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When working within a community toward infectious disease prevention, it is important to address the issue from a multisystem approach. Finding ways to improve host resistance, the safety of the environment, and public health systems is essential to doing this and facilitating social and political change. “Infectious disease can be prevented and controlled. The goal of prevention and control programs is to reduce the prevalence of a disease to a level at which it no longer poses a major public health problem” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2020, p. 308).
“Resistance is the ability of the host to withstand infection, and it may involve natural or acquired immunity” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2020, p. 303). Resistance by the host can be achieved through natural immunity, acquired immunity, active immunization, passive immunization, and herd immunity. Ensuring that immunizations are available to all that require them is one way to ensure that resistance by the host is met. “Immunization programs have improved the primary care infrastructure in developing countries, lowered mortality in childhood and empowered women to better plan their families, with consequent health, social and economic benefits” (Andre et al., 2008, p. 140)
The Environment is where diseases are spread and where the host lives. This includes biological, physical, social, and cultural factors that the host lives in. Examples to ensure the environment that the host lives in is safe are “using mosquito nets and repellants to avoid bug bites, installing sewage systems to prevent fecal contamination of water supplies, and washing utensils after contact with raw meat to reduce bacterial contamination” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2020, p. 303).
“During the past 150 years, two factors have shaped the modern public health system: first, the growth of scientific knowledge about sources and means of controlling disease; second, the growth of public acceptance of disease control as both a possibility and a public responsibility” (The Future of Public Health, 1988). Public health and the availability of it as a service to all is important when preventing infectious diseases in a community. Ensuring that the public has faith in the services and information provided by public health agencies is important, as well as ensuring the cost of those services is affordable.
Infectious diseases have recently affected social and political change with the COVID-19 outbreak. We saw mask mandates, social distancing, and park closures as a few examples that politically and socially, we tried to implement as a society to curve the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The BSN Essential that supports the prevention of infectious diseases is Essential VII Clinical Prevention and Population Health. “Health promotion, disease, and injury prevention across the lifespan are essential elements of baccalaureate nursing practice at the individual and population levels” (The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice 2008, p. 23). The QSEN Competency that supports the prevention of infectious diseases is Safety. This is supported by identifying “best practices that promote patient, community, and provider safety in the practice setting” (Graduate-Level QSEN Competencies Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes 2012, p. 7).
References
Andre, F. E., Booy, R., Bock, H. L., Clemens, J., Datta, S. K., John, T. J., Lee, B. W., Lolekha, S., Peltola, H., Ruff, T. A., Santosham, M., & Schmitt, H. J. (2008). Vaccination greatly reduces disease, disability, death and inequity worldwide. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 86(2), 140–146. https://doi(dot)org/10.2471/blt.07.040089
National Academy Press. (1988). The Future of Public Health.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2020). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (10th ed.). Elsevier.