CKA1 Comm Health & Pop-Foc Nurs Prac
Community Health and Population Focused
Nursing Practice
Denise Bishop
Western Governors University
Abstract
This paper will explore a community health concern from a population focused nursing perspective. The health concern will be a relevant and validated health concern for the community indicated. The relevancy was determined by the Health People 2020 (HP2020) health indicators and the validation of the concern was compared to past objectives being met and current objectives working forward, and the gap in satisfying the target goals set forth ("2020 Topics & Objectives – Objectives A-Z | Healthy People 2020," 2015). A major force in the community of concern is the Kern County Public Health
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The plan will go through assessment of the community and the problem, and an assessment of resources and gaps. The diagnosis will be the health concern topic of prevention of overweight and obesity through healthy nutrition and physical activity. Planning and implementation will be discussed through identified goals and the planning and implementation of the topic focused objectives. Evaluation of the success of the proposed implementation of the objectives and the tools necessary will be discussed
A. Assessment
A1.
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I chose this population due to the large numbers, the poverty level, and the risk for obesity. Statistically, the Hispanic/Latino school aged population rated one of the lowest populations to be physically fit. They also ranked lower on fruit and vegetable consumption. Hispanic/Latinos also have a very low prevalence of higher education compared to the other races and ethnicities. They also rank highest in languages other than English spoken at home ("Healthy Kern County:: Better health through community," 2015). If there is a high adult obesity problem, children are at risk because they are at the mercy of the adult food choices and activity examples they set, because it is usually the adults purchasing the food in the home. Contributing factors to the risk for overweight or obesity, the low fruit and vegetable intake, and the low activity can be attributed to cultural norms, language barriers, and lack of money to buy healthier options. Other factors include unsafe neighborhoods and lack of activity outside of school and ease of purchasing less healthy foods. The change in the education system over the years has led to decreased activity time. Attention to test scores has taken precedence over teaching about health (Espinosa-Hall et al., 2007). Also, in Kern County, the climate is a contributing factor to outdoor activities, with temperatures in the high 90’s and over 100 degrees during the summer ("Bakersfield,
Community health nursing is a vocation; striving to improve the health of the community by promoting, stabilizing and protecting the health of individuals, families and identified aggregates. We are able to have the furthest reach when we can isolate a specific deficit of an aggregate through assessment and subsequently the development of a community support program. Community support programs promote health, access to services and self-advocacy.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2012). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (8th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby Elsev
Nies, M.A. & McEwan, M. (2015-a). Epidemiology. In Community/public health nursing: promoting the health of populations (6th ed.) (p. 70). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier.
McKinney, Texas is “unique by nature”. As one of the fastest growing cities in the US, McKinney has a current population of more than 149,000, located 30 miles north of Dallas and is the seat of Collin County. McKinney offers rolling hills, lush trees, a historic downtown square and unique neighborhoods and developments. The city ranks number 2 in the CNN’s Money Magazine Best Places to Live in America’s list (Live Edit, n.d.). According to the US Census Bureau (2010), McKinney was one of the most populous places to live with a census of 54,369 in 2000 and
Community health nurses incorporate community participation and knowledge about the total population with personal, clinical understandings of the
This paper seeks to expand upon the 2010 Institute of Medicine’s report on the future of nursing, leading change, advancing health and illustrating its impact on nursing education, practice and leadership. There is an ongoing transformation in the healthcare system necessitated by the need to achieve a patient centered care in the community, public, and primary care settings in contrast to previous times. Nurses occupying vital roles in the healthcare system, need improvements in the areas mentioned above to
As Nurses, we often ask ourselves what more can we do than is currently being done to improve the health of our clients not only in an individual sense but as a community. We are required by the scope and standards of nursing to ask ourselves this type of question by virtue of our profession and indeed is a baccalaureate nurse essential as well. We are in a unique position as nurses to have the most interaction with the community of patients we serve, and we often see the issues that affect the communities we serve more readily. One such issue that is undeniably
Population health as a framework for examining health is not a new concept. Historically, epidemiologist have used this to formulate etiologies of disease by measuring variations within a population and the impact of environmental factors (Radzyminski, 2007). Governments have also applied this concept to the implementation of interventions geared at improving the health of nations (Radzyminski, 2007). Although the concept is not new, the term population health has only been recently defined and differentiated from the definitions of community health, public health, and population-focused care. This paper will discuss the current definition of population health, its impact on nursing practice, its relation to evidence-based practice, and the importance of interprofessional collaboration in the delivery of population health care.
The roal of public health nursing is to promote and protect the health of the population. This proactive approach does not limit their scope of practice to health concerns of individuals but also to developing and implementing programs and policies that help enhance the health of populations. The role of public health nurses is to focus on population centered care with the outcome of promoting health, preventing disability and disease, and improving the quality of life. An effective public health nurse is able to evaluate assessment data to define population diagnoses and set priorities accordingly. They can also serve as advocates for individuals and families in the population to develop policies, access resources, and protect their
In an effort to promote the health needs within a community, a successful community health nurse (CHN) must focus on the entire population. In order to accomplish this task, the CHN utilizes a scientific approach to determine the priority population focused health needs for the community. According to Nies & McEwen (2011), a population focus involving an assessment of the community is a primary tool utilized in order to develop planning, interventions, and evaluations for the community at large. The purpose of this paper is to determine a priority
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2015). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier.
Nurses take on educator roles both in educating the public on their health and as educators in clinical practice and academic settings. As a public educator, nurses teach and counsel patients and families to enhance health and well-being. Patient and family health education is an important step in preventing disease. In order to be able to properly educate their clients on health promotion and well-being, nurses must first fully understand “health”. Nurses do not view health as “the absence of illness” but “define health as the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs and to change or cope with the environment in which they live.” (CARNA, 2005, p.2). Nurses hold a holistic view of the person and health and address health within the context of a person’s wholeness, including biological, emotional, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. Incorporating these ideas, nurses use the determinants of health as a way of dealing with and achieving health for an individual. Nurses recognize the broad determinants of health as income & social status, education, culture, physical environments, gender, health services, social support networks, employment & working conditions, health services, personal health practices, and biology & genetic endowment.
Smith, C., & Maurer, F. (2013). Community/Public Health Nursing Practice (5th ed.). :. []. http://dx.doi.org/. Retrieved from www.evolve.elsiver
Public health nurses "play a strategic role in helping reduce environmental and lifestyle-related health hazards by promoting a positive lifestyle, including exercise, stress management, accident prevention, weight maintenance, and nutrition education that is sensitive to socio-economic status and cultural beliefs” ("Obesity's Impact on Public Health Nursing," n.d.). Nurses can help by involving themselves in policy development by being active participants in the policy process as it closely resembles the nursing process. Through community assessments, public health nurses can determine health factors by assessing the socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors of the population to determine interventions
The role of the community health nurse in the participating family’s community is to focus on the health needs of the aggregate or group. Community health nursing refers to a systematic, comprehensive focus on wellness, health protection, and disease, and injury prevention for the population residing in a specific area. The nurse functions as advocate, case manager, consultant, health care provider, educator, and collaborator with other agencies for healthy outcomes of the entire community. Nurses involved in the health of a specific community such as the family participating will assess the members living in the demographic