How to write a custom essay on the Role of the Nurse Leader in Population Health

How to write a custom essay on the Role of the Nurse Leader in Population Health

Public Health Nursing

Nursing is a broad field of medicine dealing with a wide range of activities to prevent disease and promote health. Nurses are differentiated based on the specialty or locality, for example, community nurse, public health nurse, oncology nurse, etc.

Other types of nursing focus on an individual, i.e., addressing the health needs of a client or patient, which can be health education or treatment of disease. Public health nursing promotes and protects individuals’ health in a group by utilizing knowledge and skills from science and nursing fields (Parson, 2021). The key function of public health nursing is to promote wellness and prevent ailment in a population. Public health nursing does not focus on providing care to individuals in the community. Still, it can assess individuals’ health needs in the context of their social groups and address them (Parson, 2021). Also, the public health nurses are responsible for identifying and addressing health care problems that can put individuals or communities at risk, for example, infectious and airborne diseases.

Population Health

Population health is the health status and health outcomes of the individuals in a group and not an individual’s health (Medicaid, 2021). The population health outcomes result from health determinants; this includes “public health, genetics, clinical care, social factors, environmental factors, and the distribution of disparities in a group” (Medicaid, 2021). Furthermore, public health workers are responsible for promoting and improving population health by understanding and considering population health determinants.

Population analysis using social determinants of health

Social elements of health include discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, region safety, and job security (Thornton, 2021). Public health nurses should have details of social determinants of health when assessing and coming up with healthy solutions for individuals in the population.

Public health nursing and hospital system approach to population health

Public health nursing does not focus on providing care to individuals in the population. Still, they assess the health needs of individuals in context to their social groups and address them. On the other hand, the hospital system has shifted from individualized care to one that involves the well-being of the community. Studies have shown the need for collaborating primary care and public health to achieve lasting improvement in population health outcomes (Shahzad,2019).

Roles of public health nurse in Covid-19 pandemic

Public health nurses enforce the public health Act 1984 of disease control and the guidelines that guard the general public against communicable disease outbreaks, for example, COVID-19 (Griffith, 2021). This Act protects the general population by surveillance of the disease and implementing appropriate actions. Surveillance entails investigation and approval of outbreaks. Actions are timely and appropriate interventions to stop the spread of COVID-19, for example, isolation and seclusion.

Apart from enforcing the public health act on disease control, public health nurses are responsible for identifying and investigating case contacts. They are required to educate on self-isolation, quarantines, and prevention techniques either through provided hotlines or home visits and interpret disease management guidelines from Disease Control and Prevention Centers (Walden, 2021). Public health nurses are reliable responders in Covid-19 emergencies where they provide effective, safe, and non-discriminatory care to the people they serve. Furthermore, public health nurses are required to work with local government and stakeholders to review, support and improve COVID-19 preparation and emergency operation efforts.

 

References

Griffith, R. (2021). Using public health law to contain the spread of COVID-19 | British Journal of Nursing. British Journal of Nursing. Retrieved 30 December 2021, from https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/bjon.2020.29.5.326.

Medicaid. (2021). Astho.org. Retrieved 29 December 2021, from https://www.astho.org/Health-Systems-Transformation/Medicaid-and-Public-Health-Partnerships/Learning-Series/Public-Health-and-Population-Health-101/.

Parson, M. (2021). Retrieved 29 December 2021, from https://health.mo.gov/living/lpha/phnursing/definition.php.

Shahzad, M., Upshur, R., Donnelly, P., Bharmal, A., Wei, X., Feng, P., & Brown, A. D. (2019). A population-based approach to integrated healthcare delivery: a scoping review of clinical care and public health collaboration. BMC public health19(1), 1-15. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7002-z

Thornton, M. (2021). Preparing Today’s Nurses: Social Determinants of Health and Nursing Education. Ojin.nursingworld.org. Retrieved 30 December 2021, from https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No3-Sept-2018/Social-Determinants-of-Health-Nursing-Education.html#Determinants.

Walden. (2021). the-role-of-the-public-health-nurse-in-a-pandemic. Waldenu.edu. Retrieved 30 December 2021, from https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-programs/master-of-science-in-nursing/msn-public-health-nursing/resource/the-role-of-the-public-health-nurse-in-a-pandemic.

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