Responses must be paragraph and references need to be included. APA format.

 Question 1:

Disaster Planning.

A disaster can be human-made or natural, occurring at an unexpected time, leading to damages, death, and sometimes disease outbreaks. Disasters can occur in different forms. It always requires the leaders of healthcare to take an all-hazards approach, but most importantly, the planning and practicing for the events is crucial for a favorable outcome (Chartoff & Roman, 2020). Based on the scenarios of discussion, Influenza, also known as Flu, is a contagious respiratory illness that can be mild, severe or lead to death, and it is caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs (CDC, 2019). The primary prevention of flu, which causes thousands of deaths, is through yearly vaccination. Therefore, as a public health nurse, it is crucial to educate our community on the importance of primary prevention of flu through annual vaccination and provide them with easy to understand information on how to prevent the spread of influenza.

Scenario 3: Disease rates remaining at 20% of the population, and many schools have closed due to teacher absence. Since parents still have to work if they are not sick with the flu, what advice can you give daycare providers? What two ideas can you share with them so they can stay open and able to care for the children of working parents? Should all school sporting events be canceled? What information should parents be given? Should announcements be given daily?

The essential service provided by daycares to the community makes them an important part of every community, and as such, during the outbreak of flu, there are steps that the public health nurses can provide to maintain safety and promote prevention. A new standard in disaster recovery can be created if the right tools are given at the right time to people who will step up and put their communities back together (O’Neill & O’Neill, 2012). The PHN should start by advising and providing reliable sources such as CDC and state health department where accurate reports can be acquired regarding the flu outbreak. Daily health checks such as temperature checks, questions regarding exposure to a sick person, signs and symptom checks should be conducted on the children and staff before they are allowed into the facility.

Parents should also be advised to do the same checks on their children before dropping them off at school to avoid unnecessary anxiety. The children should also be kept in smaller groups for activities. Most importantly is the consistent practice of handwashing by students and staff. This practice should also be encouraged at home. Children who become sick while at school should be promptly isolated and picked up by their parents. It is essential to totally and daily wipe down all highly touched surfaces intermittently and at the end of school. Sporting events should be done in smaller groups or canceled based on the severity of the epidemic. Parents should be updated daily via phone system on the situation and ways to continue to prevent spread effectively. Announcements that emphasizes prevention and control of influenza at home and in the daycare facilities should be made daily.

Scenario 6: The community is turning to the Health Department for assistance because reported incidents of influenza have risen from 5% of the population to 10% of the population in a matter of days. What is your first response to this situation? What steps will you take? Where will you start?

The PHN’s role is very crucial in the community as the influenza rate rises from 5-10%. The management of disaster is in four stages: prevention, preparedness, Response, and Recovery (Stanhope &Lancaster, 2016). Re-establishing sanitary barriers are the first goal in disaster response, and the PHN is faced with the task of educating to prevent diseases, promotion of treatment, and using containment strategies to curb the spread of diseases (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016). Besides, a healthy community is resistant to the spread of diseases. As such, the PHN should be current with a surveillance program monitoring the trends of diseases by collaborating with local health departments.

In conclusion, proper planning yields effective emergency operations and improves overall preparedness (Chartoff & Roman, 2020). Therefore, using social media to educate the community on preventing and controlling influenza and promoting vaccination ahead of flu season is very important. Hand washing, which is an evidence-based practice, cannot be overemphasized with adverts and flyers. Hand sanitizers should be made available in all public places.

Question 2: 

Scenario 1: Imagine that initial pandemic flu cases have been identified in your jurisdiction. Some people are home sick, and others are staying home fearful that they may become infected with the flu. What advice would you give to local business owners to prepare for this event? Name two actions that business owners can take to keep their businesses open

According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2016), disaster management circle entails prevention: mitigation and protection, preparedness, response, and recovery. To prepare for the flu pandemic, the employer should be advised to work with employee health to mandate all employees to get their flu shots, stay home if they are sick and practice meticulous hand hygiene. The Nurse should also teach the business owners to watch for signs and symptoms of the flu such as fever, cough, sore throat, headaches, body aches and chills (Taubenberger and Morens 2018).  Finally, the employer should be advised to the encourage employees to go home if they appear sick and not return without a medical clearance.

Scenario 6: The community is turning to the Health Department for assistance because reported incidents of influenza have risen from 5% of the population to 10% of the population in a matter of days. What is your first response to this situation? What steps will you take? Where will you start?

The Public Health Nurse plays an important front-line role in tackling pandemics.  They assess the community and notify federal and local community of the flu and mobilize a team of healthcare workers to implement primary prevention.  The first step will be to conduct a disease surveillance: an ongoing systemic collection, analysis and dissemination of specific health data that can be used in public health. Per Stanhope and Lancaster (2016), it provides the public health nurse with a means of monitoring the trend of the disease as well as limiting its mortality or other fatal consequences. The Nurse should also educate the said population on the effects of the flu, the benefits of getting the flu Vaccine and the dangers for gathering in huge crowds.