Community Health Nursing: An overview

• What is a community?
• a group of people with commoncharacteristics or interests living together within a territory or geographical boundary
• place where people under usualconditions are found
• What is health?
• Health-illness continuum
• High-level wellness
• Agent-host-environment
• Health belief
• Evolutionary-based
• Health promotion
• WHO definition
• What is community health?
• part of paramedical and medical intervention/approach which is concerned on the health ofthe whole population
• aims:
1. health promotion
2. disease prevention
3. management of factors affecting health
• What is nursing?
• assisting sick individuals to become healthy and healthy individuals achieve optimum wellness.

Public Health Nursing: the term used before for Community Health Nursing

According to Dr. C.E. Winslow, Public Health is a science & art of 3 P’s:

• Prevention of Disease
• Prolonging life
• Promotion of health and efficiency through organized community effort

What is Community Health Nursing?

“The utilization of the nursing process in the different levels of clientele-individuals, families, population groups and communities, concerned with the promotion of health, prevention of disease and disability and rehabilitation.” - Maglaya, et al

COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING (CHN):

• a specialized field of nursing practice
• a science of Public Health combined with Public Health Nursing Skills and Social Assistance with the goal of raising the level of health of the citizenry, to raise optimum level of functioning of the citizenry (Characteristic of CHN)

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CHN

• The community is the patient in CHN, the family is the unit of care and there are four levels of clientele: individual, family, population group (those who share common characteristics, developmental stages and common exposure to health problems – e.g. children, elderly), and the community.
• In CHN, the client is considered as an ACTIVE partner NOT PASSIVE recipient of care
• CHN practice is affected by developments in health technology, in particular, changes in society, in general
• The goal of CHN is achieved through multi-sectoral efforts
• CHN is a part of health care system and the larger human services system.

ROLES OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE

• Clinician, who is a health care provider, taking care of the sick people at home or in the RHU
• Health Educator, who aims towards health promotion and illness prevention through dissemination of correct information; educating people
• Facilitator, who establishes multi-sectoral linkages by referral system
• Supervisor, who monitors and supervises the performance of midwives

TARGET POPULATION (IFC) ARE:

1. I ndividual
2. F amily
3. C ommunity

3 Elements considered in CHN:

• Science of Public Health (core foundation in CHN),
• Public Health Nursing Skills and
• Social Assistance Functions

OBJECTIVES OF PUBLIC HEALTH: CODES

• C ontrol of Communicable Diseases
• O rganization of Medical and Nursing Services
• D evelopment of Social Machineries
• E ducation of IFC on personal Hygiene→ Health Education is the essential task of every health worker
• S anitation of the environment

3 ELEMENTS IN HEALTH EDUCATION: IEC

• I nformation: to share ideas to keep population groupknowledgeable and aware
• E ducation: change within the individual
• 3 Key Elements of Education:
• K nowledge
• A ttitude
• S kills
• C ommunication: interaction involving 2 or morepersons or agencies
• 3 Elements of Communication:
• Message
• Sender
• Receiver

PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS (PHW)

PHW’s: are members of the health team who are professionals namely

• Medical Officer (MO)-Physician
• Public Health Nurse (PHN)-Registered Nurse
• Rural Health Midwife (RHM)-Registered Midwife-
• Dentist
• Nutritionist
• Medical Technologist
• Pharmacist
• Rural Sanitary Inspector (RSI)-must be a sanitary engineer