In this final course entry into your Nurse E-Portfolio, you continue examining your role in public/community health nursing. Using the e-portfolio format, answer the following questions. Make sure you

Nurse E- Portfolio- Final course entry

1. Explore different public or community health careers and discuss one that you might be interested in

Public health has different kinds of careers and these include: Public health nurses, public health educators, Epidemiologists, social workers, mental health workers, public health researcher, global health worker, public health physician to mention but a few. I might be interested in the public health nurse. (Rector, n.d.)

2. Describe the requirements to practice and available positions in your community.

In order to practice as a public or community health worker, you need a Bachelor’s degree. Some of the careers in public health need certifications on top of the Bachelor’s degree. The available positions in my community include School nurse, community health nurse, public health nurse, correctional facility nurses, correctional workers and correctional officers, mental health educators. (Rector, n.d.)

3. Address how this position impacts the health of the population it serves.

A public health nurse health nurses functions in many areas of expertise. A public health nurse focuses on the health of populations, takes into consideration the needs and priorities of the community. A public health nurse is a bridge in the community. Relationships among families, communities and systems are created and strengthened in the community, rehabilitation is done in the community, and cultural sensitivity is promoted due to the fact that the public health nurse deals with diversity.

Health promotion and prevention is given high consideration by the public health nurse. (Rector, n.d.)

All aspects of health for example, physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental are promoted with the help of the public health nurse. (Rector, n.d.)

4. Also, discuss what you have learned about nursing in the community and how this has changed your perception of your nursing practice. Before I got the opportunity to learn about nursing in community, I did not know the actual role of a community nurse. Having learned in depth the role of a community nurse has made me have more respect to the community health nurse as compared to the bed side nurse. As mentioned above, a community nurse plays a great role in shaping the community. A community nurse is a bridge between families, communities and systems. Through the community health nurse, the Center for disease control gets updated health information about different communities. (Rector, n.d.)

Through the public health provides education concerning health promotion and prevention of any health risks. The community health nurse has a lot of patient dealing with different kinds of people who are always despised in the community. In conclusion, the community health nurse always looks around for those in need. This is a great job which even the doctors cannot do. The community health nurse is a transformer and this is done by transforming the community to a better health community.

Reference

Rector, C. Community and public health nursing.