Roles of Community Health Nurse
Roles of Community Health Nurse
Roles of Community Health Nurse
TUTORIAL OBJECTIVES:
1. Differentiate between community health nursing, public health nursing and home
- Public health nursing - is the branch of nursing concerned with providing nursing
care and health guidance to individuals, families, and other population groups in
settings such as the home, school, workplace, and other community settings
of all ages with varying needs. Having home health care performed is a cost-
effective means of giving care while the patient is in the comfort of their own
home.
- Care giver - The clinician position of the community health nurse include
providing health care services not only to individuals and families, but also to
community groups and populations. The clinician role for community health
nurses has a distinct emphasis than basic nursing, namely - holism, health
- Educator role - Nurses are educators because they give individuals with
enables learning in order to change one's health behavior for the better.
- Leadership role - the CHN focuses on effecting change, the nurse becomes a
they function in harmony while pursuing their goals are the leading functions of a
leadership job.
3. Identify the different health settings for practice for a community health nurse.
(Identify and state the activity/programs that can be done in these settings)
- Home - The home is a setting for health promotion – many CHN’s visits focus on
exercise, and coping with stress. Nurses see clients with their own individual
capitalize on their resources and tailor health services to meet their health needs. In
the home, clients are in their own ‘turf’- they feel comfortable and secure in familiar
surroundings and are better able to understand and apply health information.
- Ambulatory service settings - Include a range of locations for CHN practice, such as
community health centers, where clients can come for day or evening services that
do not require an overnight stay. Another form of ambulatory care setting is areas
where services are provided to specific populations, such as a day care center in a
- Schools - Schools at all levels make up a large collection of places where CHN can
be practiced. CHN primarily serves primary, middle school students and special
business and industry. Companies are moving beyond typical health benefits to
assist health promotion activities because they recognize the importance of healthy
employees. CHNs primarily serve as clinicians, caring for sick and injured
importance of proper job assignment and treatment for work-related illness or injury.
- Primary prevention - Preventative actions are taken in order to avoid disease or harm.
dysfunction. Offering children vaccines, for example, and urging the elderly to install and
use fall-prevention devices such as grab bars for bathtubs and hand rails for steps and
walkways.
hypertension and cholesterol screening aids in the identification of high-risk patients and
- Tertiary prevention - Attempts to decrease the degree and severity of a health problem
in order to limit disability, restore, and retain function, for example, treatment and
educates them to change or modify their health behavior. CHN make use of this
condition of school admission, etc. Use of authority for example, giving strict
approach is very necessary to deal with varies and complex health needs and
problems at large. Community health nurses along with auxiliary nurses and
whole. Other members of the team who are usually included are the
educationalists and many more. CHN working in the community health settings
needs to identify the health teams and their roles, functions and team
and aims.
health nurses working with individuals, families, groups within the community
sector alone because there are many factors which affect people’s health but
they are not under the purview of the health sector e.g. food production and
between the health and all other sectors concerned at all levels.