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What
is a Public Health Nursing?
Stanhope & Lancaster define Public Health Nursing as the
synthesis of nursing theory and public health theory applied
to promoting and preserving the health of populations. The
focus of practice is the community as a whole and the effect
of the community’s health status (resources) on the health
of individuals, families, and groups (2000).
What
is a Public Health Nurse?
A Public Health Nurse (PHN) is a Registered Nurse (RN) with
specialty training in community health. At this point two
levels of certification are available for nurses in  community
health and public health nursing. To be eligible to write
the certification exam at the generalist level, one must be
a registered nurse and licensed in the US, have a
baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing or related field,
have at least 30 contact hours of continuing
education applicable to the field in the past three years,
and have practiced in the community health field a minimum
of 1500 hours in the last 3 years.
“Public
Health Nurses integrate community involvement and knowledge
about the entire population with personal, clinical
understandings of the health and illness experiences of
individuals and families within the population. They
translate and articulate the health and illness experiences
of diverse, often vulnerable individuals and families in the
population to health planners and policy makers, and assist
members of the community to voice their problems and
aspirations” (APHN 2001). PHN’s are knowledgeable about
multiple strategies for intervention. They translate
knowledge from the health and social sciences to individuals
and population groups through targeted interventions,
programs, and advocacy.
Some activities of the
Public Health Nurse as stated by the American Public Health
Association include the following, but are not limited to,
include:
- Provide essential input to
interdisciplinary programs that monitor, anticipate, and
respond to public health problems in population groups;
- Evaluate health trends and
risk factors of population groups and help determine
priorities for targeted interventions;
- Work with communities or
specific population groups within the community to
develop public policy and targeted health promotion and
disease prevention activities;
- Participate in assessing
and evaluating health care services to ensure that
people are informed of programs and services available
and are assisted in the utilization of available
services;
- Provide health education,
care management and primary care to individuals and
families who are members of vulnerable populations and
high-risk groups (2001).
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