Question

How does the role of the community/public health nurse differ from other nursing roles when educating clients (individual vs. population level health education) Suggest specific strategies that the community/public health nurse will use to address population health education issues.

Answer 1

Role of the community/public health nurse when educating clients

Community health nurses have always practiced in a wide variety of settings and assumed various roles. The seven major roles and six of the most common settings for CHN practice are examined.

The seven major roles are:

Clinician
The role of the clinician or care provider is a familiar one for most people. In community health the clinician views clients in the context of larger systems. The family or group must be considered in totality. The community health nurse provides care along the entire range of the wellness-illness continuum; however, promotion of health and prevention of illness are emphasized. Skills in observation, listening, communication, counselling, and physical care are important for the community health nurse. Recent concerns for environment, sociocultural, psychological, and economic factors in community health have created a need for stronger skills in assessing the needs of populations at the community level.

Educator

One of the major functions of the community health nurse is that of health educator. As educators, nurses seek to facilitate client learning on a broad range of topics. They may act as consultants to individuals or groups, hold formal classes, or share information informally with clients. Self-care concepts, techniques for preventing illness, and health promotion strategies are emphasized throughout the health teaching process.

A nurse educator is a nurse who teaches and prepares licensed practical nurses (LPN) and registered nurses (RN) for entry into practice positions. Nurse Educators also teach in graduate programs at Master’s and doctoral level which prepare advanced practice nurses, nurse educators, nurse administrators, nurse researchers, and leaders in complex healthcare and educational organizations.

Advocate

In health care the concept of advocacy has become increasingly important over recent years as consumers demand better quality, more responsiveness and easier access to such services. The rise of consumerism through every walk of life has had its influence on expectations of health care, and there is an increasing demand for user-empowerment and public accountability for services.

Two underlying goals in client advocacy are described. One goal of the community health nurse as advocate is to help clients find out what services are available, which ones they are entitled to, and how to obtain these services. A second goal is to influence change and make the system more relevant and responsible to clients' needs.

Manager

The manager's role is common to all nurses. Nurses serve as managers when they oversee client care, supervise ancillary staff, do case management, run clinics and conduct community health needs assessment projects. The nurse engages in four steps of the management process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling evaluation. Each of these functions is described in the text. Specific decision-making behaviours are part of the manager's role as well as human, conceptual and technical skills.

The Nurse Manager plays an essential role in healthcare. She sets the tone of any Healthcare System. The Manager is the backbone of the organization. The quality of patient care, as well as staff recruitment and retention success, rests with this key role. Over time it will be the strength of the nurse manager group that determines the success or failure of nursing leadership, the COO, and even the CEO.

Collaborator

Collaboration with clients, other nurses, physicians, social workers, physical therapists, nutritionists, attorneys, secretaries, and other colleagues is part of the role of the community health nurse. Collaboration is defined as working jointly with to hers in a common endeavour to cooperate as partners.

Skills required for successful collaboration are

• Communication skills,
• Assertiveness,
• Consultant skills.

Leader

The role of leader is distinguished from the role of manager. As a leader, the community health nurse directs, influences, or persuades others to effect change that will positively affect people's health. Acting as a change agent and influencing health planning at the local, state and national levels are elements of the role of the leader.

Characteristics of an Effective Leader

A good leader must be:

• A lifelong learner
• A good communicator with effective interpersonal skills
• Able to look at the whole picture
• A good teacher
• Able to foster growth in others by mentoring and providing opportunities
• A model for effective change
• Accountable
• A problem-solver
• A promoter of collaboration
• Knowledgeable in area of expertise
• Goal-oriented
• A person who seeks opportunities for growth
• Open-minded
• A good time manager
• Able to remain calm when everyone else is not

Researcher

In the role of researcher, community health nurses engage in systematic investigation, collection, and analysis of date to enhance community health practice Research in community health may range from simple inquiries to complex agency or organizational studies. Attributes of a nurse researcher include a questioning attitude, careful observation, open-mindedness, analytical skills, and tenacity.

Role of other nursing roles when educating clients
Nurses play a dynamic and crucial role in healthcare. A nurse is usually the first person a patient interacts with. Nurses are responsible for assessing patients’ needs and diagnosing illnesses. As such, nurses are an integral part of the comprehensive standards of care and health promotion. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health promotion as “the process of enabling people to increase control over the determinants of health and thereby improving their health.” Before we can examine the role of nurses in health promotion, we must first assess the guiding principles of health promotion.

The three main tenets of health promotion are advocate, enable and mediate. Nurses advocate on behalf of their patients and the community at large by supporting causes that help optimize health, such as nonprofit organizations and educational campaigns. Nurses enable or empower their patients by striving for equal access to healthcare services. Race, gender and ethnicity are important factors to consider. Finally, to promote health for all citizens, nurses play the role of mediator between healthcare providers, governments, businesses and the media. A collaboration between various institutions is the only way to ensure the health of a population.

A comprehensive health education — the use of different learning approaches to help improve health through knowledge and experience — is essential to effective health promotion. Thus, health promotion underpins a nurse’s role within a healthcare setting.

Strategies for health promotion should strive to reduce negative health outcomes associated with health determinants by increasing knowledge through health education. Therefore, a nurse’s role in health promotion includes various responsibilities related to advocating, enabling and mediating activities to reduce poor health outcomes. Online RN to BSN programs should be proactive in preparing nurses to meet this increased demand for health promotion by incorporating courses and practical experiences related to health promotion and education, theories to enhance health outcomes among diverse segments of the population, and the development of leadership skills, into their curricula. Online RN to BSN programs should also facilitate and support critical thinking to remove barriers to health and well-being at all levels of patient interaction.

Methods of standard practice in nursing now require nurses to actively engage in health promotion strategies to maximize optimal health outcomes. Nurses should be able to apply evidence-based concepts from research to implement effective strategies that promote optional health. Additionally, they should be proficient in the skills and competencies needed to influence health-related policy and empower communities to take action toward improving health. Online RN to BSN programs that cultivate critical thinking skills and leadership and incorporate the tenets of health promotion into their curricula are better able to prepare nurses for the increasingly important role of health promotion to improve the health and well-being of the population at large.

Nurses play an important role in promoting public health. Traditionally, the focus of health promotion by nurses has been on disease prevention and changing the behaviour of individuals with respect to their health. However, their role as promoters of health is more complex, since they have multi-disciplinary knowledge and experience of health promotion in their nursing practice.

Thus, the role that nurses play in Patient Counselling and Health Education is not only indispensable but desirable and, arguably, no patient can get better and stay better without this crucial component to treatment.

Importance of Patient Counselling

• To help the patient’s development
• To help the patient make proper choices
• To help the patient develop readiness for choices and changes to face new challenges
• To motivate the patient

Importance of Health Education in Prevention

• Builds knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes about health
• It motivates improvement and maintenance of health, prevents disease, and reduces risky behaviours
• Teaches skills to use to make healthy choices throughout lifetime
• Promotes learning in other areas of life
• Teaches about physical, mental, emotional and social health