Our final day at the Homer Public Health Office consisted of canvasing the Homer area with fliers that had education regarding the opioid epidemic and how to discard your medication safely. While we were out putting up fliers at different locations we were able to chat with different community members and hear what they thought about the opioid crisis. It seems that everyone is connected to the crisis in one way or another. Also, Lorne taught us more about TB and quizzed us on different public health topics to see how much we had retained from the week. It was very interesting how much of a generational effect you can have in public health. Or how someone the things that you work on will affect generations to come. I think this, like the trickle down affect I discussed before, is what I am going to take into my healthcare future. Understanding the interconnectedness of healthcare and how a patient's story doesn't end at discharge, their just part of the public health system now is vital to give holistic care. Also, to promote health to make our communities a healthier place to live and grow up in. Getting to have this adventure in Alaska has been one of the best trips I have ever had in my life. Between the nursing work, the excursions, the people I have met, the friendships I have made, and the natural beauty of Alaska I am sure that this won't be a final goodbye.
Today we were visited from the Public Health Nurse IV, which is the person who oversees the area and is responsible for the resources that it takes to implement all the public health actions and initiatives that go on in the southern Kenai area. It was really interesting to hear her talk about how integrated the healthcare system is and how much legislation can change what public health focuses on. It was then when I finally got how important legislation can be even for healthcare workers in hospitals. Its like a trickle down affect. For example, what legislation does determines what public health focuses on. What public health focuses on changes the health of the public, which finally the ER can see trends in the lacking area of the health of the public. It is something that is hard to put into words but that sort of chain of events made me understand how important public health and legislation is for healthcare and for the health of the population.
We also talked with our Preceptor Lorne about TB and he taught us a great deal about that. Scary to think about how much of an outbreak that Alaska has with TB, but good that public health is on the ball with identifying cases and treating them to minimize the chance of other members of the public from contracting the disease. Oh, we saw more moose too :) Our public health experience began in Homer. Our preceptor is a pretty cool guy who knows a ton about public health nursing! He took us into town to do a windshield survey of the town. It was very beneficial to see the town that we were going to work in for the next few days. Homer seems to be a very unique small town. The population seems to be made up of a large group of free spirited people, fishermen, and Alaskan homesteaders. Yet somehow these very different populations mesh seemingly effortlessly. We went dow onto the fishing dock area called "the spit" where our preceptor told us that there were a lot of immigrants who work on the docks and sometimes do not have the healthiest or safest areas to work with. Of course this can lead to the fish becoming contaminated and those who eat the fish to get sick. we also saw a lot of homes that do not have plumbing. These people have to collect their water and may be exposed to different diseases that can be found in unclean water. Therefore, teaching this population how to filter or clean their water that they collect is vital for their health. Finally we went back to the public health office and sat in on a teleconference with the public health department in Kenai.
Our first few days here in Alaska have been both exhausting and everything that I was hoping for. Going to the Alaskan Native Medical Center to learn more about the Alaskan Native healthcare culture and values was very enlightening. Listening to the traditional healers about how their practices mesh with the western medicine techniques made me think about how important it is to have an aspect of someone's care that is sensitive to their culture. Through the statistics they showed us, it is clear that having the traditional healers contribute a positive effect on these patients. Also, learning about the primary care model that is used at the ANMC was incredible. Their ability to streamline care and increase teamwork of the providers is something that I think that more primary care facilities should adopt.
The views here in Anchorage are breathtaking. Waking up in the morning is suddenly much more tolerable when you get to wake up with the mountains right outside your door. We got to drive along the mountains and went dog sledding. It was so cool to learn about how the dogs interact and talk to the mushers about how they landed where they are now. After that we drove to this little mining town called Talkeetna. We walked through shops and had amazing reindeer stew with a beef pasty. I can't wait to see what else Alaska has in store for us. |
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