Scope of community health nursing

Public health interventions: Applications for nursing practice, 2nd ed. ("The Wheel Manual") Public health nurses work in or out of schools, homes, clinics, jails, shelters, mobile vans, and dog sleds. They work with communities, the individuals and families that compose communities, and the systems that affect the health of those communities. Regardless of where or with whom they work, all PHNs use a core set of interventions to accomplish their goals. Interventions are actions that public health nurses take on behalf of individuals/families, communities, and systems, to improve or protect health status. This framework, known as the Intervention Wheel, defines the scope of public health nursing practice by type of intervention and level of practice (individual/family, community, or systems), rather than by the site of service such as home, school, occupational health, clinic, and others. The Intervention Wheel describes the scope of practice by what is similar across settings and describes the practice of public health nursing at the individual/family, community, or systems level. The Intervention Wheel answers the question, “What do public health nurses do?” and delineates public health nursing as a specialty practice of nursing. These interventions are not exclusive to public health nursing, as they are also used by other public health disciplines, except for delegated functions. Get your copy Download the full manual: Download a handout on the interventions: Order a co...

The last time you went to get your flu shot, or had the school nurse check your child’s eyes, or had questions about your elderly mother’s care, did you ever stop to thank a public health nurse? That is ok if you didn’t, because The job of a But now that the We are starting to shift from illness care and are focusing more on health promotion and prevention. So, there is a growing need for generalists in the public health nursing field. To attract more professionals to this field, it is important for people in the field to talk louder about the important work that these nurses do. They should talk about why the work is important, how it is highly fulfilling as a profession and is very important to the future of America. One of the problems with the public health nursing field is that these professionals tend to work quietly and in the background. So, they often are the first ones to get funding cut when budgets get tight. Even though the Affordable Care Act is pushing for more funds for disease prevention and providing more preventive care, doing financing for health promotion and prevention of disease is difficult and tricky because it is not that sexy.’ It is very important work but it does not have the drama of medical shows on TVs. But as we all know, the drama that you see on TV really does sell. In 2012, it was found that only 3% of health care dollars are used to prevent disease. But dealing with the consequences of chronic diseases that can be prevented costs the na...

certification optional PHNs promote and protect community health by combining nursing training with knowledge from the social sciences. These nurses help specific targeted communities stay healthy and safe. Depending on community needs, PHNs perform a variety of duties in administration, education, advocacy, and assessment. Primary Responsibilities • Assessing healthcare needs and risk factors and setting priorities for targeted interventions • Advocating for and developing public policy, targeted health promotion, and disease prevention for specific communities and population groups • Evaluating available healthcare services and facilitating access to and use of these services • Working with interdisciplinary teams to identify, anticipate, and respond to public health concerns • Providing health education, care management, and direct primary care to members of vulnerable communities and at-risk populations Where Do PHNs Work? Because they serve entire communities rather than one patient at a time, PHNs do not always work in the usual settings that employ other registered nurses (RNs), such as hospitals and clinics. Instead, they find positions in government public health departments, community agencies, schools, correctional facilities, and voluntary organizations, providing critical healthcare services and carrying out research, education, and administrative functions. Community Agencies • Provide direct services such as dispensing medication or ordering tests • Identify...