Introduction
Nurses play a big role in health systems around the world. This article will focus on the role of US nurses in the health issues of the world by discussing the roles of inter professional health care teams, ways to meet health care needs of the society, and the reasons why nurses should be concerned about health issues.
Roles of Inter-professional Health Care Teams
To improve on the outcomes of population health, WHO has set up resolutions on midwifery and nursing. The most recent one is called WHA 59.27 and it aims at strengthening midwifery and nursing workforce by supporting Member state on various areas. It sets programs to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of nurses and midwives. It seeks to involve nurses and midwifes in health care management. It states that WHO’s strategic plans for the midwives and nurses should be implemented at the country level. It requires that the legislation and regulatory processes be reviewed regularly. Midwifery and nursing data should be collected and used according to the resolution. Finally, ethical recruitment should be developed and implemented (Anon, 2010). Inter-professional health care teams, in this case nurses and midwives, is useful since they have different areas of specializations which are essential in health care. The team work facilitates co-ordination in patient care. It also enables the professionals to be satisfied, it eliminates need for extra costs due to delays and thus results in better health care delivery.
Ways to Optimally Meet Societal Health Care Needs
WHO addresses this issue by setting forward an agenda known as the WHO agenda. Nurses can meet health care needs by practising the points stated in the agenda. The first point of the agenda is to promote development. Poor health has been shown to have a strong association with poverty. Promoting development increases health care accessibility and is also a preventive measure. The next point is to foster health security. This aims at mitigating the effects of epidemics by focusing on triggering factors like urbanization and environmental pollution, factors which can be managed. The third point is to strengthen health care systems. By provision of well trained staff, finance, technology and drugs, health systems can be strengthened for it to reach the poor and those who have no access to them. The fourth point is to harness research, information and evidence. WHO aims to provide and improve evidence-based medicine and nursing since these systems provide quality healthcare. Nurses should be active in research to facilitate the agenda. The fifth point is to enhance partnerships. The sixth point is to improve performance of its staff, which includes all the nurses. By working in a rewarding and motivating environment, nurses can improve the quality of health care that they provide (Anon, 2011).
Nurses should be Concerned about Global Health
Nurses should have a global social responsibility where they are supposed to improve their self-awareness, their ethical views, professional competency and also social awareness. Nurses should aim at reaching marginalized areas to provide health to those who can not access it readily. When concerned about global health, nurses should ensure that they are competent in their practice in order to improve health care delivery. By working globally, nurses get to appreciate other people’s cultures and practice social justice and equity in health. Nurses could aim at getting better education to meet the global standards. Finally, nurses should be concerned about global health as this could promote collaboration and networking and strengthen nursing leadership (Anon, 2008).
Nurses should also be concerned about global health because this would increase their awareness on many factors that influence health like the ecosystem and its pollution; “Our health, well-being and sustainable future depend on this intricate, delicate web of ecosystems and life” (Ki-moon, 2010).
References
Anon. (2008). Nursing leadership: Do We Have a Global Social Responsibility? Web.
Anon. (2010). Nursing and midwifery at WHO. Web.
Anon. (2011). The WHO agenda. Web.
Ki-moon, B. (2010). Many Species. One Planet. One Future. Web.