Health Care in Rural Communities: A Case Study of Health Care in Schools Located in Rural Areas

Health Care in Rural Communities: A Case Study of Health Care in Schools Located in Rural Areas

1. The county in which Natasha serves is separated from the neighboring county to the north by a river and from the neighboring county to the west by a mountain range. Why are these boundaries important to Natasha’s work? Discuss.

Access to healthcare is one of the most vital services needed by all communities. All residents in a community should conveniently access primary health care serves such as; emergency health care, dental and primary healthcare. However, rural residents often face barriers to access.

The river and mountain boundaries described in the scenario are examples of barriers to access to healthcare. They are likely to hinder geographical mobility and are a significant barrier in terms of travelling to either get medical supplies or traveling in response to medical emergencies. In addition to this, traveling might be expensive.

Understanding these healthcare barriers is critical to improving healthcare services to her school community. Additionally, recognizing these barriers is integral to framing policies on health care in rural areas. Such policies ought to focus on the retention and recruitment of nurses and funding of rural areas to enable them develop the right infrastructure to overcome barriers.

2. What is the focus of the goals Natasha holds for her school community? Discuss.

The scenario provided shows that Natasha is a rural health nurse. (CRANAplus, 2017) notes that rural nursing practice is characterized with aspects like small communities, and rural nurses have reduced access to clinical support compared to urban nurses. Moreover, rural nurses practice in areas with low populations that are often geographically isolated and are the only available health care providers in their communities, as is the case with Natasha. Moreover, she is a community nurse. (Mengistu & Misganaw, 2006) provide that community health nursing is a combination of nursing and public health practice that is provided to promote the health of populations in communities and it is mostly practiced in rural areas. A community is a group of people in one location, such as a school or workplace.

As a rural and community nurse, Natasha’s primary goal is to advance and promote health care in her community. Her goal for the community also includes;

1. Educating her school community on making healthy choices and managing diseases within the community
2. Providing healthcare as the sole health care provider.
3. Instituting wellness courses in the schools.
4. Conducting research on the health problems in her community and;
5. Conducting measure to prevent health problems in her community.

In addition to these, Natasha’s community comprises of adolescents and teenagers; therefore, she is tasked with distributing some health elated items which are needed in such settings. The items include condoms in a bid to control teenage pregnancies and transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

3. Natasha meets with the superintendent of the school district to discuss her county’s schools’ health needs. Natasha knows that psychosocial characteristics affect health. What are the psychosocial characteristics that affect the emotional tones of Natasha’s community? Discuss.

Children’s behavior is influenced by the environment they live in. Their environment is important to their well-being because of the opportunities and constraints it imposes on their daily activities. Furthermore, it is a primary context for children’s wellbeing; it is a place where children learn social skills and values (Ansell, 2017).

As mentioned earlier, Natasha’s community comprises of adolescents and teenagers; therefore, the psychosocial characteristics that affect their emotional tones are uniquely associated with adolescents and children living in rural areas.

Low population is perhaps the primary characteristic of rural areas. They are thought to be rustic, away from modern world problems and have the highest rates of poverty and majority of the people in rural areas are underinsured or uninsured (Curtin & Cohn, 2015). These environment influences psychosocial characteristics like; stress tolerance, adjustability, the involvement of community members in decision making, and community activities.

A study conducted by (Sarvada, Rakesh, Nisha & Garima, 2010) revealed that children living in rural areas had higher levels of stress tolerance compared to children living in urban areas. Moreover, the study revealed that children in rural areas were more involved in community activities, this was attribute to the fact that there is more time to engage in such activities in rural areas than in urban ones.

Overall, these are the psychosocial characteristics affecting emotional tones in Natasha’s community.