aggregate
population or defined group.
change agent
nursing role that facilitates change in client or agency behavior to more readily achieve goals. This role stresses gathering and analyzing facts and implementing programs.
change partner
a nursing role that facilitates change in client or agency behavior to more readily achieve goals. This role includes the activities of serving as an enabler-catalyst, teaching problem-solving skills, and acting as an activist advocate.
community
people and the relationships that emerge among them as they develop and use in common some agencies and institutions and a physical environment.
community assessment
process of critically thinking about the community and getting to know and understand the community as a client. Assessments help identify community needs, clarify problems, and identify strengths and resources.
community health
meeting collective needs by identifying problems and managing interactions within the community and larger society. The goal of community-oriented practice.
community health problems
actual or potential difficulties within a target population with identifiable causes and consequences in the environment.
community health strengths
resources available to meet a community health need.
community-oriented practice
a clinical approach in which the nurse and community join in partnership and work together for healthful change.
community partnership
collaborative decision-making process participated in by community members and professionals.
confidentiality
information kept private, such as between the health care provider and client.
database
collection of gathered and generated data.
data collection
the process of acquiring existing information or developing new information.
data gathering
the process of obtaining existing, readily available data.
data generation
the development of data, frequently qualitative rather than numerical, by the data collector.
evaluation
provision of information through formal means, such as criteria, measurement, and statistics, for making rational judgments necessary about outcomes of care.
goals
the end or terminal point toward which intervention efforts are directed.
implementation
carrying out a plan that is based on careful assessment of need.
informant interviews
directed conversation with selected members of a community about community members or groups and events; a direct method of assessment.
interdependent
the involvement among different groups or organizations within the community that are mutually reliant upon each other.
intervention activities
means or strategies by which objectives are achieved and change is effected.
objectives
a precise behavioral statement of the achievement that will accomplish partial or total realization of a goal; includes the date by which the achievement is expected to be completed.
participant observation
conscious and systematic sharing in the life activities and occasionally in the interests and activities of a group of persons; observational methods of assessment; a direct method of data collection.
partnership
a relationship between individuals, groups, or organizations in which the parties are working together to achieve a joint goal. Often used synonymously with coalitions and alliances, although partnerships usually have focused goals, such as jointly provid
problem analysis
process of identifying problem correlates and interrelationships and substantiating them with relevant data.
problem prioritizing
evaluating problems and establishing priorities according to predetermined criteria.
secondary analysis
analysis using previously gathered data.
setting for practice
the community.
surveys
method of assessment in which data from a sample of persons are reported to the data collector.
target of practice
population group for whom healthful change is sought.
value
ideas of life, customs, and ways of behaving that members of a society regard as desirable.
windshield survey
a community assessment, the motorized equivalent of a physical assessment for an individual; windshield refers to looking through the car windshield as the nurse in community health drives through the community collecting data.