medicine, 7(3), 96–102. https://doi.org/10.4103/ajm.AJM_150_16

Liu, W. B., Li, Z. X., Du, Y., & Cao, G. W. (2015). Ebola virus disease: from epidemiology to prophylaxis. Military Medical Research, 2, 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40779-015-0035-4

Holmgren, J., Paillard-Borg, S., Saaristo, P., & von Strauss, E. (2019). Nurses’ experiences of health concerns, teamwork, leadership, and knowledge transfer during an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Nursing Open, 6(3), 824–833. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.258

von Strauss, E., Paillard-Borg, S., Holmgren, J., & Saaristo, P. (2017). Global nursing in an Ebola viral hemorrhagic fever outbreak: before, during, and after deployment. Global health action, 10(1), 1371427. https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2017.1371427. Nurses’ Role in Public Health and Global Health Essay.