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Introduction

Abby will soon be starting her public health nursing clinical and is struggling with the idea of practicing nursing outside the hospital. She is talking about public health clinicals with Alberto and Sia at lunch. “I can't imagine myself out in someone's home, or in a school, or in a community center or public health agency. I'm not sure I know what I'm supposed to do. I also wonder how I will be respected without scrubs or my uniform. Is it really true that one of the most important skills in public health is listening and that sometimes that is all that you do? I feel like I should be doing something more.”

Alberto responds, “My friend, Zack, had public health last semester. He said that it was interesting to consider listening as its own intervention. It was hard to not jump in and ‘teach’ immediately. He often wanted to do more. After a while, he started to get comfortable and also started to understand the benefits of really trying to understand the perspectives of clients in the community.”

Sia comments, “I worry about all of this too. I was talking with Jen, a friend of mine who took public health last year. She said that on her first home visit, she went with her public health nursing preceptor. This gave her a chance to get a sense for the family's needs and possible interventions.”

Abby says, “I am really worried about being out alone. I wonder what the neighborhood where my family lives will be like and whether I will be safe.”

Sia states, “I'm also curious about the various public health nursing roles that we may be able to observe or do. It seems like the field is so broad and there are so many things to consider.”

ABBY'S NOTEBOOK USEFUL DEFINITIONS

Client: A client (syn. patient) is the individual/family, community, population or subpopulation, or system that is the public health nurse's focus of care.

Community: A community can refer to (a) a group of people or a population group, (b) a physical place and time in which the population lives and works, or (c) a cultural group that has shared beliefs, values, institutions, and social systems (Dreher, Shapiro, & Asselin, 2006, p. 23).

Health Determinants: Health determinants are factors that influence the health of individuals, families, and populations. Health determinants can potentially have a positive (protective factors) or negative (risk factors) influence on health.

Health Status: Health status refers to the level of health or illness and is the outcome of the interaction of the multiple health determinants. Health status indicators, also called global measures of population health, include birth, longevity, and death rates (mortality); illness (morbidity) patterns; perception of wellness and life satisfaction; level of independence; and functional ability.

Holistic Nursing: Holistic nursing is defined as “all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal and honors relation-centered care and ...

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