A community health nurse, occasionally known as public health nurse, is a registered nurse (RN) who is skilled to operate in public health contexts like state or county health units, businesses, jails, and schools (Smolowitz et al., 2015). A community health nurse is mandated to perform several roles. To begin with, a he or she focuses on short- and long- term care for illness prevention. Regarding these roles, the nurse may be in charge of controlling or averting the spreading of influenza and other infectious illnesses. Working with patients to promote diabetes self-management and enhance diabetes control among other chronic or non-communicable diseases forms part of their main duties. It is also part of their duty to work with moms of infants to lessen the level of infant mortality. As an educator, a community health nurse focuses on issuing materials in a comprehensible arrangement. It is part of the duty to provide info to persons, families, as well as communities that form a basis for healthy choices and healthy living. In learning institutions, it is within their mandate to offer HIV education and sex education programs while in the community, the nurse holds seminars and classes on diabetes control. It can be stated generally that a community health nurse promotes on public health education as a measure for ensuring precautionary healthcare.
Thirdly, as a leader, a community health nurse uses data to execute policy amendments and quality-centered practices. He or she leads collaborative efforts to generate effective health results and deliver critical social and medical services in communities. Fourthly, as a researcher, the nurse gathers and uses data to implement constructive changes for improved health. Sixthly, as an advocate, the public health nurse advocates on the federal, state, and local level to offer improved access to healthcare safeguard finances for community health initiatives and eliminate or reduce health inequalities (Smolowitz et al., 2015). Lastly, as a caregiver, crossing literacy, language, and cultural boundaries to define the well-being and health of adults and youngsters falls within the mandated task. Provision of prenatal care in addition to education for pregnant females, counting information regarding maternal nutrition, and postnatal aid is also on the list of respective roles. In additional, the nurse should offer materials for parents to comprehend appropriate babyhood development and correction methods.
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How the community health nurse assists the families of the patient in their home settings
Demands on care providers are expected to rise in future as the medical care setting transforms. The normal span of hospital stays has been decreasing, which pushes the provision of care into communities and homes and onto family care providers (Clark, 2015). Also, the populace is getting old, and the sum of persons with manifold chronic illnesses and dementia is increasing. Most persons wish to remain in their homes while they grow old, and the family members will be obliged to offer additional, and more multifaceted, care.
The community health nurse has played a crucial role in assisting the family care-providers, and he or she is continuing to do so doubly, as the medical care system evolves. A community health nurse provides more medical care for the elderly and the sick in their communities and homes, thus alleviating liabilities on family care providers. A community nurse trains the family caregivers the ways to offer skillful care so their patients may have a longer life in their homes—and evade costly longstanding care services (Evans ‐ Agnew et al., 2017). Also, the nurse teaches family caregivers the way to stay well and healthy and avoid contracting the illnesses of the patients. Helping families of the patient to arrange aid via social services initiatives, for instance, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Children, Infants, and Women is also worth pointing out.
Barriers related to the initiation of home care services in communities
There are several barriers related to the initiation of home care services in communities. To begin with, a one-dimensional organization in the healthcare system is one of the barriers in home care. A vast majority of administrators in the health system are specialized doctors and they consider home care as a threat to their earnings (Greenwood et al., 2015). Secondly, there are educational system defects which fail to efficiently train medical care professionals to effectively deliver home care services. Nursing and medical graduates are incapable of providing off-hospital services independently since they get trained for bedside care, but home care services are different. Thirdly, people’s culture (values, beliefs, symbols and behaviors) can be a barrier in delivery home care services. There is distrust of communities towards non-doctor specialists. Persons have more faith in nurses in hospitals settings due to the presence of doctors than those who operate by themselves in the communities. The forth barrier in home care provision is the deficiency in security and safety for caregivers and families. The nurses who enter into a patient’s home for care delivery may be concerned about an invasion of their privacy by the patient or families, and vice versa.
The fifth barrier is the absence of insurance coverage. Home care is a costly service and the public insurance does not cover it. Furthermore, there is lack of executive protocol. Analysis of statistics shows that there lacks a clear order for evaluation, classification of patients, salaries, payments, an approximation of costs, and identification of the qualification and competency of caregivers in the home care structure. Lastly, there is a fault in the interdisciplinary collaboration (Greenwood et al., 2015). Delivery and promotion of medical care is an obligation of all social groups. Nevertheless, the healthcare system is incapable of providing that. Inter-sectional and inter-professional collaboration is necessary for home care service delivery.
How living in an urban area versus rural area affect home care services
Among the factor that differentiates urban area and rural area home care services are the distance and transport. The community health nurses in rural areas are likely to travel long distances to reach the patients compared to those in urban areas. This may be a major liability regarding travel cost and time. Also, in rural areas, there is a shortage of reliable transport, which can be an obstacle to care. On the other hand, in urban regions, public transportation is commonly an option for nurses to reach the patient (Toth et al., 2017). These public transport services are missing in rural parts, thus making it challenging for caregivers to access the patients.
Another factor entails medical insurance coverage. Persons lacking medical cover have less access to home care services. A United States Census Bureau statement, Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S., 2018, revealed that the population residing outer metropolitan statistical zones with no any form of health cover was approximately 9.1 percent in the year 2018, in comparison to around 8.4 percent of the population inside metropolitan statistical zones. Additionally, research established that about 26.5 percent of uninsured, rural inhabitants postponed getting medical care because of cost (Toth et al., 2017). The uninsured rural populations face bigger challenge accessing care because of the scarce supply of rural caregivers who provide reduced-cost or charity medical care, relative to their urban equals.
Lastly, poor health literacy in rural areas can negatively affect the delivery of home care service. Health literacy affects the patients’ aptitude to comprehend health instructions and information from their caregivers (Toth et al., 2017). This may be particularly alarming in rural populations, in which poorer educational levels and greater poverty incidence often affect inhabitants. Poor health literacy may make rural inhabitants hesitant to pursue healthcare because of fear associated with communicating with the medical care professional.
References
Clark, M. J. (2015). Community health nursing . Prentice Hall.
Evans ‐ Agnew, R., Reyes, D., Primomo, J., Meyer, K., & Matlock ‐ Hightower, C. (2017). Community health needs assessments: Expanding the boundaries of nursing education in population health. Public Health Nursing , 34 (1), 69-77.
Greenwood, N., Habibi, R., Smith, R., & Manthorpe, J. (2015). Barriers to access and minority ethnic carers' satisfaction with social care services in the community: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative literature. Health & Social Care in the Community , 23 (1), 64-78.
Martinez, M. (2018). Examining Barriers to Receiving Home Care in a MediCal Program.
Smolowitz, J., Speakman, E., Wojnar, D., Whelan, E. M., Ulrich, S., Hayes, C., & Wood, L. (2015). Role of the registered nurse in primary health care: meeting health care needs in the 21st century. Nursing Outlook , 63 (2), 130-136.
Toth, M., Holmes, M., Van Houtven, C., Toles, M., Weinberger, M., & Silberman, P. (2017). Rural–Urban Differences in the Effect of Follow ‐ Up Care on Postdischarge Outcomes. Health services research , 52 (4), 1473-1493.
