public health nursing

public health nursing

The Importance of Public Health Nursing

1. Introduction to Public Health Nursing

Public health nursing is the cornerstone of public health. According to the American Nurses Association, the mission of public health nursing is to “fulfill society’s interest in assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.” Using clinical, organizational, political, and policy-making skills, nurses in this field seek to prevent communicable diseases, avert injuries, better the health of vulnerable populations, and diminish health disparities. The roles filled by public health nurses are vast and the work is challenging. Public health nurses can be found working in government and non-profit public health agencies, schools, homes of the elderly, and healthcare providers, to name a few. In any of these settings, a public health nurse may be asked to provide direct care to an impoverished or otherwise disenfranchised population, create and implement a plan of care for a vulnerable subset of a community, or advocate on behalf of a health-needy group. No matter the role or setting, the general assumption remains that a public health nurse is working to improve the health of a population who is at risk for one reason or another.

2. Role of Public Health Nurses in Preventive Care

Another major trend in improving the health of a population focuses on prevention. Public health nurses today are increasingly concerned with helping communities prevent illness and promoting health. This is a change from the 20th century when public health nurses were primarily concerned with the delivery of curative services, such as treatments for tuberculosis and polio. Today, the mission of public health nursing is to improve the health of the population through problem-solving, with a primary focus on prevention. There are many things that the community could do to provide a better place for the people to live and work. Public health nurses now work in all facets of prevention, including primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention.

Public health nurses work in a variety of settings. They are at the forefront of changing attitudes and developing health policies that embrace the concept of prevention. The role of public health nursing in improving the health of populations is essential. Public health nurses support this strategy in their communities and local health systems, especially in reaching out to mothers and young children. A large part of nursing intervention at the community level often involves health education that encompasses a wide range of services.

3. Public Health Nursing Strategies for Health Promotion

It is important to build a relationship with the family in order for any health promotion to be successful. Trust is a key component in any relationship, and with the trust of the family, PKVA can better assist them in his promotion goal. Often times, the public health nurse will experience some difficulty in building a trusting relationship with a family. PKVA’s duty will be to advocate for this family by demonstrating to other health professionals the value of building trust with a vulnerable population, which is an essential step in health promotion. Because of the multiple stakeholders in this case, which will be discussed later, ensuring clear lines of communication is also essential in building trust. This will be accomplished by making sure the family fully comprehends each decision in the case management process. Lines of communication will also be open if there are any new developments in the case that may change its trajectory.

Public health nurses work with individual clients and populations to prevent illness and promote health. They frequently focus on the health of the entire population, in the present case, vulnerable populations. Throughout the nursing process, PKVA will utilize various strategies to promote health with this family. Assessing their level of health literacy will determine the types of health promotion methods that will be most effective.

4. Challenges and Solutions in Public Health Nursing

The nursing process is significant in using public health nursing in disaster preparedness and disaster management and will provide the framework for the improvement of a competent disaster management program.

If successful, the results of this phase will be the mobilization of resources to implement the plan. At this point, the public health nurse approaches to involve the community in identifying the success of the problem and evaluate changed conditions.

The SPHERE Minimum Standards in Disaster Response note that in all sectors of disaster response, there may be an emphasis on the importance of partnerships between community organizations and the people impacted by the crisis in order to promote participation, their involvement with policymakers likely have an impact on the recognition of the issues and needs faced by society today.

In the evaluation phase of the process, the public health nurse identifies a problem management possible is essential back to it will increase the well-being of the population. At this point, the nurse defines specific goals toward addressing the problem and then seeks to shape the future by developing new initiatives.

An effective way to assess the needs of the population is to use the epidemiological approach to define problems and establish priorities, compare the network has the resources or policies in effect to address these problems, implement a plan, monitor, and reassess. By using epidemiological techniques and the nursing process, the public health nurse is capable of identifying the needs of the population and determine which issues are most crucial.

The public health nurse assesses the community for its preparedness to identify the capabilities and assets that may be used to respond to an emergency or disaster. It is important to identify these factors before an emergency or disaster occurs so they may be improved upon. If the network is not prepared to identify these elements, the public health nurse can provide information to aid them in development in those areas.

Public health nurses care for whole populations by developing a working share of community in the health of the nation. The role of the public health nurse within a disaster management scenario is to utilize public health skills by using the nursing method consisting of assessment, nursing diagnosis, outcome identification, planning, implementation, and assessment. This nursing procedure gives an effective disaster management device due to the fact that by using these competencies, the public health nurse is capable of identifying which population needs are most crucial and then provide direct nursing involvement to meet the needs.

5. Future Directions for Public Health Nursing

Second, the growing diversity of the population has a direct impact on public health nursing. There is greater need to consider cultural sensitivities and differences in beliefs when caring for patients from various demographics. Global health has emerged as a major issue for health delivery systems. There needs to be a greater collaboration between countries in order to prevent and respond to global health issues. With health crises occurring due to infectious diseases, natural disasters, and tainted foods, people in all countries are at risk. Events occurring in other countries can impact the health of the United States through the food supply and immigration of infected persons. Public health nursing must advocate for policies that offer global solutions. An example is the increased relevancy of providing disaster preparedness education and response. These actions must be performed with considerations of the various cultures in the U.S because each demographic has different health vulnerabilities.

The future of public health nursing is going to be affected by new changes taking place in society. First, the rapidly advancing technology will greatly impact the way in which nurses deliver care. Telenursing has already been initiated, and in the coming years, it will be considered a mainstream way of providing care to homebound patients. Amazingly, emerging technology will be an approach to bringing patients care to their homes. Robotics will also be a way of providing care and perform daily tasks. Japanese engineers are testing a robotic chair that retrieves and transports patients from one location to another. There are also plans of making a robotic pet to serve as a companion to elderly patients. These advances in technology open a wide range of opportunities for nurses. This reduces the traditional care load because many patients will have easier access to care and daily maintenance will be performed by other means. This makes it possible for nurses to work in a wider scope of areas while still being able to monitor patient’s conditions through new technologies.