Public Health's Response to a Disease Outbreak

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Steps in public health's response to a disease outbreak

Timely and effective responses are vital for fighting disease outbreaks in situations where there is no existing vaccine or pharmaceutical treatment. According to Houlihan and Whitworth (2019), the first step in public health's response is calculating and estimating the number of potentially vulnerable people and their exposure level. The second one is investigating the causes of the outbreak and establishing whether they are still active. The third one is assessing the scientific certainty of any discoveries, then identifying treatments that can be utilized to lessen or eliminate any ongoing risks and responding to the outbreak by implementing any possible treatment.

Public health nurse's response

Public health nurses contribute valuable experience to all phases of a disease outbreak, starting from reduction, preparation, intervention, and recovery. Public health nurses make more efforts to restrict the spread of the outbreak and preserve their health and that of their patients (Houlihan & Whitworth, 2019). They also help identify and track symptoms of a new or reemerging outbreak. Besides, they educate patients on disease transmission and how to avoid contracting it.

State's mandatory list of reportable or notifiable diseases

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, conditions that are reportable or notifiable in Texas are smallpox, coronavirus novel, poliomyelitis, Diphtheria, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome. Although these diseases are not likely to occur, anybody suspected of having one of them should notify and report it to the state health department immediately.

BSN essential that applies to the topic.

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing essential that applies to disease surveillance is essential VII; the clinical prevention and population health. Individual and population-level health promotion and disease outbreak prevention are required to improve population health (Potter et al., 2021). The significant components of BSN practice are individual and population health promotion, disease outbreak prevention, and injury prevention.

QSEN competency that applies to the topic.

The QSEN competency that applies to the topic is safety. The competency relates to the case because it involves identifying and responding to processes and conditions in the healthcare environment that can contribute to an outbreak (Sherwood, 2021). For instance, nurses observe safety standards by washing their hands after seeing patients and urging their family members to take precautions to reduce the risk of infection.

References

Houlihan, C. F., & Whitworth, J. A. (2019). Outbreak science: Recent progress in the detection and response to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Clinical Medicine, 19(2), 140–144. https://doi(dot)org/10.7861/clinmedicine.19-2-140.

Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P., & Hall, A. (2021). Potter & Perry's essentials of nursing practice, Sae, E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Sherwood, G. (2021). Quality and safety education for nurses: Making progress in patient safety, learning from COVID. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 8(3). https://doi(dot)org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2021.05.009.

Texas Department of State Health Services. (2023). Notifiable Rare Conditions | Texas DSHS. Www(dot)dshs(dot)texas(dot)gov. https://Www(dot)dshs(dot)texas(dot)gov/idps-investigation-forms/notifiable-rare-conditions.