Healthy people 2010: A sequel

Healthy people 2010: A sequel

JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC NURSING: NURSING CARE OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES Official Journal of the Society of Pediatric Nurses Vol 18, No 4 August 2003 EDITO...

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JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC NURSING: NURSING CARE OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES Official Journal of the Society of Pediatric Nurses Vol 18, No 4

August 2003

EDITORIAL Healthy People 2010: A Sequel

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N APRIL, I HAD the opportunity to give the ending keynote presentation entitled “Healthy People 2010” at the national Society of Pediatric Nurses conference held in Kansas City, MO. Although I had written an editorial recently on the Healthy People 2010 objectives specifically related to children, youth, and families, I was uncertain as to the most productive and audience-friendly approach to use for my presentation. As I was preparing for my presentation, I reviewed my resource file and editorial and came across the following statement I had made in that editorial: “This blueprint for improving our nation’s health needs to serve as the basis for nurses for improving services and developing new programs for children and their families” (Betz, 2002, p. 157). I thought more intensely about the nursing implications of the Healthy People (HP) 2010 objectives. It occurred to me that evidence of nursing contributions to HP 2010 could be found at this very conference! Late into the night, I reviewed the conference proceedings and found numerous examples of presentations and posters given by our colleagues describing their work that was relevant to the HP 2010 objectives. Although there were several examples that I cited in my presentation, I will mention some of them again as well as the work of other SPN colleagues. Carol Jones, RN, the Asthma Nurse Specialist from Rush Presbyterian–St. Luke’s Medical Center, described in her presentation entitled, “Asthma Management and Education,” the nurse’s role in developing an asthma action plan for asthma management so as to reduce untoward outcomes including hospitalization. The nursing care issues discussed in this presentation described the important role pediatric nurses have related to this HP objective 1.9: “Reduce hospitalization rates for 3 ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions—pediatric Journal of Pediatric Nursing, Vol 18, No 4 (August), 2003

asthma, uncontrolled diabetes, and immunizationpreventable pneumonia and influenza.” The poster by Michelle Mendes, PhD, (C), RN, entitled “Parents’ Descriptions of Ideal Home Nursing Care for their Technology Dependent Child, Themselves and Their Families,” described her pilot work with families of parents of children who are technology dependent. The work Ms. Mendes and other nursing colleagues have performed will not only enrich our understanding of parental needs but also lead to the development of nursing interventions to support parents who care for their technology-dependent children at home. This area of investigation and practice can contribute to this important service need as expressed in objective 6.7: “Reduce the number of people with disabilities in congregate care facilities, consistent with permanency planning principles,” and objectives 6.7b: “Reduce the number of persons aged 21 years and under in congregate facilities.” At first glance, objective 6.8: “Eliminate disparities in employment rates between working-aged adults with and without disabilities,” may not seem relevant for pediatric nursing practice. However, for those who work with adolescents with special health care needs and disabilities, we understand all too well the need to develop, implement, and test transition service models. A team of nurses from Children’s Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, MO—Edie Roderick, RN, MS, CS, PNP, Carol Hafeman, RN, MA, and Anne Stanton, RN, MSN— described their transition service model. Their poster entitled, “Road to Independence,” presented the components of their service © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 0882-5963/03/1804-0001$30.00/0 doi:10.1053/S0882-5963(03)00114-3 223

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model, which included an individualized health plan, combined parent and teenager workshop, parent education, use of mentors, and service coordination and referral. As the early evidence showed, strategies for ensuring improved employment outcomes for adults with disabilities include the provision of transition services for these youth to better prepare them for adulthood. The presentation of Janice Selekman, DNSc, RN, entitled, “Mental ‘Health’ of Children: Isn’t Anybody Normal Any More?” discussed the significant role pediatric nurses have in identifying, referring, and coordinating mental health services for children and youth into all systems of care. As Dr. Selekman noted, mental health issues often are overlooked, thereby delaying and even preventing children and youth with mental health problems from receiving the services they need. Pediatric nurses can make important contributions in achieving these HP objectives in whatever practice setting in which they work and in whatever practice role in which they function: 18.7: “Increase the proportion of children with mental health problems who receive treatment,” and 18.8: “Increase the proportion of juvenile justice facilities that screen new admissions for mental health problems.” Additionally, as I was preparing for this presentation, I accessed search engines and bibliographic databases. A perusal of CINAHL with the key words “Healthy People 2010” and “Healthy People 2000” displayed relatively few citations on the topic, of which several were briefs, commentaries, or editorials. My Internet searches proved to be more productive. Here are some notable examples of projects our colleagues have been involved with that specifically address the 2010 HP objectives. For example, the Wald Community Nursing Center, a community-based service-training program of The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing recently received a Healthy Vision 2010 Community Award from the National Institutes of Health National Eye Institute to provide vision health services to underserved children in East Baltimore. This Healthy Vision 2010 grant funds the VisionTEST program (Targeted Education, Screening and Treatment) to provide needed community vision screening and follow-up care and consumer education using the workforce resources of nursing faculty and students. This project is an example of using nursing services in a community setting to implement the vision objectives found in HP 2010. For more information, you can access their Web site at: http://www.son.jhmi.edu/newsandmedia/newsdetail.asp?ID⫽173.

CECILY LYNN BETZ

Nursing students can be encouraged not only to learn about the 2010 HP 2010 objectives, but to develop relevant clinical projects based on the objectives. For example, I found the Web site that University of Arizona undergraduate nursing students had developed as part of their course assignment. Their Web site contains basic information about several of the HP 2010 objectives such as nutrition and prevention of cardiovascular disease with links to other sites. This site can be accessed at: http:// tucsonnurse.nursing.arizona.edu/student%20pages/ Healthypeople%202010/Healthypeople2010.htm. Another student project was described at the Society of Pediatric Nurses poster session entitled, “An Ounce of Prevention: Wellness Priorities for Children.” As faculty member Judith W. Herrman described, senior nursing students from the University of Delaware conducted an assessment of health promotion needs of children in their local community. Based on identified needs, students developed a health promotion program that included healthy eating, parent education, and an exercise program. Assignments such as these enabled students not only to learn about our nation’s health prevention and promotion plan but to learn strategies for applying these objectives into meaningful clinical resources and services. Shirley Kedrowski (2003), President of the American Academy of Ambulatory Nursing stated it skillfully as she reflected on the potential of nursing’s contribution to HP 2010, “Achieving the vision of HP 2010 will challenge clinicians to put prevention into their practices. Nurses demonstrate a pivotal role in teaching individuals and communities about health issues. Nurses can use their unique positions to help meet the goals of HP 2010, and in doing so can improve the health of our nation. I ask you to think about what you have done or what you can do (individually or through your organization) to contribute to the Healthy People 2010 agenda.” Cecily Lynn Betz, PhD, RN, FAAN Editor-in-Chief REFERENCES Betz, C.L. (2002). Healthy people 2010: Implications for pediatric nurses. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 17, 153-156. Jones, L. (2003, April). Asthma Management and Education. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society of Pediatric Nursing Annual Conference, Kansas City, MO. Kedrowski S. (2003). President’s message. Available: http://www.aaacn.org/resource/news/presmesg.htm. Accessed on April 25, 2003.