Population Health Surveillance Practice of Public Health Nurses

ABSTRACT Objective: To report the population health surveillance functions of public health nurses and to describe factors that impede these functions.
Design and Sample: An interpretive qualitative study was conducted in Public Health Service areas in Eastern Canada. Participants were public health nurses ( n =55) with an average of 14.5 years of pertinent work experience.
Measures: Semistructured face-to-face, telephone interviews, and focus groups were conducted, transcribed, coded, and analyzed.
Results: The nurses in this study used ecosocial population health surveillance functions that included multilevel societal influences on health. Extensive interprofessional and intersectoral networks were foundational to their surveillance work, allowing them to monitor what was occurring in the community and transfer this knowledge into various systems to contribute toward improved health outcomes. However, the nurses did not acknowledge the significance of their population health surveillance work, and documentation structures did not support these surveillance functions.
Conclusion: New surveillance methods and documentation structures that reflect an ecosocial surveillance approach are needed that are more consistent with public health nurses' population-focused practice.     

Women's Health and the Practice of Public Health Nurses in Northern British Columbia

This study explored women's health and the practice of public health nurses in northern British Columbia using a phenomenological methodology. Ten public health nurses in northern British Columbia were interviewed to determine their perspectives on their practice in the area of women's health. Findings reveal three central themes: women's health, public health nursing practice, and rural context. Several subthemes elaborate on the central themes. Women's health is described in terms of women's health needs, how women stay healthy in northern communities, and conditions that affect women's health. Public health nursing practice is described in terms of activities, strengths, conditions, and ways to strengthen practice. Definitions of rural context are provided and some of the benefits and challenges of living and working in northern communities are presented. Health promotion and illness and injury prevention needs of women are clearly evident in the findings. Public health nurses are well placed in the North to help women meet their health care needs. However, further attention to women's health needs and the expansion of public health nursing services would facilitate improved health for women who live in isolated northern settings. In addition, further research is needed to explicate women's health and public health nursing practice in isolated northern settings in Canada.     

The Practice of Empowerment and Coercion by Expert Public Health Nurses

This article describes the dialectic of public health nursing responsibility to empower families in self care as well as the nursing responsibility to evoke authority as needed to protect children from violence and neglect. Through qualitative study of expert home visiting public health nurses' anecdotes (N=95), these apparently contradictory activities were discovered to co-exist in helping relationships. The synthesis of the apparent contradictions applies community rather than autonomy as the fundamental moral guide     

The Process of Structuring Community Health Needs by Public Health Nurses Through Daily Practice: A Modified Grounded Theory Study

PurposeIt is extremely difficult to apply the model learned in basic education for public health nurses (PHNs) to conduct community health assessments. The purpose of this study was to clarify the process by which community health needs can be structured through PHNs’ daily practice.MethodsSemistructured interviews were conducted in 29 PHNs, and continuous comparative analysis using a qualitative study was performed with a modified grounded theory approach.ResultsThe participants “used their five senses to understand the relationship between the health and life of people” and “considered those who do not attend” by “learning from stakeholders.” To verify such subjective feelings sourced from vague phenomena within the communities, subjective phenomena were converted into qualitative data.ConclusionThe application of the findings to organizational continuous education systems may not only help appropriately improve community health assessment methods but can also help improve the evaluation of daily practice and contribute to professional human-resource development.     

对实习护生健康教育能力的调查分析

临床实习是护生从学校走向岗位的必经途径 ,是获取临床护理经验的关键。随着整体护理的深入开展 ,健康教育已成为整体护理的重要组成部分。临床实习护生的健康教育能力如何 ,直接关系到实习效果及今后整体护理的开展。对本校实习返校的 12 0名四年制护理专业学生进行了问卷调查     

Building Community Capacity for Health Promotion: A Challenge for Public Health Nurses

Abstract The centennial celebration of public health nursing is a strong reminder of the tradition and practice of public health nursing's commitment to communities. Partnerships with communities give public health nurses fiduciary responsibility to be actively involved in public health reform to advance health promotion and health protection. Public health nurses must rise to the challenge to build community capacity through facilitating community participation, enhancing community health services, and coordinating public policy to achieve core public health responsibilities of assessment, policy, and assurance. This paper explicates strategies for building community capacity for health promotion.     

护士开展健康教育现状调查

医院健康教育是全民健康教育的重要组成部分 ,是以医院为基地 ,以病人及家属为对象 ,通过护理人员有计划、有目的的教育过程 ,达到使病人了解和增进健康的目的 ,改变其不健康的行为 ,使其行为向有利于健康的方向发展[1] 。为了解护理人员在医院内开展健康教育的现状 ,特对山东省菏泽市 5所市级医院 2 68名护理人员进行了调查 ,其结果如下。1　资料与方法1.1　调查对象　随机抽取 5家市级医院内、外、妇、儿等科室的护理人员 2 68名 ,年龄 :2 0岁～ 2 9岁 181名 ,3 0岁～ 3 9岁 46名 ,40岁～ 49岁 3 9名 ,5 0岁～ 60岁 2名 ;文化程度 :中专 1…     

Mississippi Public Health Nurses and Midwives: A Partnership That Worked

Abstract At the turn of the century maternal and infant mortality rates were high in this southern state. Untrained midwives conducted many of the deliveries. Initial support for locating and training midwives by public health nurses was provided by the American Red Cross and the United States Public Health Services. Later, funding from a philanthropic organization (Rockefeller International Foundation) provided a mechanism that brought Mississippi public health nurses and midwives to a partnership that endured for over a half a century, and contributed to better maternal-infant health care outcomes for that state.     

Screening for Adolescent Self-Injury: A Survey of Ohio Advanced Practice Nurses

The purpose of this article is to describe Advance Practice Nurses' (APN) clinical practice of screening and managing adolescent intentional self-harm. A random sample of 250 APNs was mailed a questionnaire to obtain clinical practice information on the topic. Analysis of the returned questionnaires revealed 3 themes: the majority of APNs do see many adolescents who intentionally self-harm; not all APNs screen for this behavior, but the number of adolescents who self-harm increases with purposeful screening; and APNs identified a need for more education about self-harm behaviors. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Public Health Nurses and Family Planning

Unintended pregnancy is a health problem that is particularly important in the practice of public health nurses (PHNs). Data from 844 PHNs showed that they were likely to practice in settings that incorporate family planning services and were knowledgeable about specific family planning methods. They favored family planning services and an expanded supportive government role in both family planning and abortion. Since PHNs are an important resource for the community activism required to build the consensus needed to expand these services, a multiple-regression analysis was performed to determine predictors of activism. Political participation was the major predictor for activism on both family planning and abortion.