ANA\C The Nursing Voice Spring 2019

10  . The Nursing Voice . Spring 2019 Public Health Nursing In California Florence Nightingale, Lillian Wald and other nurse leaders saw the importance of providing care and services in neighborhoods. Their passion and innovation brought forward necessary services to the communities’ underserved residents. California encompasses 163,696 square miles of urban and rural areas, including mountain ranges, farm land, cities, lakes, valleys, and deserts. Approximately 39.56 million people reside in the state. California residents form a diverse fusion of cultures, languages, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual-orientation and customs representing every level of social economics and education. While many people in California have access to health care, in some cases the only licensed care practitioner is a PHN. PHNs provide public health interventions that include but are not limited to, monitoring and providing direct care and treatment, case management, education and interventions to control and prevent the spread of communicable diseases. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2013), public health nursing practice focuses on the health of the population with attention to disease and injury prevention and promotion of optimal health. PHNs work in diverse settings, which include public, private and non-governmental agencies. They partner with their communities to assess, plan, implement and evaluate health initiatives. PHNs address health care issues from a holistic prospective that promote quality of life. PHN’s conduct health assessments, screenings, education. and counseling to ensure healthy outcomes of individuals, families and communities. PHNs connect individuals to community resources and offer support to ensure effective utilization of services. The practice of the PHN is based on activities depicted by the Public Health Intervention Wheel (Fig. 1) and the 10 Essential Public Health Services (Fig. 2). The PHN’s knowledge and experience provides a unique perspective in order to deliver and coordinate services to individuals throughout the life continuum. Recognizing that health is centered in homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and communities, PHNs address the Social Determinants of Health (Office of Disease Preventions and Health Promotion, 2019) and implement care with attention to the unique community, beliefs, and culture. PHNs in California are required to have completed a bachelor or master’s degree in nursing that includes a course in public/ community health with a minimum of 90 clinical hours. They possess the knowledge and skills of clinical etiology, pathology Public Health was first identified as a nursing specialty by Lillian Wald in 1893; however, the practice of Public Health Nursing (PHN) initial roots began with Florence Nightingale. Denise Foster DNP, RN, PHN, NE-BC, Chief Nursing Officer— County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, California Directors of Public Health Nursing, Southern Region PHN Corner Fig. 1 (Minnesota Department of Health, 2001) Fig. 2 (CDC, 2018) Surveillance Policy Development & Enforcement Social Marketing Advocacy Population-Based Population-Based Population-Based Case Finding Individual-Focused Community-Focused System-Focused Counseling Health Teaching Delegated Functions Case Management Community Organizing Coalition Building Collaboration Consultation Referral & Follow-up Screening Outreach Disease & Health Event Investigation Evaluate Monitor Health Diagnose & Investigate Inform, Educate, Empower Mobilize Community Partnerships Develop Policies Enforce Laws Link to/ Provide Care Assure Competent Workforce Research S y s t e m M a n a g e m e n t A S S E S S M E N T A S S U R A N C E P O L I C Y D E V E L O P M E N T Continues on page 11 ❱