Module 1: Community Health Nursing Concepts
Module 1: Community Health Nursing Concepts
Is a field of nursing practice where services are delivered outside of purely curative
institutions ( ex. hospital), but in the community settings such as home, the school,
places of work, health centers, and clinics. The scope of services provided covers the
whole range of health promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative nursing
services, with bias towards priority given to health promotion and disease prevention
especially for the underserved and high-risk individuals, families, population groups and
areas of the community.
The philosophy of Community Health Nursing is based on the worth and dignity of a
man. (According to Dr. Margaret Shetland)
1. The community is the patient in CHN, the family is the unit of care and there are four
levels of clientele: individual, family, population group (Ex: children, elderly and
pregnant women) and the community.
2. In CHN, the client is considered as ACTIVE partner and NOT PASSIVE recipient of
care.
3. CHN practice is affected by developments in health technology, in particular,
changes in society, in general.
4. The goal of CHN is achieved through multi-sectoral efforts.
5. CHN is a part of health care system and the larger human services system.
While the following principles of CHN were adapted from those formulated by Mary S.
Gardner and by Leahy, Cobb and Jones. (CHN service in the Philippines p.17)
1. Greater control for both the nurse and the client in making decisions related to
health care
2. Collaboration between nurse and client as equals
3. Recognition of the impact of different factors on health
4. Nurses greater awareness of their clients lives and situations
The health belief model is a theoretical model that can be used to guide health
promotion and disease prevention. It used to explain and predict individual changes in
health behaviors. People will not change their behaviors unless they believe that they
are at risk. Example: those who do not think that they are at risk of acquiring HIV from
unprotected sexual intercourse are unlikely to use condom.
The basic treatise is that behavioral patterns of populations and individuals who make
up populations are a result of habitual selection from limited choices.
She challenged the common notion that a main determinant for unhealthful behavioral
choice is lack of knowledge. Governmental and institutional policies, she said set the
range of options for personal choice making.
It neglected the role of community health nursing, examining the determinants of
community health and attempting to influence those determinants through public
policy.
4. Nola Pender’s Health Promotion Model (Nursing Theorists and their work 5 th
edition p.624)
Nola J. Pender graduated her BSN course in 1964 at Michigan State University, earned
her M.A. In Human Growth and Development in the same university. She finished her
Ph. D. in psychology and education in 1969 at Northwestern University. Pender’s
Health Promotion Model focuses on three areas: Individual characteristics and
experiences, behavior-specific cognitions and affect, and behavioral outcomes. The
theory notes that each person has unique personal characteristics and experiences
that affect subsequent actions.
Social assessment – Determine the social problems and needs of a given population
and identify desired results.
Implementation of interventions
The practice focuses on promotion, protection, and restoration of worker's health within the
context of a safe and healthy work environment.