Cardiovascular Epidemic

By: Ed Roska RN

In 2006, the American Heart Association (AHA) reported more than 80 million people have one or more cardiovascular disease. Heart disease claimed over 800,000 lives in 2005; 300,000 more than cancer, 5 times more than accidents and 80 times more than HIV. Heart disease is still the leading cause of death in the world. It is also the leading cause of disability. According to the Council of Disability Awareness (2008), 24 million Americans need on-going treatments, surgeries and medications that is costing our economy $1.3 trillion per year. This is just the direct cost of therapy. The indirect cost of heart disease is even greater to patients and their families. Loss of income because of surgeries and recovery can drastically affect the lives of family members.
One of the goals stated in the health people 2010 publication is increasing life expectancy and improving quality of life. Facts proved that cardiovascular diseases takes the most life and causes the most disability in patients and love ones. Hence, decreasing deaths and affected lives by cardiac disease will get us closer to achieving the goal of healthy people 2010.
A community health nurse work with a wide range of health care providers to ensure patients receive a full range of care. The main focus of a community health nurse is illness prevention and early interventions. Their goal is to avoid exacerbations and unnecessary hospitalization.
My goal for healthy people 2010 would be to increase education pertaining to heart care and decreasing death related to cardiac arrest. The objectives for these goals would be to reinforce the knowledge regarding the importance of activity, exercise and weight control, increase the communities’ knowledge about modifiable risk factors such as cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking and increasing the numbers of individuals capable of responding to a cardiac event.
The simplest and only answer to the epidemic that is cardiac disease is education. A community health nurse can provide this by working together with institutions like churches and health care facilities. Partnering with these institutions a nurse can develop educational programs and clinics that can provide community members a resource for their illness. A nurse cannot change a life-style of an individual but a nurse can change behaviors through education.

Note: This blog post reflects the work of Ed Roska, RN with minor editing by Shirley Comer RN and was completed as a class assignment. The content of this blog is for informational purposes only. Before beginning or changing a treatment or lifestyle regime you should consult your primary health care provider.