Nursing Annotated bibliography.
Wang, C. (2017). Bracing For Hurricanes: A Qualitative Analysis of the Extent and Level of Preparedness Among Older Adults. The Gerontologist.
Disaster preparedness assists in mitigating the impact of such occurrences on the concerned communities. Despite the fact that this action encompasses different players from different levels, the efforts from the small units are critical in meeting self-sufficiency. The above study was conducted with the aim of gaining an understanding of the older adults’ level of disaster preparedness based on the fact that there exists a big number of world’s population that is ageing and the vulnerability of the elderly to disasters also accumulates. The study dwelt on three areas as it was geared towards knowing the implemented hurricane preparedness activities, the opinion of the respondents on their level of preparedness and the manner unto which the hurricane experience have impacted their readiness for the disaster.
The findings of the research revolved around two items, food and water which turned to be critical supplies affected by the occurrence of the disasters. The preparedness aspects had three dimensions, survival preparedness entailing piling of supplies and resources for use during the period, planning preparedness including planning of activities and resources for instance evacuation programs and structural preparedness to include maintenance, home protection and reinforcement. Few elders had plans for evacuation and communications during the hurricane. Six respondents were ready with their stocks in the case of an occurrence of the disaster. Self-reported hurricane readiness was reported among 19 out of the thirty respondents. Eight respondents claimed a feeling of readiness for the disaster at all that time. 16 respondents claimed having experienced hurricane in places they have visited or lived before. The interviews indicated that there was significant preparedness based on the context of previous loss and experiences.
The findings presented by the authors indicate a population that has been pushed by the occurrence of the events to take precaution and prepare for the disaster. It is of significance in the nursing research and practice that the level of preparedness displayed by the geriatrics is significant enough to protect them from the impact of the hurricane. This is in relation to their increased vulnerability hence their preparedness is vital in preventing the effect the hurricane has on the entire community (Veenema et al., 2016).
The study was informative on disaster management aspect since through the study, it was great to learn the various elements that can be used in mitigating the impact of disasters. This information can be applied in future nursing practice in educating the general public on preparedness for other disasters such as fire, floods, and landslides among others.
Balhara, K. S., Silvestri, D. M., Winders, W. T., Selvam, A., Kivlehan, S. M., Becker, T. K., & Levine, A. C. (2017). Impact of nutrition interventions on pediatric mortality and nutrition outcomes in humanitarian emergencies. Tropical Medicine & International Health.
According to the authors, pediatric mortalities and morbidities are aggravated by malnutrition yet there exists no data that explains the various interventions that have been taken to curb the menace in this instances. This led to the study that aimed at such intervention and the impact it would pose to the pediatric mortality and other makers of nutrition among children.
In reviewing articles from Cochrane library, Ovid Medline and other literature, 31 studies met the set criteria. 17 of the studies were conducted in Africa, and 14 carried out during the periods of conflict and hunger. Regarding interventions, 10 entailed selective feeding while 14 article constituted of micronutrient supplementation. Despite the fact that the overall study was low with only a few high moderate and high-quality studies, they indicated a positive influence on the children nutritional health from the supplementation. With the deficiency on the studies about the interventions, it shows a real gap that the study exposed hence need for more research activities to evaluate the impact of the nutritional interventions on the children.
The article was vital in determining the impact that pediatric as one of the vulnerable cohorts undergo during the time of emergencies or disasters. This changed the focus and approach given to the pediatric care especially at the time of vulnerability to intervene, assess and document the activities for monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of such processes.
Gerritsen, R. T., Jensen, H. I., Koopmans, M., Curtis, J. R., Downey, L., Hofhuis, J. G., … & Zijlstra, J. G. (2017). Quality of dying and death in the ICU. The euroQ2 project. Journal of critical care.
This study aimed at examining the questionnaire that was developed in the United States and adopted in the European settings for its usability in assessing the end of life care among the Danish and Dutch family members. According to the authors, this was based on the fact that there is significance in knowing the perspectives by the family members on the quality of care offered by the intensive care unit concerning the end of life care. Besides, the study placed into consideration that the adoption of the United States developed a tool for assessing the quality of care during the time of death was not adopted in European settings.
With the questionnaire sent to families whose relative passed away, 217 families completed the survey. 95% of the Danish and 73% of the Dutch reported adequate pain control. 93% agreed to decisions being made to limit treatment. 92% reported participating in decision making. 50% agreed to have made joint decisions with the caregivers. 18% preferred a better surrounding for the palliative care. Despite the author recognizing the measurement invariance from the tools, they suggest modelling of the tool to make the six unidimensional indicators to be considered reflective indicators. The results indicate the quality of care that the questionnaire was able to evaluate which is significant in the nursing practice for the evaluation of the plan of care put in place. It indicates the approaches various tools can take to carry out their evaluation base on either effect or operational indicators of evaluation.
The study gave is an insight on the need for a comprehensive assessment of the outcome of care from care provided to the patient to include both the relative and the effector indicators hence making the evaluation tool less biased. This key in guiding the use of various nursing instruments as well as in carrying out the research studies in the profession.
References:
Balhara, K. S., Silvestri, D. M., Winders, W. T., Selvam, A., Kivlehan, S. M., Becker, T. K., &
Levine, A. C. (2017). Impact of nutrition interventions on pediatric mortality and
nutrition outcomes in humanitarian emergencies. Tropical Medicine & International
Health.
Gerritsen, R. T., Jensen, H. I., Koopmans, M., Curtis, J. R., Downey, L., Hofhuis, J. G., … &
Zijlstra, J. G. (2017). Quality of dying and death in the ICU. The euroQ2 project. Journal
of critical care.
Veenema, T. G., Griffin, A., Gable, A. R., MacIntyre, L., Simons, R. A. D. M., Couig, M. P., …
& Larson, E. (2016). Nurses as leaders in disaster preparedness and response—a call to
action. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 48(2), 187-200.
Wang, C. (2017). Bracing For Hurricanes: A Qualitative Analysis of the Extent and Level of
Preparedness Among Older Adults. The Gerontologist.
