WEEK 5: Vulnerable Populations

WEEK 5: Vulnerable Populations As nurses, we all know what we should do to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but often knowledge does not translate into actual behavior. Vulnerable populations may face additional individual and/or societal barriers to being healthy. What are those barriers? What can nurses do to overcome some of the barriers that you identified? Respond This section lists options that can be used to view responses. Collapse All Print View Show Options Responses Responses are listed below in the following order: response, author and the date and time the response is posted. Sort by Read/Unread Sort by Response Sorted Ascending, click to sort descending Sort by Author Sort by Date/Time* (an instructor response) Collapse Mark as Unread Vulnerable Populations Instructor Hamilton Email this Author 2/18/2015 8:53:15 PM Hello Class! Public health nurses have a duty to educate and offer the services available. Sometimes that is a tough road as many of the individuals seeking services have certain goals in mind and those may not be the same goals the nurse has for them there is an old adage: "You can lead a horse to water, but can't make it drink." This means that you can offer services, but you cannot force people to utilize them. Do you agree or disagree with this perspective? Please explain and share examples if you have them. See you in the thread!~Dr Hamilton Class: You may begin posting in this TD on Sunday, March 29, 2015 for credit. Respond Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Jessica Parker Email this Author 3/30/2015 8:01:12 PM Instructor Hamilton & Class: I agree that you can offer the services but cannot force people to utilize the service. An example of someone from a vulnerable population would be a substance abuser (CCN, 2015). We can offer services for cessation & counseling, but if they are not willing and not (mentally) ready to accept the help, they will probably fail. We can always continue to educate the patient (& the family). Sometimes, family has already attempted to help the patient, but it may take someone from the outside (the healthcare provider/nurse) to convince the patient. Many times we do not want to hear something from family but will be more accepting of a professional's recommendation. Chamberlain College of Nursing. (2015). NR-443 Week 5: Frontier Nursing Service [Online lesson]. Downers Grove, IL: DeVry Education Group. Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier. Respond (an instructor response) Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Instructor Hamilton Email this Author 3/31/2015 6:23:48 AM Jessica your post reminded me of the television reality show "Intervention" although edited for TV I am sure the intent is still the same, the person is offered a free rehabilitation offer and either accepts or does not. One episode involved a heroin addict who refused and part of the family healing was to not give him a place to stay, food to eat, and money. He was an adult who needed to figure out how to help himself. The family was enabling him and the counselor was spot on when he stated "enabling is rewarding bad behavior". The program is not only for the addict but the family as well. Thanks for the topic.~Dr Hamilton Class: Thoughts about this statement? Respond Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Michelle King Email this Author 3/31/2015 10:43:29 PM Dr. Hamilton, It is important to set limits and have boundaries, especially within a family. As nurses it is our role to educate families about addiction, which can be a family affair. However, addiction is under the broad umbrella of mental illness. Is it then enabling to provide food and shelter to a homeless person who is addicted? I think not. In the past, there were strict requirements that housing services were provided to the addicted or alcoholic only when they were sober, even to the extent of giving them a cot for a night to get out of the cold. Now, new studies are evaluating that approach, arguing that by providing housing, we then have stability and access to begin addressing other issues, such as addiction, calling such housing "wethouses" (Vengerowsky, 2011). I adopted a 14 year old boy who was addicted. There was a lot of tough love, but I never turned him out into the streets or turned my back on him. He is 30 now, a Catholic who attends mass daily, married for four years, a home-owner and holding a great job earning more than me. He has always been a wonderful person, and I love him dearly. At times, well meaning people told me, "put him out of your home", but I never did. He was in and out jail and rehab for a few years, but my home was always his home, and always will be. Sometimes the term enabling can be a cop out, allowing parents or society to turn our backs on a tough situation that we helped create. If we only give to the deserving, who are we really helping? Resources Vengerowsky, K. (2011) "Homeless addicts get help without getting clean, sober." Accessed online on March 31, 2015 at Respond Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Erica Meyerhofer Email this Author 4/1/2015 2:45:10 PM Michelle, Class, and Professor - What a great story Michelle hats off to you did you have other young children in your home at the time when you adopted him? Wisconsin is under some new requirements and your post reminded me of the changes effective today April 1st. I think they are good changes but some will argue. Wisconsin has a food share program that offers food to those in need. As of today those between the ages of 18-49 without children will have to work for their benefits. They will be required to either work at least 80 hours each month, or take part in a work program Wisconsin can offer. If they fail to meet the requirements they will only receive three months of food share benefits in three year period. Local food pantry's are worried they will begin to run out of food because those who don't want to work the 80 hours will depend on food pantry's for their food and take away to families in need that may use food pantries when the food provided by the food share program runs out. Wisconsin's unemployment rate is 4.8% (Division Work Force Wisconsin) which is lower than the long term average of 5.8% so I'm not sure where all these people are going to find work even though it is only 80 hours per month. Erica References: Respond (an instructor response) Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Instructor Hamilton Email this Author 4/1/2015 6:17:42 PM Thanks for the follow-up Erica, this is not unusual as the welfare to work initiative in Illinois began several years ago. This required a certain number of work hours or enrollment in college courses to receive the link benefits of food, child care, and cash. The hours of work depended if the client was married or not married, the number of adults in the household, and other criteria. I will say though with the minimum wage most were working to pay child care so they were not witnessing this as a benefit those who were going to college eventually saw a benefit once graduating and finding employment paying more than minimum...when financial aid checks or Pell Grants came in thought this was reportable income to DHS and Link benefits were affected/decreased/or cut as a result so people felt penalized there has to be incentive to help people out of situations, there is no secret Illinois system is broken we have a new governor so I suppose we will have to wait and see how he moves forward to improve Illinois fiscal budget my fingers are definitely crossed :) ~Dr Hamilton Respond Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Michelle King Email this Author 4/2/2015 8:15:01 AM Erica, Wisconsin's new work requirement is an example of lawmakers attempts to try to reduce the total costs of supporting those in need. There are not really many people who don't want to work. However, most of the adults receiving benefits are mentally ill, disabled or damaged in some way. You mention the low unemployment rate, and a good question is are there employers willing to hire the kinds of people who are receiving welfare? People on welfare often have poor support systems and are unskilled. You asked about the adoption. I have six children, two adopted. When my first husband was killed in a car-jacking, we had one son and a baby on the way. The car was found at a junior high school and police believed the carjacker was a young teen. I kept thinking if only that child's life had been different, so that is why I adopted a 14 year old boy who needed a family. Later, I remarried, a great guy who told his mom he found a bargain, "Buy one, get three free." He raised all of my three kids as his own, and his nephew needed a family joined us. We then had two more biological children together, making a total of six. All great kids. But as to your question, it is a real challenge to adopt an older child who has been through a traumatic childhood, and almost a miracle to pull it off with other smaller children in the house. How hard was it? Well, one time he spent 9 months in a correctional facility for mugging a woman for her jewelry to buy drugs. That's my son. I am under no delusions. He could have been in prison right now, and perhaps someone else's husband would be dead. But he is my son, and he's made mistakes, paid for them and moved on. When my daughter, Lily, stared college, it was Joe who got her a little used car to drive. When I heard, I went by the cemetery and told her dad, "We got our car back." Michelle Respond (an instructor response) Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Instructor Hamilton Email this Author 4/2/2015 12:05:05 PM Michelle and Class I have seen foster children thrive in the appropriate environment and support of the agencies who place them. Most children in foster care have underlying issues which need to be followed and monitored as well as holistic health care to ensure the best outcome possible. I would have a houseful if I could ~Dr Hamilton Respond Collapse Mark as Read RE: Vulnerable Populations Jeremy Langley Email this Author 4/2/2015 7:48:32 PM Dr. Hamilton and Michelle,