Community Resources

Good evening to all of you. At this time of year we all start thinking about ways to either help ourselves, or help others. In this Special Holiday edition, I want to talk to you about community resources for yourself, your family or even a friend. I know a lot of young adults are acting as leaders in their families, I did from a very young age. It can be terrifying, having the worries of an adult when you should be thinking about which college you want to attend, or the next dance that is coming up. At the end of this post you should be able to:
                                      -Describe what school nurses do, aside from giving medications and helping someone when they are hurt.
                                      -List at least three community resources for your family or a friend
There are many things that can affect the health of families, and thus, the children living in them. For example, if your family is part of a larger community such as a church, extended family, close relationships with neighbors or friends then you have many resources all ready at your disposal. If you are part of a family that does not think school is important, from a single-parent family, or for whatever reasons do not have many contacts outside of your immediate family then you may find that you have more stress and less ability to cope with life circumstances. Please know, that this does not mean that things won't be okay. You can succeed! It just takes a little extra effort and knowing where to go for help.
Some places you may want to start include your school counseling office or school nurse. The people in there will have information on resources such as local food banks, homeless shelters, and even free or reduced-price medical services. If you feel these resources don't work for you, then your doctor or a nurse at your doctor's office can help you as well. Let's start with school nurses:
School nurses do not just pass out medications or help people when they are ill or hurt at school. They may teach a portion of a health education class, attend meetings for the children with special needs to help come up with a plan to assist those children in exceeding in the school environment, health screenings such as for abuse of scoliosis (curvature of the back) (Nies and McEwan, 2011). These nurses may also provide counseling, or psychological and social services (Nies and McEwan, 2011). If you have any concerns about self injury or you know a friend that is hurting themselves, this would be a good first place to go. Just like at the doctor's office, unless there is immediate threat to someone's well-being they are required to keep most information private. So, if you need to talk, please go, don't feel ashamed! School nurses may also coordinate with other entities to provide services, legislation and education for their community (Schaffer, Goodhue, Stennes, and Lanigan, 2012).
Local churches also have access to emergency food supplies, toiletries, or even counseling services. These are often done on a first come-first served basis and may have hours or operation. Much like other counseling services, these should be kept confidential, unless there is a threat of harm. Your local hospital will have services available for you in an emergency, education materials and classes (Nies and McEwan, 2011; Schaffer, Goodhue, Stennes, and Lanigan, 2012). The article, Evaluation of a public health nurse visiting program for pregnant and parenting teens, has a great exercise for identifying your personal support network. First the authors suggest starting out as you would a brain storm for a school project: Draw a circle with your name or the word "me" in it. Then start thinking about people in your life that are important to you, who can give you help when you need it? Use pictures or words to signify these people and draw them like a web from the first circle you drew. Those that are greatest support to you get a solid line and should be drawn closer to your circle, those that are not as good of support but still there could be drawn with dashed lines and/or farther from you (Nies and McEwan, 2011; Schaffer, Goodhue, Stennes, and Lanigan, 2012). In community health nursing we call this an ecomap.What it does is provides a visual of the social supports a person has. I strongly suggest you try this activity some time, you may be surprised by how many people or entities you have to support you.
With that, I am going to end this post. We have discussed numerous ideas such as how to identify your personal support system, places to go for help or resources (school nurse, clergy, hospital, your parents) as well as the types of things that affect the health of a family and the children/people living in them. In the comments section, please list at least three resources you might seek out should you or a friend need some assistance. Please tell me what you learned about school nurses, other than that they provide first aid services and medications. And lastly, if you are comfortable, please discuss whether you did the activity on identifying your personal support system and how you feel after completing it. Feel free to include other information, questions or comments you may have on this or any other topic.
Happy holidays!

References

Nies, M. A. & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations, (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders

Schaffer, M. A., Goodhue, A., Stennes, K., & Lanigan, C. (2012). Evaluation of a public health nurse visiting program for pregnant and parenting teens. Public Health Nursing, 29(3), pg. 218-231. Doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2011.01005.x

Sexually transmitted diseases: Yes, they can happen to you

In this first post, I am going to talk about a number of sexually transmitted diseases.

·         It is the goal of this post that after reading the material and clicking the links you will-

o   Know some of the many types of STDs

o   Know statistics on how many people have and how many people get certain STDs a year

o   How to protect yourself and your partner(s), and lastly how and where to obtain a free or reduced price STD check and condoms.

Let's face it, most of you are going to have sex before you graduate high school. I know that, you know that and more than likely your parents and teachers know that. So, why beat around the bush? Sex can feel good, sex can be fun, but it can also be dangerous too. You don't need to have full on intercourse to contract an STD. And sex really does encompass the saying "everything but..." You know what I mean. Everything but penetration: kissing, touching, etc. 

First off, a sexually transmitted disease or infection (STD or STI) is an infection that can spread through body fluids such as semen, vaginal secretions or blood as well as contact with infected parts of the body such as the mouth or vagina.

Rates of infection with STDs/STIs is highest among teens. All teens are at risk if they engage in sexual activity, but gay males, sexually active heterosexuals, and those that are very young when they begin sexual activity are at highest risk (McKinney, James, Murray & Ashwill, 2009). Some of the STDs you are most likely to encounter include: gonorrhea and chlamydia, HIV, herpes and HPV. Currently, only one of these has a vaccination (HPV) but it may not protect against all strains of this virus.

Gonorrhea: according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention website, there were 321,849 cases in the U.S.  were reported in 2011, but it is estimated taht 820,000 people contract it with about 570,000 of the cases being in adolescents 15-24 years old. This is a bacterial infection and can be cured with antibiotics from your doctor. This disease is spread through contact, not necessarily with body fluids, from person to person. 

Chlamydia: another bacterial infection had 1,412,791 reported cases in 2011; 2.86 MILLION cases are estimated to occur each year with most of those being in the 14-24 year old range (CDC, 2013). Like gonorrhea, to be spread only contact with the infected skin or body part needs to occur, not ejaculation.

HIV: is a viral infection that a person will have for life once infected. It can and usually does lead to AIDS and eventual death. An infection with another, untreated STD will increase your chances of getting HIV.

Herpes: Is a viral infection with an estimated number of NEW cases being 776,000 a year and the CDC states that 16.2% of people ages 14-49 have a genital herpes infection. It is more common in women than men, but boys don't start gloating, you are still at risk. This is another infection with no cure, but it can be treated and put into remission by antiviral medications. 

HPV: the last infection we'll discuss. It is also viral, but the only one that has a vaccine, though the vaccine only covers the three or four types most likely to cause cancer. Again, only contact with infected skin needs to occur for it to be passed to another person. This infection may cause no symptoms in most people.

PREVENTION

The only sure way to prevent a sexually transmitted infection and protect yourself is to abstain, or not have sexual contact of any kind. Remember, "everything but..." can still lead to infections. I know, I know! Many, if not most, of you are going to experiment with sex of all sorts. So, how can you protect yourselves and your partners? Use a condom. Here is a great video on how to PROPERLY apply a condom, well before you are going to have any contact with the other person's body: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11LFPWyghy8 

Girls, don't count on those boys to have a condom. You need to stand up for yourself, carry them, and insist upon their usage. Not only will they help protect you from an infection, they will protect you from pregnancy when used correctly. 

All of you should insist that a potential partner be clean from infections. You can both be tested at your local city or county health departments, if your school has a health center you can likely receive counseling and testing there or they will point you to where in your area to go. Planned Parenthood does not do free testing, but it is low-cost and available to everyone. Lastly, you should only have sex with one person at a time, multiple partners is one of the biggest ways to ensure you get an infection, even if you do use condoms. Wait to have sex until you are an older teenager or adult because the younger you start having sex, the more likely you are to develop an infection.

That wraps up this quick discussion on STDs. If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section. Lastly, I want to know how much you learned on this subject.

·         Please post in the comments section your answers to the following questions-

o   What are the most common types of STDs found among teenagers?

o   What are three ways you can protect yourself from contracting an STD?

o   Where can you go to obtain a free or low-cost STD test?

o   Please quickly describe the appropriate manner for applying a condom.

Please list anything else you learned from this post, any suggestions for future topics or anything else you would like to know or comment on.

Talk to you next time :) 

References

McKinney, E. S., James, S. R., Murray, S. S., & Ashwill, J. W. (2009). Maternal-child nursing (3rd edition). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.

www.cdc.gov/std/

Welcome to RN Jo: Health Topics for Teens

Welcome to RN Jo: Health Topics for Teens. I'm Jo and a registered nurse. My desire is that you will learn information on a variety of health topics specially designed for teens ages 14-19. The goal of this blog is that you will learn many facets of personal and social health including: sexually transmitted diseases, sex and sexuality, mental health and bullying, teen pregnancy, safety, friendships and romantic relationships, parents, physical health, death and dying as well as others. Please feel free to make suggestions based on topics you are interested in.

A little about me: I am a registered nurse with eight months of experience. My ultimate goal is to work with newborn babies, but I have a special place in my heart for pediatrics (children of all ages). I am a mom of two children, one of whom was born the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. I am currently attending university to obtain my bachelor's degree in nursing and I work in a long-term care facility. My hobbies include crocheting and knitting, being with my kiddos, learning, reading, playing MMOs (when I have the time). I have a three month old German Shepherd puppy and a 5 year old Turkish Angora cat.