I.

Overview of Community Health Nursing

a. Community Health Nursing as a Field of Nursing Practice
i. The hallmark of community health nursing is that it is population- or aggregate-
focused.
ii. CHN is a synthesis of nursing and public health practice
1. Emphasis on the importance of the greatest good for the
greatest number
2. Assessing health needs planning, implementing and evaluating
the impact of health services on population groups
3. Priority of health-promotive and disease preventive strategies
over curative interventions
4. Tools for measuring and analyzing community health problems;
5. Application of principles of management and organization in the
delivery of health services to the community
iii. Basic concepts and principles of community health nursing
1. The family is the unit of care; the community is the patient and
there are four levels of clientele in community health nursing.
2. The goal of improving community health is realized through
multidisciplinary effort.
3. The community health nurse works with and not for the individual
patient, family, group or community. The latter are active partners,
not passive recipients of care.
4. The practice of community health nursing is affected by changes
in society in general and by developments in the health field in
particular.
5. Community health nursing is part of the community health
system, which in turn is part of the larger human services system.
iv. Roles of the nurse in caring for communities and population groups