The article titled Officials confirm pollution worries reveals a new environmental health threat for The Neighborhood. M. Lee (2012) states that the mayor of The Neighbored has confirmed that the Lake has reached a dangerous pollutant level. (The Neighborhood News, Episode 3).
The role of the public health nurse in this scenario would be to research how best to “assess the health risks, develop educational and other preventive interventions and in doing so, decrease risks” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008, p. 254)
Healthy People 2020 (2012) address environmental health objectives. The objective that is best related to the news article is “surface and ground water quality” (Healthy People 2020, 2012). Water quality and all environmental risk are very serious to the community. The group most affected would be those that have compromised health; the elderly, young children, and immunosuppressed.
It is very important to address this issue because the article alludes to the fact that people have fished out of the and more importantly that the lake serves as a water source in some capacity. It is important to remember that contaminated water can affect drinking supply and food supply when used to water crops for consumption. It can also trickle down and affect meat production as the animals ingest the water and food grown using the water. This cycle can be devastating for a community.
Community health nurses additionally work with
References: Copeland, L. (2012). “Officials confirm pollution worries”. The Neighborhood News. Retrieved from http://pearsonneighborhood.ecollege.com/ Healthy People (2012). Healthy People 2020. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov Stanhope M, Lancaster J., Public health nursing: Population-center healthcare in the community. Mosby/Elsevier, St. Louis, MO 2008