Overview of Public Health Nursing
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (3) NEED TO BE ANSWERED
1. The terms population and community are frequently used interchangeably but there are differences. What are those differences and how do those differences relate to the role of the public health nurse?
2. Are nurses seen as leaders in public health? If yes, what have you observed that supports your answer? If not, do you think that is true and what do you think needs to change?
3. How does public health nursing practice support the core functions of public health? Which of the 10 Essential services are nursing most involved.

PLEASE NOTE THIS ….. THE DISCUSSION SHOULD BE 250 – 300 WORDS IN LENGTH AND AT LEAST ONE SCHOLARLY SOURCE AS WELL AS THE TEXT BOOK NOTED IN LEARNING MATERIALS
Learning Materials
• Curley, A. L. C. & Vitale, P. A. Population-based nursing: Competencies and concepts for advanced practice. New York: Springer Publishing. Chapter 1
• Friis, R. H. & Sellers, T. A. Epidemiology for public health practice (5th). Birlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett. ISBN: 978-14496-6549-4: Chapter 1
• Merrill, J.A., Keeling, J.W. (2014). Understanding the local public health workforce: Labels versus substance. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(5 Supplement 3), 324-330.
• Brucker, M.C. (2014). The public health role in nursing. Nursing for Women’s Health, 18(6), 447-448.

Goals
After completing this module, you will be able to do the following:
• Identify key milestones in the development of population/public health nursing in the United States.
• Describe the contributions of historical figures who influenced the development of population health nursing.
• Differentiate the terms community-based nursing practice, community-oriented nursing, population-based nursing, community-driven nursing practice, community health nursing and public health nursing that support these functions.
• Identify the three core functions of public health and describe the 10 essential public health services that support those functions.
• Compare the “Levels of Health Care” to the “Levels of Prevention” used in public health practice.
• Summarize the eight domains of competency for population health nursing and provide a brief description of each one.
Overview
Understanding the history of how public health nursing has developed provides a foundation from which the current public health nurse can learn from the past in order to adapt and plan for the future. This course will explore all the competencies necessary for advanced public health nursing practice. Since the 1988 publication of the Institute of Medicine’s The Future of Public Health and reaffirmed in 2003 edition, all public health officials have embraced the core functions of public health. In 1994, the American Public Health Association developed the 10 Essential Public Health Services which further delineated and explained what the core functions meant. All public health activity is based upon these services and so it is imperative that public health nurses operate under this umbrella. It is recognized that the depth and breadth of the nurses’ practice will vary considerably among these essential services depending upon the day, the situation, or the nurse’s knowledge, skill, abilities or position. As nurses strive to assist patients and populations achieve optimum health, prevention is a critical concept in that endeavor. Understanding the difference in the levels of prevention in the public health arena from the individual-based setting is critical for public health nurses to be successful in serving populations.

The post The terms population and community are frequently used interchangeably but there are differences. What are those differences and how do those differences relate to the role of the public health nurse? appeared first on excellent homeworks.