Question

i need to write an essay about this. please help!! with the amount of healthcare inequality and without fairness to people around the world, what is the role of a nurse when it comes to delivering equal health care? thank you

Answer 1

HEALTH CARE INEQUALITY

INTRODUCTION:

Health care inequality means unequal health status or when one group of people in an economy are in much worse health than another group. The lower an individuals socio-economic position, the higher the risk of poor health. Poor health outcomes appear to be an effect of economic inequality across population. It negatively affects health on an international, national and institutional levels.

CAUSES OF HEALTH CARE INEQUALITY:

1. The fundamental causes of health care inequality are unequal distribution of income, power and wealth. This can lead to poverty and marginalisation of individual groups.

2. Education

3. Racism

4. Health determinants

5. Health status

6. Discrimination

EFFECTS:

1. Inequalities in wellbeing

2. Healthy life expectancy

3. Mortality and morbidity

ROLE OF NURSE IN DELIVERING EQUAL HEALTH:

It is essential that nurses have an understanding of the health inequalities and their causes. Nurses focus should be on implementing measures which are most likely to be effective in reducing health inequalities.

COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSE: They have an important role in supporting people to access health care more effectively. They can make it easier for people to participate in health enhancing activities. Surveillence and assessment of populations health and wellbeing, assessing the evidence of effectiveness of intervention programmes and services, policy and strategy development and implementation, leadership and collaborative working.

NURSE EDUCATOR: Nursing intervention to prevent illness often focus on the role of educating individuals in relation to their health related behaviour such as, smoking, exercise, eating habits, and sexual health behaviours.

NURSE PRACTITIONER: Nurse collectively and as individual practitioners, should consider the social determinants of health as priority . She should identify the  unequal treatment , discrimination, workplace and social status, income inequality and policy decisions to deplete resources and social and economic determinants of health.

EMPOWERMENT: It is defined as an individual's or group's ability to influence or control significant features of their lives. nurses have an important role in making empowerment.There are three areas of empowerment which are vital to tackling inequalities.

Material empowerment to enable people to have the resources they need to live healthily.

Psychosocial empowerment to enable people to exert control over how they live and gain support from others.

Political empowerment to enable people to influence the circumstances in which they and their community live.

CONCLUSION:

Nursing can rebuild the capacity of caring and social and relational practice through transforming nursing education on the principle of mutuality. Nursing can also promote nurse managed primary care and focus on changing local state and national policies to increase access, equity, equality and health protection.