Public health nursing is the “practice of promoting and protecting the health of a population using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences”. (APHA, 1996) This means that instead of focusing on treatment and waiting until people get sick to take action, a public health nurses get the chance to focus on prevention of disease and promoting health for a population. So many illnesses can be prevented and by sharing the knowledge of prevention, public health nurses can create a healthier community.
Unlike clinical nursing which is based on the care of individuals Public health nursing is based on the care of the whole community. With the outbreak of a communicable disease like Ebola, a specialist public health nurse can share information on how to prevent the contraction of such a disease. In addition to communicable diseases, public health nurse specialists also focus on areas like health screening, immunizations, and vaccines.
The work of public health nurses in preventing disease in a population is beneficial to the population and other nurses. As diseases and further complications are being prevented by the promotion of vaccines, healthy practices and screening, fewer people with become ill and that will prevent overcrowding in health care facilities.
Before taking this course I did not know what the role of a public health nurse was. I have since realized that public health nursing is very important in the prevention and promotion of health in a