Tag: healthcare

Assessment of Community Health Needs

The Internal Revenue Service required all non-profit hospitals to conduct a community health need assessment (CHNA), in 2012 and every three years thereafter. These hospitals must file reports each year detailing how the community is meeting these needs. This assessment is an example of a primary prevention strategy in population management. Primary prevention strategies are designed to prevent the occurrence or increase resistance to diseases. They also focus on environmental factors.

This activity is carried out in communities by non-profit hospitals, which I consider very lucky. It is possible to make great strides in improving the public health, which is a major determinant of one’s overall health. According to the Blue Shirt blog of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement ( CHNAs and Beyond : Hospitals and Community Health Improvement), “There is increasing recognition that the social determinants o f health – where you live, work, eat, and have the opportunity to exercise, and work safely – are key determinants of your health. This will impact your health outcomes.” While there are many roles for health care in providing health care services, it is clear that the core of a healthy lifestyle is found within the community. Hospitals and health systems need to partner with diverse stakeholders in order to manage true population health, which is the overall health of a community. These types of community involvement will be more important as reimbursement becomes driven by value.

Healthcare providers have historically managed the health of people, while local health departments have managed communities to promote healthy living. The IRS has made it mandatory that both the IRS and local health departments work together. The two have been connected by local coalitions, community organizations, and religious organizations.

My community is a great example of how different organizations can work together to improve the health of the entire community. A CHNA was conducted in Kent County, Michigan by nine non-profits in 2014. The purpose of this assessment was to determine the strengths and weaknesses in health and the perceptions of the community regarding the most pressing health issues. According to the assessment, the following are the areas that need to be improved in order for the community’s health to thrive:

* Mental health issues

* Obesity and poor nutrition

* Substance abuse

* Safety and violence

The Kent County Health Department began developing a strategy plan to address these problems. This strategic plan has been developed by a variety of community groups that meet monthly. There are four workgroups, one for each key area of focus. As a representative for Kent Intermediate School District, I am part of the Substance Abuse Workgroup. The Substance abuse prevention coalition, a Federally Qualified Health Center, a substance treatment center, and the local YMCA are some of the other members. Other workgroups are also supported by local hospitals. Our group has a co-chair, one of the representatives from treatment groups. The health department wants to ensure that the strategic plan is community-driven.

The health department leadership stressed that the strategy plan should be community-driven at the initial meeting. The strategic plan must be community driven so that all agencies within the community can buy in to it and work together to provide the best prevention and treatment services. Spending more money on services will be more efficient if all agencies collaborate to improve each other’s work.

The Substance Abuse Work Group is currently reviewing relevant data from both the 2014 CHNA Survey and other local resources. So that the strategic plan’s goals can be determined, the epidemiologist from the health department will be reviewing the relevant data with the group. One of the core principles of the group’s operation is the use of data to make decisions. The strategic plan should contain specific, measurable and achievable goals that are realistic, time-bound, and achievable.

After the strategic plan has been completed, the workgroups will continue to implement the plan. They will evaluate the results and adjust the plan as necessary in light of that evaluation. The CHNA workgroups are following the Plan-Do-Check-Act method. This process is proven to produce great results in many settings, including business, healthcare, manufacturing, and other industries.

As I mentioned above, I recommend healthcare providers get involved in community groups to implement population-level health management strategies to improve overall health. The Community Health Needs Assessment Project, which is being carried out by the local health department as well as non-profit hospitals, is a good example of how you can get involved.

 

Occupational Health: Core Areas of Knowledge and also Competence, Part 1

It’s not feasible to describe a highly complex and dynamic course of action like occupational well being nursing merely in terms of core activities or even duties. Occupational Health Nurse (OHA) are constantly mastering brand new abilities, adapting latest methods to encounter new specifications as well as developing new ways to dealing with issues and thus their practice will not be fixed but is constantly enhancing based upon a core variety of skills.

Nevertheless, inside this limitation it’s possible to describe those main areas of competence and knowledge that occupational health nurses consumption. The following guidelines isn’t supposed to be extensive, but rather to make an indication of the wide range of competencies that occupational health nurses show inside training.

The Clinician

Primary prevention

The OHA is competent in primary protection against injury or even illness . The nurse may identify the necessity for, examine as well as arrange interventions to, for instance modify operational spaces, devices of labor or perhaps switch working methods in order to reduce the chance of hazardous visibility. Occupational well being nurses are great in taking into account variables, such as man conduct and also habits in relation to actual performing habits. The nurse also can collaborate within the identification, conception and correction of labor factors, choice of individual shielding supplies, prevention of manufacturing cuts & illnesses, in addition to offering advice in matters concerning protection of all the money taken in and most of the ecosystem. Because of the occupational health nurses close association together with the employees, and also information and knowledge of the operational environment, they are in a good position to determine premature alterations within performing strategies, identify employees pertains to over health and security, and by showing these to management inside an unbiased aim fashion can be the catalyst for switches within the workplace that result in primary avoidance.

Emergency care

The OHA is a Registered Nurse with a good deal of clinical experience as well as expertise for dealing with sick or injured girls. The nurse may, where such chores form an important part of the job of theirs, offer original critical proper care of workers hurt at work previous to transfer of injured worker to hospital or the coming on the emergency services. In a lot of instances, where hazardous conditions exist at do the job, or perhaps in which the workplace is significantly taken from various other health care facilities, this role will create a major section of an occupational health nurse’s job. Occupational health nurses employed around mines, on oil rigs, within the desert places or in regions where healthcare devices are not however completely created will be acquainted with a wide variety of critical care strategies and might have created additional skills to satisfy the role. For others, who are employed in cases where the critical solutions are on hand, they may just furnish yet another degree of support beyond that provided by the industrial very first aider.

Nursing diagnosis

Occupational health and fitness nursing staff are great in assessing client’s health care needs, establish a nursing diagnosis as well as formulating appropriate nursing care plans, inside conjunction from the affected person or client organizations, in order to meet the requirements. Nursing staff can subsequently put into practice as well as assess nursing interventions made to achieve the care ambitions. The nurse has a prominent part within evaluating the requirements of individuals and organizations, and possesses the ability to evaluate, interpret, weight loss plan and also put into practice techniques to reach particular goals. By making use of the nursing approach the nurse contributes to place of work health handling and also by which means that doing allows you to increase helping to save the operational public at the repair shop floors amount. Nursing analysis is a holistic idea which doesn’t concentrate exclusively on the therapy of a specific condition, but rather considers the whole particular person and the health care needs of theirs in the broadest context. It’s a health dependent model rather than a disease primarily based style & nursing staff have the abilities to apply this approach from the operational populations they serve.

Most of the Health assistance and health assessment

The OHA is going to be able to present tips on a wide range of health issues, in addition to especially on their relationship to functioning ability, health and safety at work or even where adjustments with regard to the project or perhaps operational atmosphere can be made taking bank account of the changing health and fitness status of staff.

In a lot of aspects companies usually are not exclusively concerned with the situations that are immediately brought on by do the job, but do desire their occupational wellness staff members to help address some health related issues that could arise that might influence the workers attendance or performance at do the job, and a lot of employees appreciate this level of assistance actually being offered to them at the place of work as it is very easy for them. In particular the improvement of health care providers to men at perform, younger populations and also those people as a result of ethnic groups can be most effective within reaching these occasionally hard to achieve populations.

Investigation and the use of research based practice

Along with using information and also understanding made by research in various fields to support tasks that will relate to the occupational health aspect of their role, occupational health and wellbeing nursing staff will also use entirely analysis information offered by many areas to help help support the common health of the operational public.

Specialist

Occupational health and fitness policy, and implementation, practice development and evaluation

The professional occupational well being nurse may be active, with senior handling in the organization, within improving office use health and fitness policy and method as well as areas of occupational health, workplace fitness promotion and environmentally friendly health and wellbeing management. The OH nurse is within a good spot to guide control on the implementation, keeping track of and also assessment of workplace fitness handling methods and also to participate fully in each of these stages. Chance to complete the task is going to depend upon level of nurse schooling, experience as well as skills.

Occupational health assessment

OHA’s can play a vital role of overall health examination for health and fitness to work, pre-placement or pre-employment tests, periodic health examinations and also private well being assessments for way of living risk elements.

Collaboration with occupational medical doctor might be required in a lot of situations, depending upon leaving recognised process as well as legislation. The nurse also can relax an important task inside the work environment where informal requests for information, tips on healthcare is important and fitness associated issues reach light. The nurse is going to observe the person or group of staff members in relation to contact with a certain hazard and also start relevant precise health assessment exactly where necessary. These activities are usually, and not solely, undertaken in conjunction together with the healthcare adviser so which in which problems are selected a protected system for onward referral exists.

Health surveillance

Where employees are subjected to a level of recurring chance of exposure as well as wellness surveillance is needed by law the OHA will be engaged in undertaking scheduled wellness surveillance practices, occasional overall health evaluation and in studying the results out of the screening tasks. The nurse is going to need a top degree of clinical skill when carrying out health surveillance and also keep a top amount of alertness to the irregular conclusions. Original referral to an occupational wellbeing personal physician or any other best suited professional would be the duty of the occupational wellbeing nurse in which any abnormality is detected. The nurse would be involved within supporting the woodworker all through just about any supplemental evaluation or investigation, and also may help monitoring the overall health of theirs on return to work. When notified for the potential for an adverse health result the occupational wellbeing nurse is within an excellent spot to co-ordinate efforts to re-evaluate operational routines to be able to help protect others who may be in a similar manner affected.