Windshield Survey – Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing C228: Task 1

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Windshield Survey – Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing C228: Task 1

Windshield Survey – Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing C228: Task 1

Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing C228: Task 1

In the United States, most people look for healthcare services by visiting their primary care doctor or specialists. However, this may change in future as health institutions increasingly adopt the concept if population focused nursing in place of preventing and treating health care problems on an individual level. Population-focused nursing refers to the evaluation of health care needs of a particular population and making health care decisions for this entire population instead of making decisions for individuals (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). The populations in question comprise of individuals who have some common environmental or personal traits. An example of population-focused nursing is when healthcare professionals using treatment guidelines for populations. In order to come up with the guidelines, a community assessment needs to be conducted so as to identify the health issues that the community faces.

Community assessment is a systematic process where the individuals involved want to become acquainted with the community (DuFour & Dufour, 2013). The purpose of the process is for one to become familiar with a community and the population by investigating factors that affect the health of the population. Health care practitioners including nurses are one group of professionals who conduct community assessments. This investigation allows them to identify capacities and strengths as well as risks and gaps. Health care professionals get insight and useful information that is needed to guide work with the population by carrying out community assessments. Such an assessment will allow us, students, to establish professional interventions in a collaborative way and in so doing contribute to community empowerment and change which is acceptable and appropriate for the concerned population. This essay is a community assessment of Sentinel City leading to the identification of problems that this community faces and recommending the best ways to address the issues.

Assessment of Needs and Risks

Demographics Assessment

          Sentinel City is made up of four neighborhoods namely Industrial Heights, Nightingale Square, Acer Tech Center, and Caper Park District. The whole city has a population of 663,862 persons with a median household income of 135,104. Industrial Heights has a population of approximately 28,855 with Latinos or Hispanic having the highest percentage of 46.8% followed by African Americans accounting for 13.1%. Persons under the age of 18 years are about 20.8% while those above 65 years are 0.9%. The median household income in this area is $24,672. The percentage of people without insurance in Industrial Heights is 37.5%. Nightingale Square has a population of about 103974 with the primary ethnicity being whites with 81.3% followed by Hispanic or Latino with 3.7%. Persons below 18 years account for 2.9% of the population while those above 65 years account for 13.9% of the population. The median household income of people in this locality is $269,550. The percentage of people without insurance in Nightingale Square is 0.7%.

Acer Tech Square neighborhood has a population of 168,390 with whites being the majority ethnic group with 70.2% followed by Hispanic with 13.7%. The proportion of persons under 18 years is 7.0% while those above 65 years is 19.8%. The median household income of Acer Tech Center is $166,300. The percentage of people without insurance in the neighborhood is 1.5%. The final locality is Casper Par district with a population of 352,643. The primary ethnic group is whites with 63% followed by Hispanic with 24%. Persons under the age of 18 years make up 33.8% of the population while those over 65 years are 6.5% of the population. The median household income of Casper Park District is $80,134.  The percentage of people without insurance in the neighborhood is 22.7%.

Neighborhood/Community Safety Inventory

The community safety inventory is a tool used to explore the different possible hazards that are present in a given area. Using this tool was very interesting as it made me consider my surroundings from a different perspective. The air quality of Sentinel City is considerably clean as compared to most industrial cities in the country. The reason for this is the few industries present in Sentinel City. However, there is still some air pollution as the available industries located at Industrial Heights emit fumes into the atmosphere. The industries also contribute to water pollution in the area. Some of these industries release wastes and untreated water into water bodies near them. Run-off from heavy rains is another source of water pollution. Overflow from old septic tanks also pollutes water sources. The only form of radiation that is present in Sentinel City is that from intense sun rays.

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The parks within the city have some pools of stagnant water that are suitable breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Mosquito-borne viruses have caused a significant health impact for the people living in Sentinel City. The built environment of Sentinel City also presents a risk to the population. The architecture in the older houses presents a risk of exposure of people to lead or asbestos and mold. The people may also be injured due to the general disrepair state of the buildings. The roads are also a source of potential harm to the population. There are some areas with potholes on the road surface, and this increases the risk of accidents. Poor lighting on the streets also creates a source of potential injury.

High rates of crime also pose a risk to the emotional and physical well-being of the community. The Sentinel City area has many common arrests, violent crimes, and gang-related crime incidents. In the crime arrests group battery, reckless conduct, possession of cannabis, criminal trespassing and public intoxication are examples of crimes committed by perpetrators. Although violent crime rates in the city have been on a decline over the past three years, they are still present with females accounting for a larger proportion of the victims. Cases of violent crimes including homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, and robbery are also prevalent according to data from the city’s police department. The response of the emergency medical service (EMS) in Sentinel City is not at standards that it ought to although it ranks better than most cities in the country. More improvements to this department will help provide the community with better services. 

Windshield Survey

According to Davison et al. (2013), a windshield survey is a systematic observation of an area made from a moving vehicle. Using the windshield survey technique on Sentinel city allowed me to view the area from a different perspective. It allowed me to make observations that I had overlooked many times during my duration in the city. The choice of this tool enabled me to traverse the whole area viewing aspects of town that could be seen from the roads. The windshield survey allowed me to examine various facets of the community including physical, economic, and social character. Below is a report of the windshield survey of Sentinel City that I conducted.

People: At 4 p.m. there were mostly children and women on the street. Many of the children were students wearing …………………………………………s.

Application of Learning from Simulation to Future Community Assessment Strategies

          Simulation is usually …………………..

Windshield Survey – Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing C228: Task 1