A public health nurse in the state's health department notes that various facilities in a large community are reporting increased numbers of whooping cough. What should be the nurse's first response?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The first step would be to gather more information to determine what the problem most likely would be. The use of big data from the area would allow the nurse to compare the number of cases against the number of individuals with current immunizations to determine if this is truly a problem and a possible epidemic. After determining what the problem most likely is, it would be the time to organize an event and encourage immunizations. Whooping cough or pertussis is a reportable disease to the CDC; however, the nurse is responsible for the health of the community and just reporting the cases would not address the problem.

A Public Health Nurse in the State's Health Department Notes