Development of a Public Health Nursing Conceptual Model

Summary 

Health care provision forms part of the most sensitive departments in American society. It is comprised of different health workers with the public health nurses being the majority-about 25%. They specialize in population-focused care delivery. They coordinate to ensure efficiency of the laid down policies including system, structural and operational. Failure of any can lead to undesirable implication to the population and society’s health. (American Nurses Association. Washington DC. 2007) 

Registered nurses are not only involved in direct health care providers but also in administrative positions. They act as executive leaders of most local public health departments. Their services are conspicuous and distinctive from the rest because of its population-based and a lot of safety must be practised. According to the article, this paramount requirement in the nursing care provision may be overlooked. It seeks to address the importance of safe population-based care and subsequently the influence it has on the outcomes. (Donabedian A.1988 The Quality of Care; How Can it be Assessed) 

Public health care organizations bear the responsibility of protecting and maintaining the health of the public. The professionals that comprise these organizations are the public health nurses charged with the responsibility to safely serve and protect their societies' health. As the demand for more public health nurses elevates, organizations have devised strategies to aid in the increment plan. Having fewer professional nurses being employed in the clinical diagnosis department and admission of the majority to the public health care is a workable strategy. (Wholey DR. Gregg W. et al 2009; Public Health Systems.) 

Health planning, community assessment and disease surveillance are some of the duties carried out by the public health officers. These tasks require high skills, sound professional judgement and critical thinking. A qualified person must have a BSN to be admitted as a public health nurse according to the Public Health Accreditation Board. 

Operational errors occur when the structures in use are unable to prevent them from happening. Lack of essentials necessary to stop an outbreak, for example, a vaccine can lead to massive negative implications. Additionally few numbers of inadequately trained public health nurses especially those without the BSN may lack the much-needed decision-making capacity. Some of them could originate from within their internal operations, such as failure to provide timely health data necessary for surveillance and sharing of sensitive information across staffs. System failures are inter-agency and inter-organizational based. Sharing health important data and communication on preparedness are the core basics of their relationship. Lack of inter-agency referral strategies and cutting of supplies needed for intensive care delivery are failures brought about by the system. Although operational and system errors are not directly committed by the PHNs, they may commit others during the process of health care delivery. Errors of commission occur when an action leads to adverse effects on the population while Errors of omission is when a population suffers because of an action which did not occur. The PHNs have a duty to prevent the occurrence of any. (Tucker AL.2004 Impact of failures on hospital nurses and their patients 22:155-169) 

PHNs competency and evaluation must be considered for future efficiency. Practices, factors and policies impeding the performance of the public health nurses should put to check. Advocacy in state, educational, political complexities and funding is the surest insurance of this sensitive indispensable practice. (Quad council.2006 a threat to the public's health.) 

References 

Issel, L. M., & Bekemeier, B. (2010). Safe practice of population-focused nursing care: Development of a public health nursing concept.  Nursing Outlook ,  58 (5), 226-232. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029655410002630 

Smith, M. A. (2004). Health visiting: the public health role. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 45(1), 17-25.