Role of a Community Health Nurse
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Role of a Community Health Nurse
Community health nurses partner with community stakeholders to assess community needs, identify resources, and develop community-based solutions that are useful in promoting the community’s health. Community health nurses are obligated to offer direct care to patients and promoting a healthy lifestyle (White, 2015). They also educate the community members on increasing their health and decreasing mortality and morbidity. They offer education on how to manage chronic conditions. They organize educational programs, where they provide health education and conduct services such as medical screening. They also administer medications and immunizations to the community. They distribute resources that promote health, such as condoms. They are responsible for conducting research and developing interventions that improve healthcare. Community health nurses can help manage conditions such as sexually transmitted diseases, obesity, teen pregnancy, alcohol, or substance abuse (World Health Organization, 2017).
Importance of Appraising Community Resources
During a community assessment, community health nurses must conduct a resource appraisal. This process is a critical step as it promotes partnership development. Local resources promote health by supporting the community in preventing diseases (Springer & Evans, 2016). Government resources and grants could be unavailable to the community; thus, the resources needed to address the community’s needs will come from the community itself. Community resources could be a person, a physical structure, or a place. These resources are quite vital in promoting the community’s health (WHO, 2017). For instance, a nurse serves the community by providing education and distributing resources that promote community health. Some places, such as a community hall, can be quite resourceful as assemblies can be conducted there.
References
Springer, A., & Evans, A. (2016). Assessing environmental assets for health promotion program planning: a practical framework for health promotion practitioners. Health Promotion Perspectives, 6(3), 111-118. doi: 10.15171/hpp.2016.19
White, F. (2015). Primary Health Care and Public Health: Foundations of Universal Health Systems. Medical Principles And Practice, 24(2), 103-116. doi: 10.1159/000370197
World Health Organization. (2017). Enhancing the role of community health nursing for universal health coverage. Retrieved 08 September 2020, from file:///C:/Users/ADMIN/Downloads/9789241511896-eng.pdf