ABSTRACT
The existing health-care paradigm remains largely focused on the treatment of diseases and the discovery of cures. Unfortunately, the notion of providing illness care limits opportunities for promoting wellness. While an illness care system is good for restoring health, the opportunity to prevent disease and illness is also deserving of increased attention. Basic nursing education includes some discussion of wellness promotion, but the primary focus in this substantive area is on ascertaining the signs and symptoms of disease. Regrettably, most nurses function at this biophysical level as they work in hospitals. However, it is proposed here that a pipeline of Black nurse leaders who are grounded in the notion of wellness promotion are needed to help prevent or limit illness. To that end, the objectives of this query are to: 1) identify several factors that may contribute to a healthy community, 2) offer a list of current health indicators and 3) describe how Black nurse leaders can facilitate health equity in the U.S. and Ghana.
