3.14: Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural Health Centers
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment information through telecommunication and computers.
Schools
School nurses are frequently the primary source of health evaluation, health education, and emergency treatment for students. The school nurse's function evolves in tandem with societal changes. Today's students come from a wide range of racial and cultural origins and various socioeconomic situations. They also have more complicated diagnoses requiring professional knowledge and management skills during school hours. School nurses provide a wide range of services, including reviewing vaccination records, emergency care for physical and mental diagnoses, prescription administration, routine health screenings (vision, hearing), and providing health information and education.
Industries
Many larger companies have their own ambulatory care clinic, mostly staffed by nurses. Occupational health nurses in industrial clinics work to prevent work-related injury and illness by conducting health assessments and teaching health promotion. Some education topics include smoking cessation, nutrition, proper utilization of safety equipment, and exercise tips. These nurses also care for minor accidents and illnesses and refer the patient to outside resources for more severe health problems.
Homeless Shelters
Homeless shelters are often indwelling units, such as apartment buildings or single-family houses, that provide refuge for individuals who do not have regular shelter. The homeless are more likely to become ill or injured due to weather exposure, violence, drug and alcohol addiction, poor diet, inadequate cleanliness, and overcrowding. Nurses at homeless shelters provide services such as immunizations, prenatal education, treating infections and illnesses, referral for sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, and providing health information.
Rehabilitation Centers
Rehabilitation facilities specialize in providing services to patients in need of physical or mental rehabilitation and therapy for chemical dependency. These facilities may be self-contained or affiliated with a hospital. The objective is to return patients to optimal health and reintegrate them into society as self-sufficient community members. A multidisciplinary team of physicians, physical therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, and counselors are frequently used in rehabilitation institutions. The nurse's responsibilities include direct care, education, and counseling. Rehabilitation nursing is founded on the principle of fostering autonomous self-care within the limits of the patient's skills.
