Nurses to Research Global Health Issues? According

¶ … nurses to research global health issues?

According to Nancy Dickenson-Hazard, chief executive officer of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, confronting the presence in the world of disease, violence, "environmental conditions" and "socioeconomic disparities" very often falls into the hands of "the largest corps of healthcare provides globally, nurses…" (Dickenson-Hazard, 2004), p. 6). First of all, nurses everywhere should be alert to health conditions globally because outbreaks that endanger public health in one country could have a negative impact on health conditions in another country. Disease spreads through transportation systems, immigration, and through shipping of products globally.

Secondly, the Arista Series of conferences that Dickenson-Hazard reports on in her peer-reviewed article (the conferences were held in different parts of the world) identified conditions that "affect nursing and health care" and created specific "strategic actions" to address those conditions (Dickenson-Hazard, p. 7).

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified what nurses all over the world should be aware of, that is, the "leading risk factors" that result on 33% of all worldwide deaths, and those include: "underweight, undernourished children; adverse consequences of unsafe sex; high blood pressure and cholesterol; tobacco and alcohol consumption; unsafe water; sanitation and hygiene; indoor smoke; iron deficiency; and obesity" (Dickenson-Hazard, p. 6).

Across all geographic regions of the world, the conferences Dickenson-Hazard alludes to the need for nurses to restructure healthcare delivery strategies, "focus on culturally appropriate, evidence-based…" services and conduct research so the science of nursing progresses in positive, helpful ways (8).

Compare and contrast the incidence and treatment of AIDS, TB, and Malaria. The WHO reports there were 34 million people (approximately) living with HIV in 2011, and 69% of all adults with HIV are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since there is no cure for HIV / AIDS, doctors dispense a number of drugs to "…keep your immune system" as healthy as possible and "decrease the complications" that can develop. The medications prescribed for HIV / AIDS patients are called "Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTI)" (UCSF Medical Center). The number one prevention method is having "safe sex."

The WHO explains that tuberculosis (TB) is right behind HIV / AIDS as the next greatest killer of people around the world -- due to "…a single infectious agent." In 2011, 8.7 million people were infected with TB and an estimated 1.4 million TB sufferers died (WHO). Those with positive skin tests (showing they have "latent Tuberculosis infection") are given TLTBI, a prescription that prevents full TB disease from attacking the person. The positive skin test results in a person mean that person should be given TLTBI "isoniazid" every day for 9 months (Global Tuberculosis Institute -- GTI). The skin tests are the best prevention techniques. For persons with TB, they receive four drugs: isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol (GTI). Because of the attention to negative skin tests, and treatments, the TB death rate dropped 41% between 1990 and 2011 (WHO). HIV / AIDS cannot be cured but TB can be cured.