Community Health, Public Health, and Safety

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, concepts, and assessment tools from Chapter 23 (Community Health, Public Health, and Home Health Care) and Chapter 25 (Safety).

Public Health Nursing

A nursing specialty that focuses on populations and is guided by the Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing Practice.

Quad Council of Public Health Organizations

An organization that works alongside the American Nurses Association to outline the Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing Practice.

Public Health

Healthcare that is focused on populations and is not limited to a particular setting.

Community Health

A field that extends public health by incorporating organized private and government community health initiatives.

Community-Based Nursing

Nursing roles in outpatient, community, or government facilities involving client advocacy, routine checkups, caring for the sick or dying, client education, and managing chronic conditions.

Home Health Care

Services delivered in the home setting aimed at promoting, maintaining, or restoring health to an optimal level of functioning and reducing the impacts of disability and illness.

Core Functions of Public Health Wheel

A public health framework centered on system management and research, comprising three core functions: Assessment, Policy Development, and Assurance.

Primary Prevention

Interventions focused on health promotion and risk reduction before disease occurs, such as encouraging weight control, physical activity, and smoking cessation.

Secondary Prevention

Interventions aimed at early detection and control of health conditions or risk factors, such as screening for cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes.

Tertiary Prevention

Interventions designed to manage existing diseases and prevent further disability, such as CAD management following a coronary event or beta-blocker therapy after a heart attack.

Levels of Health Care Continuum

A model mapping outpatient to inpatient care settings across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention interventions.

Social Determinants of Health

Conditions influencing community health outcomes, including income, education, health literacy, employment, early childhood development, social exclusion, family structure, status and role of women, and vaccination adherence.

Intrinsic Etiologic Factors

Internal individual factors influencing disease risk, such as genetics, age, gender, ethnic group, immunization status, and human behavior.

Extrinsic Etiologic Factors

External environmental factors influencing health and disease, including physical environment, biologic environment, and socioeconomic influences.

Descriptive Epidemiology

Studies that are conducted once a disease is already evident in a population.

Analytic Epidemiology

An epidemiological approach that generates and tests hypotheses regarding why a disease is occurring in a community.

Windshield Survey

An observational community assessment tool used to inspect a community's environment and living conditions.

Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS)

A standardized assessment instrument utilized by Medicare-certified home health agencies during home health assessments.

County Health Rankings and Roadmaps

A community resource utilized by nurses to help guide strategies and improve community health outcomes.

Safety

The condition of being free from physical or psychological harm and injury.

Unintentional Injuries

Accidental events that constitute major safety concerns within home and community settings.

The Joint Commission

An organization that established National Patient Safety Goals to target areas of critical concern across hospitals, long-term care facilities, home care, and outpatient settings.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (2020)

An organization that provided an action plan containing specific recommendations to improve safety in health care environments.

Fall Assessment Tools

Validated risk evaluation tools including the Johns Hopkins Hospital Fall Assessment Tool, Morse Fall Scale, and Hendrich II Fall Risk Model.

STEADI Initiative

Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries; a fall prevention toolkit designed to reduce fall risks among older adults.

PASS Fire Extinguisher Sequence

The four-step process for operating a fire extinguisher: 1) Pull the pin, breaking seal; 2) Aim nozzle; 3) Squeeze handle; 4) Sweep at base of fire.

RACE Protocol

A standardized fire safety mnemonic and response protocol used for emergency fire interventions in health care agencies.