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

Different Public Health Careers and My Interesting Career

Public health is a field with many kinds of careers. Some of these careers 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 (Rector, 2018). The best career in which I might be interested, of all the jobs mentioned above, is being a public health nurse. According to Rector, public health nursing can be practiced either by one or a group of public health nurses, who may work in collaboration (2018). Public health nurses are involved in different activities that are at the core of public health, including assessment, development of policies, and assurance (Rector, 2018). Therefore, public health nurses focus on preventing illness, promoting health, handling injuries and disabilities, and maintaining people’s health.

Requirements to Practice as a Public Health Worker and the Available Positions in My Community.

There are conditions for anyone wishing to serve as a public health worker. To practice as a public or community health worker, a person will need to be a holder of a Bachelor’s degree (Nelson & Staggers, 2016). Some of the careers in public health need certifications in addition to the Bachelor’s degree. Some of 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 (Nelson & Staggers, 2016). All these require a Bachelor’s degree before one can be allowed to serve in any of the positions.

How Public Health Nurses Impact the Health of the Population They Serve

A public health nurse functions in many areas of expertise. As McCormack and McCance posit, a public health nurse focuses on the health of the population, taking into consideration the health needs and priorities of the community being served (2016). A public health nurse acts as a bridge to good health in the community. Relationships among families, communities, and systems are created and strengthened in the community by public health community nurses (McCormack & McCance, 2016). Rehabilitation in a community is also done in the community by public health nurses. Besides, public health nurses promote cultural sensitivity since they deal with diversity. McCormack and McCance add that a fundamental way in which public nurses impact the health of people they serve is participation in policy and decision making (2016). Public health nurses make significant contributions to the processes of planning and making decisions as well as the development of appropriate and most effective policies affecting public health (Rector, 2018). This means the work of a public nurse in influencing policies significantly impacts all decisions that affect the quality of a community’s life and their access to health care services. The public health nurse gives health promotion and prevention of high consideration. All aspects of health, for example, physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and environmental, therefore, are promoted with the help of the public health nurse. (Rector, n.d.)

Reflection: What I Have Learned about Nursing in The Community and how it has Changed My Perception of the Nursing Practice.

Before I got the opportunity to learn about nursing in the community, I never understood know the actual role of a public or community health nurse. Having learned in depth, the role of a community nurse has made me develop more respect for the public or community health nurse as compared to the bedside nurse. As mentioned above, I have learned that a community health nurse plays a significant role in shaping the community’s health. A community nurse is a bridge between families, communities, and systems. Through the community health nurse, the Center for Disease Control gets health information updates about different communities (Rector, 2018). Another lesson I have learned is that serving as a public or community health nurse requires success in education. One needs to attain a high level of education that equips them with the essential knowledge that can allow them to serve the health needs of people.

Through public health programs, public health nurses provide education concerning health promotion and prevention of any health risks. The community health nurse has a lot to do to rehabilitate the different kinds of people who have despised the community, fostering new and better relationships (Rector, 2018). 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, therefore, transforms communities to better health standards.

Reference

McCormack, B., & McCance, T. (Eds.). (2016). Person-centered practice in nursing and health care: theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons.

Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2016). Health Informatics-E-Book: An inter-professional approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Rector, C. L. (2018). Community and Public Health Nursing: Promoting the public's health. Wolters Kluwer.