Vulnerasble Population

Vulnerable Population and Self-Awareness

As nurse you are exposed to different populations, the populations that we encounter are at risk for health problems more than others. Working with these different groups help us gain insight on how to assist them in a more diligent and appropriate way. According to Aday (2001), "Vulnerable populations are those at risk for poor physical, psychological, or social health" (p. 3). In comparison to other groups in the population, some are more susceptible to being at risk for certain issues mentioned. As a nurses you must be perceptive to the higher-risk crowds in order to provide them with tools that can help them become stable and give them awareness to their issues.

Homeless

Homelessness is described as a condition of people without a regular dwelling does not have a fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence or as a person who lives in a shelter, transitional program, welfare hotel or place not regularly used as sleeping accommodations (such as abandoned buildings, streets, cars, etc.) (Chesnay & Anderson, 2008). Homelessness is even more prevalent due to the state of the economy and will continue to grow. According to Chesnay and Anderson (2008), "Generally, more young men are homeless, but all homeless persons are likely to suffer from chronic diseases and are vulnerable to violence" (p. 7). With the homeless constantly on the move, it is impossible to access health care. Baggett and O'Connell (2010) reported that the homeless people "have unmet need for the following services: medical or surgical care, prescription medications, mental health care or counseling, eyeglasses, and dental care" (p. 1327).

Personal Awareness

Being a psychiatric nurse, I encounter this population daily. My initial thoughts towards a homeless, were sympathetic as I worked with them I found them to be demanding, lazy and ungrateful. I then reformulated my opinion and lost that sympathy I had. I began thinking that a homeless were unappreciative, lazy substance abusers.

Demographics

Because the homeless are not sedentary the demographics are not always accurate. "An estimated 2.3 to 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness each year. The health problems are broad and multifaceted, with acute and chronic medical illness higher than that of the general population" (Baggett, O'Connell, Singer, & Rigotti, 2008, p. 1326). According to the U.S. department of housing and urban development (2009), the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data "show that the sheltered homeless are predominantly in urban areas (77%) and that they are more likely to be males (69%) and in their middle years (55%). In general African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American people are overrepresented in the homeless population compared with their presence in the population of the poor (U.S. department of housing and urban development, 2009). In addition to this data, nearly 1.6 million people have used emergency or transitional shelters between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007 and seventy percent were did not come with their families or children (U.S. department of housing and urban development, 2009).

Effect of Research on Personal Attitudes

In researching this population, I have found that this population is growing at a disturbing rate and is impossible to get accurate data. Several factors have been mentioned, such as the availability of support services, shelters and the fall in the job market. The acute psychiatric ward has seen so many homeless patients; most staff and nurses question their admittance. Most staff has negative stereotypes against them. By researching, I have found that there is a decrease in help