Introduction to Community Health Nursing

 THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY :

 A community is a collection of people who share some important
feature of their lives.

 sharing common interests (eg, a community of farmers),

 living under the same laws and regulations (eg, a prison
community).
 The function of any community includes its members’ collective
sense of belonging and their shared identity, values, norms,
communication, and common interests and concerns.
 Vulnerable: populations are groups and communities at a higher
risk for poor health as a result of the barriers they experience to
social, economic, political and environmental resources, as well as
limitations due to illness or disability
Although many believe that health and illness are individual issues,
evidence indicates that they also are community issues. The spread of
the HIV pandemic, nationally and internationally, is a dramatic and
tragic case in point So , Communities can influence the spread of
disease, provide barriers to protect members from health hazards,
organize ways to combat outbreaks of infectious disease, and promote
practices that contribute to individual and collective health.
 Many different professionals work in community health to form a
complex team
 The city planner designing
  The social worker
 The physician
 And other
o Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging
life, and promoting health and efficiency through organized
community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of
communicable infections, the education of the individual in personal
hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing services for the early
diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of
the social machinery to insure everyone a standard of living adequate
for the maintenance of health, so organizing these benefits as to enable
every citizen to realize his birthright of health and longevity.
o Community health, as a field of practice, seeks to provide
organizational structure, a broad set of resources, and the
collaborative activities needed to accomplish the goal of an optimally
healthy community.

 Community health nursing is a specialized practice. It combines all of

the basic elements of professional clinical nursing with public health
and community practice.
 CHN is a synthesis of nursing practice and public health practice
applied to promoting and preserving the health of populations.
 Community based is define as nurse provide sick care in community
settings.
 Community focused: bringing of nursing knowledge and expertise to
community health nursing.
  One of the challenges community health practice faces is to remain
responsive to the community’s health needs. As a result, its
structure is complex; numerous health services and programs are
currently available or will be developed.

 Examples include health education, family planning, accident

prevention, environmental protection, immunization, nutrition,
early periodic screening and developmental testing, school
programs, mental health services, occupational health programs,
and the care of vulnerable populations.

 Populations and Aggregates:

 population refers to all of the people occupying an area, or to all of
those who share one or population may more characteristics.
 A population also may be defined by common qualities or
characteristics, the common characteristic might be any thing that
thought to relate to health such as age, sex, race, social class etc
Aggregate; are people who don’t have the relatedness necessary to
constitute an interpersonal group buy who have one or more
characteristics in common
Example:
 Aggregate can be identified by virtue of setting( those enrolled in a
well-baby clinic
 Demographic characteristics ( women)
 Health status ( smokers, hypertension)
 THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH

 Wellness: Is the process of moving towered integrating human

functioning and maximizing potential. can be measured in terms
of quality of life.

 Well-being: a state of positive health or a person's perception

concerning positive health.

 illness is a state of being relatively unhealthy. There are many

levels and degrees of wellness and illness, Because health involves
a range of degrees from optimal health at one end to total
disability or death at other.

- High level wellness.(Optimal Health)

- Good health. - Normal health - Illness. - Critical illness.

- Total disability or Death.

 The Health Continuum: Wellness–Illness

 OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING:-

1. To increase capability of individuals, families, groups and community to

deal with their own health and nursing problems
2. To strengthen community resources.
3. To control and counteract environment.
4. To prevent and control communicable and non communicable diseases.
5. To provide specialized services for mothers, children, adults, workers,
elderly handicapped and eligible couple etc.
6. To conduct research and contribute to the further refinement and
improvement of community health nursing practice
7. To supervise, guide and help health personnel in carrying out function
effectively.
8. To participate in preparing health personnel to function in community for
community health care services.

 Philosophy Of Community Health Nursing:

Philosophy of community health nursing is community- based nursing is a
philosophy of care that is characterized by collaboration, continuity of care,
client and family responsibility for self-care, and preventive health care.
Community-based nursing focuses on an individual and is family-centred in
orientation, community that provide (disease prevention, health protection,
and maintenance, and health promotion. so, the community health nursing
called imperial for others nursing field.
following ideas and beliefs:
1.Philosophy of individual’s right of being healthy.
2. Philosophy of working together under a competent leader for the common
good.
3. Philosophy that people in the community have potential for continued
development and are capable of dealing with their own problems if educated
and helped.
4. Philosophy of socialism: health is believed to be one of the rights of all
human beings nationally and
internationally.
 COMPONENTS OF COMMUNITY HEALTH PRACTICE
These components are
(1) Promotion of health,
(2) prevention of health problems,
(3) treatment of disorders,
(4) Rehabilitation
(5) Evaluation
(6) Research

 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING

Seven characteristics of community health nursing are particularly
salient to the practice of this specialty:
(1) it is a field of nursing;
(2) it combines public health with nursing; from definition

(3) It is population focused;

(4) It emphasizes prevention, health promotion, and wellness;
(5) It uses aggregate measurement and analysis;
(6) It uses principles of organizational theory; and
(7) It involves interprofessional collaboration..
 Principles of Community Health Nursing (CHN):
1. The recognized need of individuals, families and communities :
primary purpose is to further apply public health measures within the
framework of the total CHN effort.
2. Knowledge and understanding of the objectives and policies of the
agency facilities goal achievement.:
3. CHN considers the family as the unit of service. :
level of functioning is influenced by the degree to which it can deal with
its own problems.
4. CHN integrated health education and counseling as vital parts of
functions.
These encourage and support community efforts in the discussion of
issues to improve the people’s health.
5. Periodic and continuing evaluation provides the means for
assessing the degree to which CHN goals and objectives are being
attained.
Clients are involved in the appraisal of their health program through
consultations, observations and accurate.
6. Continuing staff education program quality services to client and
are essential to upgrade and maintain sound nursing practices in
their setting.
Professional interest and needs of Community Health Nurses are
considered in planning staff development programs of the agency.
7. Maintenance of accurate records is a vital responsibility of
community as these are utilized in studies and researches and as
legal documents.
 Scope community health nursing
1. Home care
2. Nursing care
3. MCH & family planing
4. School health nursing
5. Mental health nursing
6. Rehabilitation services
7. Geriatric health nursing

 Community health nurses have seven major role settings for CHN
Practice are examined.
The seven major roles are:
• Clinician: The community health nurse provides care along the entire
range of the wellness-illness continuum; however, promotion of
health and prevention of illness are emphasized. Skills in observation,
listening, communication, counselling, and physical care are
important for the community health nurse.
• Educator: As educators, nurses seek to facilitate client learning on a
broad range of topics. They may act as consultants to individuals or
groups, hold formal classes, or share information informally with
clients or nurse who teaches and prepares licensed practical
nurses (LPN) and registered nurses (RN) for entry into practice
positions
• Manager: given the opportunity to acquire the operational, financial,
and management skills essential to their success – and the success of
their organization.
• Advocate: community health nurse as advocate is to help clients find
out what services are available, which ones they are entitled to, and
how to obtain these services. A second goal is to influence change and
make the system more relevant and responsible to clients' needs.

• Collaborator: Collaboration with clients, other nurses, physicians,

social workers, physical therapists, nutritionists, attorneys, secretaries,
and other colleagues is part of the role of the community health nurse
leader

• Researcher: systematic investigation, collection, and analysis of date

to enhance community health practice Research in community health

• CHN As a leader: the community health nurse directs, influences, or

persuades others to effect change that will positively affect people's
health