Community Health Nursing

Dr. C.E. Winslow defines public health as the science and art of preventing
disease, prolonging life, promoting health, and efficency through organized
community effort for the sanitation of the environment, control of
communicable diseases, the education of individuals in personal hygiene, the
organization of medical and nursing services for the early diagnosis and
preventive treatment of disease, ad the development of the social machinery
to insure everyone a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of
health, so organizing these benefits as to enable every citizen to realize his
birthright of health and longetivity.

Hanlon stresses that public health is dedicated to the common attainment of

the higest level of physical, mental, and socal well being and longetivity
consistent with avalable knowledge and resources at a given time and place.
It holds this goal as its contribution to the most effective total development
and lifeof the idividual and his society.

The World Health Organization Expert Committee of Nursing defines public

health nursing as a special field of nursing that combines the skills of
nursing, public health and some phases of social assisstace and functions as
par of the total public health programme for the promotio of health, the
improvement of the conditions in the social aand hysical environment,
rehabilitation of illness and disability.

Jacobson states that community health nursing is a learned practice discipline

with the ultimate goal of contributing, as individuals and in collaboratio with
others, to the promotion of the clients optium level of functioning through
teaching and delivery of care.

The American Nurses Associatin wrote that: community health ursing practice
promotes and preserves the health of opulations by integratin the skils and
knowledge relevant to both nursing and public health. The practice is
comprehensive and general and is not limited to a particular age or
diagnostic group; it is continual, and is not limited to episodic care.. while
community health nursing practice includes nursing directed to individuals,
families, groups, the dominant responsibility is to the population as a whole
(Clark, 1999:50)

According to Dr. Margaret Shetland, the philosophy of community health

nursing is based on the worth and dignity of man.

Reference: Maglaya, A.(2005) Nursing Practice in the Community. Fourth edition.

Argonauta
Corporation
 Community health nursing is a service rendered by a professioal nurse with
the community, groups, familes and individuals at home, in health centers, in
clinics, in school, in places of work for the promotion of health, prevention of
illness, care of the sick at home and rehabilitation. (Dr. RuthB. Freeman)

Reference: Maglaya, A.(2005) Nursing Practice in the Community. Fourth edition.

Argonauta
Corporation