Potter: Fundamentals of Nursing, 8th Edition

Chapter 03: Community-Based Nursing Practice Key Points - Printable Principles of public health nursing practice focus on assisting individuals and communities with achieving a healthy living environment. Essential public health functions include community assessment, policy development, and access to resources. When population-based health care services are effective, there is a greater likelihood that the higher levels of services will contribute efficiently to health improvement of the population. The community health nurse cares for the community as a whole and assesses the individual or family within the context of the community. Successful community health nursing practice involves building relationships with the community and being responsive to changes within the community. The community-based nurses competence is based on decision making at the level of the individual patient. The special needs of vulnerable populations are a challenge that nurses face in caring for these patients increasingly complex acute and chronic health conditions. A community-based nurse is competent as a caregiver, collaborator, educator, counselor, change agent, patient advocate, case manager, and epidemiologist. Patients are more likely to accept a change if it is more advantageous, compatible, realistic, and easy to adopt.