Aspect of medicine concerned with identifying and studying diseases
There is a difference between a group considered to be ‘at risk’ for poor health and a group viewed as ‘vulnerable’. To begin with, risks for diseases are studied by a branch of medicine known as epidemiology. This is an aspect of medicine concerned with identifying and studying diseases in order to curb their spread. To epidemiologists therefore, risk implies the probability that a health hazard will happen to an individual, group or population at any given time or period. (Huffling, 2012). Epidemiologists classify risk factors for diseases into two-modifiable and unmodifiable risk factors. Modifiable risk factors refer to risk factors which can be changed by an individual, group or population. They include lifestyle, nutrition, weight, illiteracy, etc. Unmodifiable risk factors refer to the exact opposite-factors which cannot be changed. Those factors include age, genetics and gender. (Deepak, Manish Kumar, Balraj & Om Prakash, 2018, Leffers et al, 2004) Examples of conditions or situations which place individuals, communities or populations at risk for certain diseases are legion. For instance, obesity is a risk factor for diabetes type 11, hypertension and coronary artery disease. (Kravchun, Kadykova, Zalyubovs’ka & Shumova, 2017). Similarly, a high fat diet is a risk factor for cancer. (Marangoni, Corsello, Cricelli, Ferrara, Ghiselli, Lucchin & Poli, 2015). This student wishes to emphasize that being at risk for a disease does not mean an automatic development of the health condition in question. Rather, it exponentially increases the likelihood of the individual or group developing the disease.
Conversely, vulnerability implies exposure to a certain level of weakness when an individual or group is exposed to an adverse event or circumstance. (Leffers et al, 2004) Vulnerability may render an individual or community helpless in the face of debilitating circumstances. It may make populations impotent in the face of natural disasters. It may render useless other factors or circumstances which may have had mitigating effects. (World Health Organization, 2018). This student believes that vulnerability is variable and fluid, not static. Even among age groups or populations, vulnerability to a medical condition may vary between one individual and another. Similarly, the existence or non-existence of a circumstance may make the vulnerability of an individual fluid. A good example of a vulnerable group is African Americans in the United States who are rendered vulnerable to certain diseases as a result of racism, poverty and other allied conditions. Illegal immigrants are also vulnerable to many challenging health conditions since many of them live in the shadows and are therefore prone to not reporting their illnesses for fear of being arrested.
For a nurse, being an advocate for vulnerable individuals, communities and populations or those at risk is not just important, it is also a duty. Put into other words, it emphasizes the role of a nurse as an advocate. Most members of disadvantaged groups cannot stand up for themselves or are too uneducated to know what to do. In such situations, the nurse becomes a liaison between them and any group or agency which can provide the much-needed assistance. If this student was to choose a group to advocate for, it would be drug addicts and all other patients who have problems with chemical dependency. Outside being a surgical nurse, this student also works among drug addicts. The experience has been as challenging as it is educating. Inside every drug addict lives a brand new responsible individual desiring to come out. Most addicts are wonderful individuals who fell on hard times. To worsen their situation, the society judges them unfairly. The irony is that a lot of them are much better than the people who judge them. Drug addiction is a huge problem which cuts across race, gender, religion, sex and culture. It is almost turning into an epidemic and every nurse needs to join the fight against drug addiction.
References
Deepak, D., Manish Kumar, G., Balraj, D., & Om Prakash, P. (2018). Risk factors associated with gallstone disease. Indian Journal of Community Health, Vol 30, Iss 2, 2,
Huffling, K., (2012). Risk and Vulnerability. Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. Retrieved from: http://envirn.org/pg/
Kravchun P., G., Kadykova O., I., Zalyubovs’ka O., I., & Shumova N., V. (2017). Development and progression of obesity in patients with coronary heart disease: Emphasis on leptin gene polymorphism (Arg223Gln). Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University: Series Medicine, Iss 34, Pp 7-10 (2017), (34), 7.
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