Community Health Nurses

Term Paper # 99618

Canadian Studies > Misc.
Medical and Health > Nursing

This paper explores Canadian community health nurses' standards of practice.

994 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper talks about the most recent Canadian national standards regarding health maintenance, restoration and palliation. The paper examines what Canadian nurses can do to improve their own practice vis-a-vis restorative and/or palliative care. The paper also looks at how research in the field can be used by nurses to make themselves educators for local communities. The paper shows how community health nursing demands a sophisticated knowledge of how to interact with the less-fortunate; it is not simply about providing medical answers to medical concerns.

Outline:
Introduction
Discussion of the Topic
A Brief Review of the Scholarly Literature
Examples of Community Nurses Using the Knowledge Outlined Above to Assist Communities
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The topic, "Health Maintenance, Restoration and Palliation," is an intimidating topic at first glance, but it does not need to be. Simply put, the aforementioned component of community nursing entails using appropriate strategies to reduce the "risk factors" which can lead to disease (specifically chronic disease) and disability. More than that, nurses engaged in the health maintenance, restoration and palliation process must apply clinical skills to any assessment of the client's health status so that collaborative planning, evaluation and implementation of proper nursing "interventions" can be achieved. Finally, the nursing professional who is assisting clients during the difficult periods that attend health restoration or terminal illness must be able to draw upon a variety of "improvement" strategies and she or he must be able to meet the unique needs of individual patients (TGS Consultants Incorporated, 2005)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Blasi, Z.V. (2002). End-of-life care in dementia: a review of problems, prospects, and solutions in practice. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 3(2): 57-65.
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2004, March 29). Quality practice: A resource for employers of nurses. Quality Practice. Retrieved October 8, 2006, from <http://www.cno.org/pubs/qp/2004/qpvol3no1.htm>
Health Canada. (2006). Home and community care. First Nations & Inuit Health. Retrieved October 8, 2006, from <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fnih-spni/services/home-domicile/index_e.html>
Layzell, S. (1993). Specialist or generic community nursing care for HIV/AIDS patients? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 18(4): 531-37.
Lee, Diana T.F., Lee, Iris F.K., Mackenzie, Ann E. & Ho, Rosalie, N.L. (2002). Effects of a care protocol on care outcomes in older nursing home patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50(5): 870-76.