Health Care Community Nursing

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how contemporary health care delivery systems are changing their view of health care. Hospitals and conventional medical centers are moving from individual oriented health care systems to community based health care systems. The paper explains that nursing students are now encouraged to view the community as their primary client and develop nursing interventions that appropriately address the needs of the community as their client. This includes providing interventions at the aggregate level. The paper emphasizes the importance of defining a community and focuses on delivering primary care within a community experiencing increasing levels of family violence.

Outline:
Concept of Community
Community vs. Aggregate
Levels of Prevention

From the Paper:

"Various service providers define community in multiple ways. It is important one understand each of these varying definitions to determine how the needs of the community within the health care environment can best be addressed. One may define community as including the health care delivery team including nurses and physicians working to help individual clients as well as the client, their family and related members of the community that can all participate in decision making and problem solving at the community level (Caretto & McCormick, 1991). Crichton et al. (1997) defines community as a team of collective individuals within a given target population. St. Martin (1996) suggests that community health centers are organizations that focus on health promotion and health care for specific populations that constitute a "community."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Caretto, V.A. & McCormick, C.S. (1991). "Community as client: A hands-on experience for baccalaureate nursing students." Journal of Community Health Nursing, 8(3): 179.
• Chalk, R. & King, P. (1998, Winter). "Facing up to family violence." Issues in Science and Technology, 15(2): 39.
• Crichton, A., Farrant, W., Gordon, C. & Robertson, A. (1997). "Health care: A community concern?" Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
• Hierich, M. (1998). Rethinking health care: Innovation and change in America. Boulder: Westview Press.
• National Research Council. "Understanding child abuse and neglect." Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1993.

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