Public Health Layers
NUR 408
April 23, 2012
Deborah Nallo

Public Health Layers
The focus of Public Health continues to shift with time because of various social, economic, and political forces. Exploring the public health layers of history in the Los Angeles County, State of California, and the United States, and a comparison between public and community health nursing is the beginning to increasing our knowledge toward resources available.
The history of public health in the county of Los Angeles, California, was established in 1903 when the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance for the provision of a county health department (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2012). It became a freestanding department in 2006
Department of Health & Human Services”, n.d.). The Medicare and Medicaid programs provide health care for one out every four American’s (“U.S. Department of Health & Human Services”, n.d.). The HHS provides many services through different layers by the county, state, and private sector grantees. The department has 11 operating divisions, including eight agencies in U.S. Public Health Service, and three human service agencies that include more than 300 programs with various activities. Current services provided research, public health, food and drug safety, grants, health insurance, and many more.
The focus of Community health nursing is to provide direct care to patient, family, or a group to help promote, preserve, and maintain the health of a particular population or community (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). An example of community nursing is to provide services at patients’ home such as teaching the patient regarding his treatment plan that may also include return demonstration. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (2012) website the population consists of 48 % Hispanic served; therefore the focus for the community nurse is to try and understanding the culture, beliefs, and language. This issue may not be a concern for another city that has very little Hispanic population.
According to, American Public Health Association (2012) defines public health as, "Public health nurses integrate community involvement and