Assumption 1: Defining Public Health Nursing Practice
Public health nursing is defined as the practice of promoting and protecting the health of populations using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences (APHA, 1996). The title "public health nurse" designates a registered nurse with educat
Assumption 2: Public Health Nursing Practice Focuses on Populations
The focus on populations as opposed to individuals is a key characteristic that differentiates public health nursing from other areas of nursing practice. A population is a collection of individuals who have one or more personal or environmental character
Assumption 3: Public Health Nursing Practice Considers the Determinants of Health
Health inequities are defined as health status inequalities that society deems to be avoidable or unnecessary (Kawachi, Subramanian, and Alemeida-Filho, 2002). Significant health disparities related to race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status exist wit
Assumption 4: Public Health Nursing Practice is Guided by Priorities Identified Through an Assessment of Community Health
In the context of the Intervention Wheel, a community is defined as "a social network of interacting individuals, usually concentrated in a defined territory" (Johnston et al, 2000).
Assessing the health status of the populations that comprise the communi
Assumption 5: Public Health Nursing Practice Emphasizes Prevention
Prevention is "anticipatory action taken to prevent the occurrence of an event or to minimize its effect after it has occurred" (Turnock, 2009, p 516). Prevention is customarily described as a continuum moving from primary to tertiary prevention (Leavell
Assumption 6: Public Health Nurses Intervene at All Levels of Practice
To improve population health, the work of PHNs is often carried out sequentially and/or simultaneously at three levels of prevention (see Figure 9-2).
Community-level practice changes community norms, community attitudes, community awareness, community pr
Assumption 7: Public Health Nursing Practice Uses the Nursing Process at All Levels of Practice
Although the components of the nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation) are integral to all nursing practice, PHNs must customize the process to the three levels of practice. Table 9-1 outlines the nursing process
Assumption 8: Public Health Nursing Practice Uses a Common Set of Interventions Regardless of Practice Setting
Interventions are "actions taken on behalf of communities, systems, individuals, and families to improve or protect health status" (ANA, 2010). The Intervention Wheel encompasses 17 interventions: surveillance, disease and other health investigation, outr
Assumption 9: Public Health Nursing Practice Contributes to the Achievement of the 10 Essential Services
mplementing the interventions ultimately contributes to the achievement of the 10 essential public health services (see Chapter 1). The 10 essential public health services describe what the public health system does to protect and promote the health of th
Assumption 10: Public Health Nursing Practice is Grounded in a Set of Values and Beliefs
The Cornerstones of Public Health Nursing (Box 9-1) were developed as a companion document to the Intervention Wheel. The Wheel defines the "what and how" of public health nursing practice; the Cornerstones define the "why." The Cornerstones synthesize fo
Component 1: The Model Is Population Based
The upper portion of the Intervention Wheel clearly illustrates that all levels of practice (community, systems, and individual/family) are population based. Public health nursing practice is population focused. It identifies populations of interest or po
Component 2: The Model Encompasses Three Levels of Practice
Public health nursing practice intervenes with communities, the individuals and families that comprise communities, and the systems that impact the health of communities. Interventions at each level of practice contribute to the overall goal of improving
Component 3: The Model Identifies and Defines 17 Public Health Interventions
The Intervention Wheel encompasses 17 interventions: surveillance, disease and other health investigation, outreach, screening, case finding, referral and follow-up, case management, delegated functions, health teaching, consultation, counseling, collabor
Systems Level of Practice
The goal of systems-level practice is to change the laws, policies, and practices that influence immunization rates, such as promoting population-based immunization registries and improving clinic and provider practices
Examples of Interventions Applied to Definition of Prevention: Primary Prevention
Primary prevention promotes health and protects against threats to health. It keeps problems from occurring in the first place. It promotes resiliency and protective factors or reduces susceptibility and exposure to risk factors. Primary prevention is imp
Examples of Interventions Applied to Definition of Prevention: Secondary Prevention
Secondary prevention detects and treats problems in their early stages. It keeps problems from causing serious or long-term effects or from affecting others. It identifies risk or hazards and modifies, removes, or treats them before a problem becomes more
Examples of Interventions Applied to Definition of Prevention: Tertiary Prevention
Tertiary prevention limits further negative effects from a problem. It keeps existing problems from getting worse. It alleviates the effects of disease and injury and restores individuals to their optimal level of functioning. Tertiary prevention is imple