NRSG371 Building Healthy Communities

Introduction

The term homelessness can be defied as the condition of community members who does not have an appropriate residence or shelter and, who are moving between temporary shelters that includes friend’ house or emergency accommodation or are living on the streets. The role of nurses in a community is to ensure that the mental and physical health of all the community members are effective (Couch, 2017). Considering the fact, homelessness leads to a variety of illness since the community members are able to be in the safety of home, community health nurses acts as case finders and referral sources for the homeless or near homes community members. In the following section, a detailed description of how nurse can effectively work in partnership with the community members, specifically homeless people using a strength based approach, for addressing the issue of homelessness.

Homelessness In Australia

Homelessness in Australia, is a major public issue, As per the report obtained in 2018, approximately 11700 individuals are homeless in the nation, of which 58 percent of  the members are mal. It has been found that amongst the total number of homeless individuals, 21 percent of the population are between 25 to 35 years old and 20 percent are Aboriginal and Torres islander Australians (Gottlieb, 2014). While lack of financial resources and poverty are the key reason behind homelessness, it has been found that a significant community members becomes homeless due to domestic violence that includes physical, mental as well as sexual abuse. Additionally sudden family breakdown, addiction, mental illness, gambling as well as social isolation are reasons behind homeless in Australia (Maben et al., 2007). Other major reason includes unemployment and shortage of affordable housing. As per Grech and Raeburn (2019), the increased amount of homelessness in the Australian society is imposed negative impact on both the present and future of the nation. Increased homeless is resulting increased addiction level, drug abuse along with physical and mental health issues. Additionally, it enhances the rate of criminal activities in the community. Hence it is highly crucial for social care nurses to work  in order to reduce and eventually eradicate this evil social disease from core.

Role Of Nurses In Helping Homeless People In Australia

Social care nurses plays a pivotal role when it comes to providing support to the homes community members of Australia. The role of a social care nurse includes identifying the issues faced by a homelessness individual and work for eradicating the issue, either through directly implementing intervention or by helping him order her to connect with organizations that poses the potential to solve the issue For instance, a significant number of homeless community members are found to be suffering from physical  issues like fever or major diseases that requires medication (Roche et al., 2018). The role of the nurses here is to provide the community member with proper medication and care so that the community members can be cured. In case, the community member is found to be suffering from sexual or mental abuse, the role of nurses is to contact the police department so that effective steps can be taken on an emergency basis.  

Usage Of Strength Based Approach To Address Homelessness By Nurses

Strength based nursing can be defined as an nursing approach to care in which 8 core values guide the action of the nurses and thereby promote empowerment, hope and self-efficacy. The 8 core values of Strength Based Nursing include Health and healing, uniqueness, holism and embodiment, self-determination, subjective reality and creating meaning, person environment are integral, collaborative partnership and learning, readiness and timing (Heinzmann et al., 2019). The SBN reaffirms that the fundamental aims of nursing are wellness and recovery. The patient's ability to respond to daily experiences with resilience, recover from insults, as well as live with reason and sense is aided by good health. Illness coexists with health, resulting in wholeness. This approach can be taken by social care nurses, specifically for the homeless community members who are facing physical and mental illness and for elderly homeless individuals who are highly vulnerable. Instead of merely providing them with medication and pharmacological treatment nurses should communicate with the effective, understand their issue and show genuine empathy for their condition (Swartz, 2017). An interpersonal bond between the nurse and the community members helps in rapid recovery.

The second core values of the strength based approach includes unique, The SBN approach helps the nurses to understand that no two individuals are alike and hence every individual poses varied necessity of themselves that needs to be addressed. For this , it is crucial for the healthcare service providers to be aware of the specific needs of the homeless community  members and address their issue on the basis of the same. As per Heerde et al. (2020), given the fact that almost 20 percent of the total homeless individual in Australia are the indigenous Australian, nurses must have effective training and cultural competence so that they can provide nursing intervention to the indigenous population efficiently. Cultural competence along with demonstration of effective sympathy will help the nurses to build a bond with the community members and provide effective treatment to them.

The third value of the strength based approach include Holism and embodiment. As per Walters et al. (2020), holism recognizes the interconnection between part as they impose impact on each other along with the functioning of the whole individual.  It is highly crucial for nurses to ensure that the intervention opted by them are holistic and is performed by the patient without feeling being pressurized. For example, when it comes to homelessness, social care nurses in Australia has opted for strength based approach to enhance the quality of life of the homeless youths (Krabbenborg et al., 2013). Social nurses communicated with the youths in a respectful manner and empathetically and developed a trusted bond with them. The key goal of the campaign was to enhance their quality of life by detecting the issues they are going through, offer possible solutions for the issue and le the youths decide which solution they consider will serve them the best. A series of interview was conducted in order to have an in depth understanding of issues of the homeless individual. The development of interpersonal bonding is highly crucial in order to obtain the required support from the homeless community members so that their quality of life can be enhanced. As per Rouleau et al. (2020), along with addressing the emergency needs of the homeless community members, it is crucial for the nurses to address the issue of their homelessness in collaboration with the government as well as social workers of Australia. Given the fact that lack of employment and poverty is the key reason behind homelessness, nurses along with social workers should work on enhancing the rate of employment of the community members.

The fourth value of the strength based approach include person and environment are integral. As per this value, an individual and his/her family members gets affected by the environment both physical and social. Environment poses the potential to bring out the best of an individual as well as to bring out the vulnerabilities of the individual. Hence, it is crucial for the nurses to create an effective environment offer the homeless community members. For instance, while a good number of homeless members had been given sheltered by an NGO, excessive conflicts and bullying had imposed negative impact on their quality of life. Nurses of the healthcare home had used strength based approach to educate the community members about the negative impact of bullying, how the same has imposed negative impact on their mental peace as well as the mntal pease of other residents and the benefits of a conflict free society. Additionally, vulnerable holes patients are given additional care that enhances their quality of life. For instance, even a shave can change the look of a patient and he may look more fresh and les ill, which in turn impose positive impact on his mental health.

The fifth value of strength based nursing approach includes subjective reality and created meaning. As per Alemayehu (2019), experiences shapes the understanding of an individual since that hold specific meaning. Experiences along with emotions and perceptions shapes the understanding of an individual and affects their responses to a great extent. This value of SBN encourages nurses to facilitate and appreciate their communication with the patient since with the help of communication they will be able to understand how the patient experience the reality. When it comes to the holes community members, specially who are physically or mentally ill or disabled members, this value of SBN bear high significance. Along with admitting them to healthcare homes and taking effective pharmacological and non pharmacological care, nurses needs to actively communicate with vulnerable patients to understand their experiences and the impact of the experiences on their life (Goeman et al., 2019). For instance, given the fact that a good number of young as well as elderly community members suffers from homelessness as a result of violence and inappropriate treatment from their family members, it is crucial for nurses to work in collaboration with social workers and help them to move back to their home. This can be done through contacting their family members, conducting a open-ended counseling session and ensure provision of financial support from the end of the government, in case the homeless individual is suffering from mental and physical disability.

The 6^th value of SBN includes self determination. Even if there are still limitations to the options available and a person's decision to behave in her or his own interest is influenced by situations, experience, and predisposition, SBN recognizes a person's selfknowledge as well as values option and self-determination. It is crucial for nurses to allow patients exercises self-determination. For instance, in case of homeless youths, vulnerable and elderly individual, instead of instructing them on what act to follow the next, they should be given the independence to select their following actions as per their understanding (Liu et al., 2020). However an effective guidance and suggestions should be provided from the end of the nurses so that the community members poses enough information and knowledge of the possible consequences of their actions.

The 7^th value of the SBN approach includes learning timing and readiness. Learning refers to a biological, psychological, as well as social mechanism that is necessary for life, transition, development, and transformation. Without learning, humans cannot navigate their environment. But readiness to engage in a new activity as a prelude to change is a prerequisite for learning. Timing, in the context of health care, requires synchronizing the desired outcome with the body’s capabilities and the mind’s willingness (Ryan et al., 2019). Nurses providing care to the homeless community members must educate them about the negative impact of addition, drug abuse and other evil practice on their life. Additionally, the available opportunities to eradicate homelessness and related issues like lack of employability should be introduced by the healthcare service users.

The 8^th and final value of SBN includes collaborative partnership. The nurse–patient partnership is mutual in nature. Each person brings their own set of skills, expertise, and abilities to the table. The nurse has formal and practical wellbeing and curing skills, whilst the patient and family are aware of themselves and their situations (Weber, 2019). The nurse must be transparent, nonjudgmental, and able to share authority in order to form a mutual relationship. As per the value, nurse,, along with educating the homeless individuals,  mucus also educate the other community members about the potential reasons behind homelessness and how homeless affects the entre society, to lower the increasing graph of homeless in Australia (Davies & Wood, 2018). Community members should be encouraged to provide support to the homeless individuals along with ensuring a discrimination and prejudice free approach towards them.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that, homelessness is a serious social illness in Australia which requires to be eradicated and nurses play a major role in eradicating homelessness from the nation. Strength based nursing can be defined as an nursing approach to care in which 8 core values guide the action of the nurses and thereby promote empowerment, hope and self-efficacy. The 8 core values of Strength Based Nursing include Health and healing, uniqueness, holism and embodiment, self-determination, subjective reality and creating meaning, person environment are integral, collaborative partnership and learning, readiness and timing. Based on the core values a series of roles of nurses to reduce and eradicate homelessness has been discussed. It is expected that by following the recommendation, nurses will be able to make the nation free from the evil social issue in near future.

References

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