Overview of Community Health Nursing

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts from the lecture notes on community health nursing, including theories, models, core public health functions, ethics, advocacy, evidence-based practice, and prevention levels.

Community health nursing

A population-focused approach to planning, delivering, and evaluating nursing care that promotes the health and welfare of clients across the lifespan and from diverse populations.

Population-focused nursing

Nursing that emphasizes the health needs of populations or aggregates rather than only individual patients.

Upstream thinking

Interventions that promote health or prevent illness at the population level, before disease occurs.

Systems thinking

Analyzing how individuals or units interact with other organizations or systems to understand cause-and-effect relationships.

Nightingale’s Environmental Theory

Theory highlighting the relationship between environment and health, viewing health as a continuum and emphasizing preventive care.

Health Belief Model

A model that predicts health behaviors based on perceived susceptibility, seriousness, threat, modifying factors, cues to action, and perceived benefits minus barriers.

Milio’s framework for prevention

Prevention framework that emphasizes community-level change and the link between health deficits and the availability of health-promoting resources.

Pender’s Health Promotion Model

Model examining factors that affect individual actions to promote health, including personal factors, behaviors, self-efficacy, benefits, barriers, and social influences.

Transtheoretical Model (TTM) / Stages of Change (SOC)

Theory of behavior change describing six stages: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance, Termination.

Precaution Adoption Process Model

Model similar to TTM that includes an unengaged stage and does not include a termination stage.

Essentials of Community Nursing

Core concepts in community nursing, including determinants of health, health indicators, quality improvement, and public health fundamentals.

Determinants of health

Client or environmental factors (nutrition, social support, stress, education, finances, housing, biology/genetics, personal health practices) that influence health.

Health indicators

Measures describing a community’s health status (e.g., mortality, disease prevalence, activity levels, BMI, tobacco use) used to guide improvements.

Quality Improvement (QI)

A systematic approach to improving the quality and performance of health services within a community setting.

Public health core functions

Three overarching functions guiding population health: Assessment, Policy Development, and Assurance.

Assessment (Public Health Core Function)

Systematic monitoring of health status to identify community health problems and hazards; includes diagnosis/investigation.

Policy development (Public Health Core Function)

Informing, educating, and empowering people; mobilizing partnerships; developing policies and plans to improve population health; enforcing laws for equity.

Assurance (Public Health Core Function)

Ensuring access to needed personal and population-based health services; maintaining a competent workforce; evaluating effectiveness, accessibility, and quality.

10 Essential Public Health Services

A framework of services including monitoring, diagnosing problems, informing/educating, mobilizing partnerships, developing policies, enforcing laws, linking to services, ensuring a competent workforce, evaluating, and conducting public health research.

Monitor health status

Part of Assessment; systematic tracking of health to identify problems in a population.

Diagnose and investigate health problems

Part of Assessment; identifying and examining health problems and hazards in the community.

Inform, educate, and empower

Part of Policy Development; providing information to individuals and communities to support health decisions.

Mobilize community partnerships

Part of Policy Development; building collaborations among community members, agencies, and businesses to address health problems.

Develop policies and plans

Part of Policy Development; creating laws and strategic plans to support health efforts.

Enforce laws and regulations to promote equity

Part of Policy Development; implementing laws to protect health and ensure safety and fairness.

Link to needed personal health services

Part of Assurance; connecting individuals to necessary health services.

Ensure a competent workforce

Part of Assurance; guaranteeing a skilled public health and personal health care workforce.

Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality

Part of Assurance; assessing how well health services meet needs and how they can be improved.

Public health nursing

Population-focused nursing that combines nursing knowledge with social and public health sciences to promote health and prevent disease.

Community-based nursing

Nursing practiced in the community focusing on direct care for individuals and families in non-institutional settings.

Community-oriented nursing

Another term for population-focused community health nursing, aiming to influence community health and population-level outcomes.

Quality Improvement in CQI

Continuous quality improvement; an ongoing, data-driven approach to improving organizational processes and health outcomes.

CBPR (Community-Based Participatory Research)

Collaborative research approach involving partners, professionals, and community residents to identify issues and intervene, fostering leadership and positive collaboration.

CPSTF (Community Preventive Services Task Force)

A body that reviews health promotion and disease prevention guidelines and determines the strength of evidence for interventions.

Public Health Ethics

Ethical framework guiding public health work, including preventing harm, promoting good, autonomy, diversity, confidentiality, competency, trust, and advocacy.

Autonomy

Respecting individuals’ right to self-determination in health decisions.

Nonmaleficence

Principle of doing no harm in care and interventions.

Beneficence

Principle of maximizing benefits and minimizing harms in health actions.

Distributive justice

Fair distribution of health benefits and burdens based on need and contribution.

Advocacy

Acting as a supporter and mediator for clients and communities to improve health and access to services.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

Using best practices, expert opinion, and client preferences, supported by high-quality evidence, to improve outcomes.

Healthy People 2030

U.S. national health objectives set every decade to guide health promotion and disease prevention efforts.

Levels of prevention – Primary

Preventing the initial occurrence of disease or injury (e.g., immunizations, health education, nutrition).

Levels of prevention – Secondary

Early detection and treatment to limit severity (e.g., screenings, disease surveillance, risk factor screening).

Levels of prevention – Tertiary

Reducing disability and promoting rehabilitation after illness or injury (e.g., case management, rehab, support groups).

Screening reliability

The consistency of a screening test’s results over time or across observers; part of evaluating a screening method.

Screening validity

The accuracy of a screening test in identifying true cases (how well it measures what it intends to measure).

Predictive value

The probability that a person actually has (or does not have) the disease given a positive (or negative) screen.

Social determinants of health (SDOH)

Conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that affect health outcomes.