Question

What is the nature of community/public health nursing practice?

Answer 1

The community or public health nursing practice ensures that everyone in a community receives formal health services. The community, public health nurse is the one which assess and identifies populations that are at risk of diseases.

While most nurses care for one patient at a time, public health nurses care for entire populations. Instead of waiting for patients to come to the hospital with an illness, they go into communities to try and help people improve their health and prevent disease.

Nursing in public health is similar to community health nursing, but there is a difference. While both disciplines serve the same demographics, their purposes are distinct. Public health nurses provide healthcare to people and communities who are unable to seek assistance.

Community oriented practice is a broader inscope than community based practice. A form of care in which the nurse provides health care after doing a community, diagnosis to determine what conditions need to be altered so that individuals, families, and groups in the community to stay healthy.

Public health nurse designates a nursing professional with educational preparation in public health and nursing science with a primary focus on population level outcomes. The primary focus of public health nursing is to promote health and prevent disease for entire population groups.

Community health has the same goals and employs the same strategies as population and public health, but is primarily organized around a geographic area, and may be more heavily involved in local government and policy than other approaches.

As described above the public health nursing is a specialty practice within nursing and public health. Often used interchangeably with community health nursing, this nursing practice includes advocacy, policy development, and planning, which addresses issues of social justice. With a multi level view of health, public health nursing action occurs through community applications of theory, evidence, and a commitment to health equity. It is put forward in this definition, public health nursing practice is guided.

Public health nursing aims to improve the health outcomes of all populations. Applying their clinical knowledge and expertise in health care from an ecological perspective, public health nurses acknowledge the complexity of public health problems and the nature of health including cultural, environmental, historical, physical, and social factors.

These activities include community collaboration, health teaching, and policy development, in response to priorities derived from ongoing, comprehensive population focused assessment. Public health nurses are members and leaders of inter professional teams in diverse settings and in many different types of agencies and organizations. Public health nurses are in a position to provide leadership through public policy reform efforts, community-building, and system level change.