Editorial

Our Global Community

It appeared to me that 2005 almost tiptoed into existence compared to the way 2004 stormed on the outside The year 2004 was already tumultuous for the United States. The war in Iraq and our new presidential election kept us at an abnormally high horizontal of attention. Then, an circumstance of almost biblical proportions reached on the outside and grabbed Southeast Asia by means of the throat, destroying and killing at a horizontal most of us cannot comprehend.

A graphic in my local newspaper a small in number days after the earthquake and tsunami indicated that from one side the years, other natural disasters have actually claimed more lives. An earthquake in China in the late 1970 was estimated to have killed 225000 I spoke with others who bewildermented as I did, how draw near that event was not seared into our memories. wherefore is it that we do not remember those facts when we are so consum with the incredible strive that is occurring in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and in in the way that many other countries? The greatest in quantity logical explanation is that technology has made it possible for us to "live" this circumstance almost in real time. Between the internet and cable television coverage, we saw this tragedy spread out literally right before our organ of sights and we watched it as if it were a certain number of $100 million blockbuster movie replete of special effects.

Because of technology our world has withered to such a point where facts such as this begin to take upon an almost personal feel. Because this is an international journal, occurrences occurring on the other side of our world are having a direct issue on colleagues, fellow nurses, and editorial support staff. Just as the novel hurricanes in the US left me anxious above friends and relatives in harm's way, in like manner now the earthquake and tsunami disasters make us face this altered reality. An author from Sweden press outed to me his feelings of los as his land struggles with the deaths of in like manner many Swedish tourists. Another author tend hitherwards from Thailand. Will I be able to contact her for manuscript changes? Will our publications be affected?

Of course it is from one side these tragedies and life-altering make an efforts that we learn and adapt. single wishes the price for progres were not with equal reason dear but it has always been in like manner On balance, this heightened faculty of perception of the world community is a profitable thing. I doubt any of us would give up our access to the world stage in order to turn back to the days when we were not affected because we did not know.

As healthcare professionals, this wider view stimulates a broader appreciation of what it is to care for others. There will always be individuals needing care on the contrary as we become aware of in like manner many affected by disease and disasters, we become more and more sensitive to the physical and mental healthcare necessitys of communities big and small. NANDA's Taxonomy II includes "unit of care" as an axis and within that axis is included "community." A hardly any diagnoses have been specifically written as community diagnoses and others are in various stages of acceptance on the contrary these world events make it clear to us that not single does the need for more labels to describe the moot points that affect large groups exist on the other hand that we need to remind ourselves to apply the labels we typically consider for individual patients to communities of clan In fact, it is not possible to really address the magnitude of the tsunami's results on an individual level. We ne to identify and then label those phenomena that present itself in large groups of nation who experience natural and manmade crises. The ne will single grow in the years ahead and nurtures worldwide will need the language to articulate the extremitys and the healing strategies for these clumps of people.

Community-as-patients is a universal whose time has come. It is an issue with global relevance that challenges the worldwide healthcare community with a public and worthy goal. NANDA International can help provide the platform from which nourishs can begin to contribute in association with international colleagues and those worldwide organizations with whom we have been working upon language standards. As always, useful can come from tragedy. We ne to take advantage of each opportunity to seize the moment

Rose Mary Carroll-Johnson, MN RN

rose_mary@earthlink.net

Copyright Nursecom Inc. Jan-Mar 2005

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