Comprehensive Care Plan

Comprehensive Care Plan

Introduction

Broward County is the second most populous county in Florida. Census estimates of the year 2007 puts the population of the county at 1,759,591 persons. This is a higher population in American standards, especially given the relatively small areas that the people are concentrated. In this type of environment, several health issues that are of interest to the community nurse are likely to occur. This include, among others, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and communicable diseases.

Teen pregnancy is perhaps the most significant health issue that is experienced in this county. Approximately 85,000 pregnancies occur annually to teenage mothers who already have a first child. The teenage mothers in Broward County face several health risks. The first of these risks is of course that of repeat pregnancy. Others are illnesses that afflict these mothers leading to morbidity. Some of these mothers are also forced to drop out of school, ending up as illiterate single mothers.

In the light of this, the importance of coming up with a comprehensive care plan for this group of client can not be downplayed. It is a fact that there have been a lot of concerted efforts on the ground aimed at addressing the challenges that these mothers face. This includes counseling and empowering the teenage mothers economically. But given the fact that the risks which led to the cropping of these problems in the first place still exists, there is a need to come up with a nursing comprehensive plan that will address these clients in the light of the risks that they face.

This comprehensive care plan is going to address the major health risks that are faced by teenage mothers in Broward County. The plan will compose of a nursing diagnosis for this

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aggregate, together with strategies to tackle the major health risks that were identified during the risk assessment that was carried out. The plan will also include a disaster management plan that will be employed to help this aggregate tackle these challenges.

Nursing Diagnosis for Teenage Mothers in Broward County

A nursing diagnosis helps the nurse to provide the needed care to the client. A nursing diagnosis of Broward county’s teenage mothers will help the practitioner to provide nursing care to this aggregate. The diagnosis that will be made in this case will be based on the data that was collected during the risk assessment (Diana, 2009).

Based on the data that was obtained during the risk assessment of the aggregate, this comprehensive care plan will utilize one of the nursing diagnoses developed by North American Nursing Diagnosis Association. This is the risk nursing diagnosis (Diana, 2009).

It is a fact that the problem may not actually exist for the teenage mother from Broward County. But there is presence of risk factors which provides the potential for the problem to occur. This can only be averted if the practitioners intervene (Diana, 2009), and this comprehensive care plan will provide one intervention tool to be used by the practitioner. For example, the teenage mother is at risk of developing health problems due to exposure to chemical compounds like vinyl chloride and cadmium.

Strategies to Tackle the Major Health Risks Faced by the Aggregate

During the risk assessment of the aggregate, various factors were identified that pose a risk to the health of the teenage mother. Several of the risks were associated with the environment.

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The aggregate is exposed to air pollution given the number of industries and vehicles in the county which emit smoke to the atmosphere. This smog is of gases that can cause respiratory complications when inhaled. There is likelihood of contracting respiratory conditions like bronchitis and tuberculosis.

A strategy to deal with this risk is to discourage the aggregate from exposing themselves unnecessarily to the smog through, for example, spending a lot of time outdoors or around factories. The aggregate should also be encouraged to attend regular screening for respiratory conditions so that the disease can be detected at an early stage and hence be manageable. A long term strategy will be to liaise with environmental activists in fighting for the reduction of emissions from factories and vehicles.

Another risk factor that was identified is the exposure to hazardous agents like cadmium and chloroform amongst others. To avert this exposure, the aggregate should be advised to avoid conditions that will bring them into contact with the substances. One strategy is to lobby for the provision of protective clothing like gloves and gas masks in factories where most of the exposure takes place. Some of the teenage mothers work in these factories.

There is also a social risk that poses a health threat to the mothers. This includes child abuse, substance abuse and unsafe sex amongst others. These conditions pose health risks such as unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. A strategy to cope with this is through counseling of the aggregate and other people in the society like parents, guardians and teachers.

Disaster Management Plan for the Aggregate

A disaster management plan is formulated in order to avert a potential disaster. The plan also acts as a guide in responding to the disaster if it does occur in order to mitigate the effects of

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the disaster and to enhance recovery (Herbert & Gregory, 2009).

Disasters Affecting Teenage Mothers in Broward County

One of the major disasters to befall this group is repeat pregnancy. In the year 2007, approximately repeat pregnancies were experienced in the county (Polonsky, 2008). Approximately 25 percent of teenage mothers here also conceive the second time within the first two years of their first birth (Polonsky, 2008). Also, approximately 85,000 babies are borne to teenage mothers as their second birth.

Another disaster that is experienced by these mothers is school dropout. A very small percentage of girls who conceive while still in school continue with their education after birth. This is because they lack support from their parents and the rest of the society. It is erroneously assumed that birth of a child means that the mother, regardless of her age, is now an adult who can stand on her own.

The teenage mothers also face psychologically based disasters. This occurs when the girl is stigmatized and ridiculed by her peers and other people in the society for conceiving. The emotional and physical abuses that the teenage mothers experience lead to untold psychological pain.

Strategies to Deal with these Disasters

There is need to roll out an aggressive counseling campaign aimed at the teenage mothers in Broward county in order to reduce the number of repeat pregnancies amongst them. The counseling should be coupled with family planning education whereby the aggregate is taught

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on the importance of using contraceptives and other family planning methods (Herbert & Gregory, 2009).

Financial and social support should be provided to these mothers to enable them resume education after birth. This can be done by creating awareness amongst them as to the importance of education even after becoming mothers. Some of the mothers claim that they lack financial capability to go back to school after they are abandoned by their parents and guardians (Polonsky, 2008). There is thus the need to come up with a system through which affordable education can be availed to these mothers.

Recommendations: Need for a Supplies Kit

It can be safely surmised that teenage mothers in Broward County are sitting on a disaster waiting to happen. There are many risk factors that give rise to disaster potential in these aggregate. One of the most important aspects of disaster management is preparedness. This preparedness averts the disaster and mitigates the losses that are experienced when the disaster strikes. A supplies kit is one of the key components of preparedness for as disaster.

There is a need to come up with a supplies kit for the teenage mothers. This kit should contain several items. The first is contraceptives. The girls should always make sure that they can easily access contraceptives like condoms and other family planning devices. This will reduce the likelihood of repeat pregnancy disaster. Another key component of this supplies kit is counseling services. This is to ensure that the teenagers get psychological and moral support that they need to avert disintegration. They should be counseled on the need to remain strong and not give up, one of the reasons why they should go back to school after birth.

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References

Diana, H. K. (2009). Effective nursing diagnosis in community nursing. New Jersey:

Prentice-Hall, 145-150.

Herbert, J. V. & Gregory, C. O. (2009). Disaster management plan in nursing.

2nd ed. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 589.

Polonsky, K. X. (2008). Teenage birth in Broward County on the decline. Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

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July, 2008. 54.