FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY AND
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
PRACTICE
Prepared by: Karen-Cris D. Lumao, RN
Learning Objectives
• Define the key concepts of community and public health
Nursing
• Enumerate the different levels of clientele in community
and public health nursing
• Explain the various principles underpinning the practice of
community health nursing
• Identify the myriad roles and functions of the nurse in
community and public health nursing; and
• Discuss the various public health interventions applied in
practice
Hierarchy of Nursing Science
Continuation......
• A strong knowledge base is essential to competently address the
myriad needs and concerns of the people in the community.
• This includes a backdround on maternal and Child health nursing,
adult health nursing, mental health and psychiatric nursing and
Public health nursing.
• Community and Public health nursing has a great impact to
populations.
• Adulth health Nursing and other fields is focused omn individuals
and their specific health issues in a hospital setting.
• In contrast, Community health Nursing fovuses on all population
groups whether children, Adults, elderly or collectively as families
in their natural environment
Key concepts of community and Public health nursing
• 3 Basic Concepts
1. Community as Client
2. Health as Goal
3. Nursing as the vehicle or means to achieve its aims
Community
• Is often viewed as a group of people living in a particular
area with common beliefs, values and traditions.
• Coomunity attributes 2 important attributes. First, having
geographic boundaries and second, a shared blief system
or culture.
• Bound by their location, people develop common beliefs
and values that eventually evolve as culture.
Health
• It is a multidimentional reality that includes
socioeconomic, enviromental and even political factors.
• With Health as a goal, healthcare needs to be holistic.
• Thus, Nursing should be Unversal in order to achieve
health as human right.
Nursing
• Is traditionally define as the art of science in caring.
• Florence Nightingale, Mother of modern Nursing, define Nursing
as means of ensuring that people are place in optimum condition
where nature can contribute to healing and wellness.
• Another important groundwork is that of Virginia Henderson who
wrote, “the unique function of the nurse is to assist individual, sick
or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health
or its recovery that he would perform unaided if he had the
necessary strenght. will or knowledge”
Characteristic and features of community and Public
health nrsing(CPHN)
1. CPHN is developmental
• People are imbued with human rights and this includes
right to health.Nurses in the community/ public health
work believe that individual, families and population
groups are primarily responsible for their health.
• Health education is a primary activity that nurses
incoerporate in all public health activities and
interventions as an approach to help people acqui
knowledge and skills.
2. CPHN is Multidisciplinary
• Health neeeds of our Clientele are varied.
• It ranges from sanitaion, food safety, control of non-communicable
diseases and infection.
• Nurses are working within and among government agencies or
departments in private organization. Fosters Collaboration with
diffrent professional and sectos in the society.
• Example: Protecting residents of a community from rabies.
3. CPHN is ecology Oriented
• The largest portion of the healthcare delivery sytem is
community-based and that care is provided in the natural
environment of people.
• This means that the setting for community healthh nurses
includes homes, schools,workplaces and even prisons
and churches. All these sites serve as a sanctuary for
people to stay, grow and realize their potentials.
• It also includes inherent threats to health and safety.
4. CPHN promotes social justice
• Health is a human right and all people should enjoy
access to healthcare.
• This puts the community health nurse in a pivotal position
to ensure that people regardless of age, sex, creed or
religion enjoy healthcare services in their communities.
5. CPHN values consumer involvement
• Patients in community are not merely consumer or end
users of healthcare services but they are considered as
partner in health.
6. CPHN uses prepayment mechanismn
• Services provided by public health system are not given
for free but it is funded by taxes of the people.
7. CPHN focuses on preventive measures
• Nurses on the field providealthcare to a wide range of
clientele afflicted by both acute and chronic conditions.
• Services required at the point of contact does not limit
his/her application of science but extends to reducing
risks of the current patient being attended to and groups
who may similarly ends up with the same condition.
8. CPHN offers comprehensive care
• The old adage that nursing is caring from womb to tomb is
a reality in community.
• On the field, nurses cannot choose who their patients will
be and predict what cases they will deal with.
• Nurses are required to be skilled and knowledgeable on
the broad areas of nursiong. Holistic care s expected in
delivering health services.
Roles of the Community Health Nurse
1. Healthcare Provider- Caring is the essense of nursing
and has been widely accepted in all settings. The use of
Nursing process applied in the natural environment of the
client pertains to this role.
Example: A school nurse providing first aid to a student who
sustained a cut and a nurse taking history of a pregnant
woman in the village clinic.
2. Health Educator- Communicating information to help
patients make an informed choice regarding their health is a
key activity in community health work. It is hoped that
awareness will impact people’s behavior to achieve health
in their own hands.
3. Health Implementer- Nurses working under local
government units deliver healthcare to the grassroots. This
includes immunization which offers protection againts
infection.
4. Community Organizer- Working with people in communities and
providing them ownership of their healthcare needs and to act
collectively on their issues is best captured by this role of the nurse in
public health.
5. Manager/Leader- Nurse employs principle of management to
maximise resourses effectively and efficiently. Budgeting, inventories,
scheduling and staffing, conducting training sessions are included under
this role.
6. Researcher/ Epidemiologist- The nurse is regarded as the health
monitor of the community. They keep trackl of illnesses encountered in
their areas of jurisdiction and submit reports to health authorities as
required by law. In the event of outbreak, community nurses work with
other professionals or agencies in conducting investigation to identify
etiology of the epidemic and ultimately identify potential solutions to halt
the progress off the problem.
7. Client Advocate- The community nurse takes proactive
stance in ensuring that the right to health of the population
he/ she works with is realized and protected.
