Nature and Philosophy of Community Health Nursing (CHN)

Philosophical View  of Community Health Nursing (CHN)

Nature and philosophy of community health nursing study differentiate it from public health. 

Introduction 

    We believe that health and disease are dynamic processes resulting from the patient's interaction with the environment. As patients are constantly changing and growing and the environment is constantly changing, the relationships between them are constantly shifting from a state of balance and imbalance, requiring the patient to adapt to maintain balance and alignment with purpose. Lack of fit can move patients down the wellness continuum over time. Patients move up and down the wellness continuum, ranging from high wellness to death, based on their adaptability. At any given time, people in a community are at different levels of the wellness continuum, and health care subsystem professionals work with families, groups, and peers in the community and build on beliefs about the individual, family, and community. community. , beliefs about health and care. A philosophy is also essential when it comes to setting goals for an individual or a group.

Nature of Community Health Care

    Community Health Nursing is a specific specialized orientation for nursing that incorporates public health principles as guiding concepts. Originally, nursing practice within the community was equated with public health. As noted earlier, “Public health is the science and art that prevents disease, prolongs life, promotes physical and mental health and productivity through organized community efforts for a sanitary environment, the control of community infections, and the education of individuals in personal hygiene principles ; the organization of the medical and nursing service for the early detection and treatment of diseases; and the development of the social mechanism which ensures to every individual in the community a life commensurate with the preservation of health" (Winslow 1920).

 1:Public Health / Community Health

    The terms "community health nursing" and "public health nursing" have different meanings. The term "community health care" is used to encompass the public health knowledge associated with the term "public health care". Many people believe that there is a significant difference in the scope of community health care practice versus public health care, that is, community health care workers provide direct primary care in settings outside of health care facilities, e.g. B. at home, at work, in clinics, schools and / or recreational facilities. 

    In contrast, public health nurses work in a community setting established to address the health problems of a specific identified population (Rothman 1990). The Public Health Nurse is dedicated to identifying and implementing programs to prevent health disorders or, where health is already compromised, to intervene as quickly as possible to reduce further illness or disability. The main difference is that the scope of the practice has shifted from the individual to the community.

    The difference between Public Health Nursing and Community Health Nursing is more than just semantics. Even the formal definitions suggest subtle but real changes in stress and order. According to Ruth B. Freeman (1958), public health nursing is a nursing specialty in which nursing, interpersonal and organizational skills are applied in an appropriate relationship to the skills of other social and nursing professionals for the maintenance of the health of the community. . It includes comprehensive nursing care for individuals, families and groups and, in addition, public health measures aimed at society as a whole, such as epidemiological studies, planning and organization of municipal health action.

2:Purposes 

    Freeman (1970) also explained that the purpose of community health care is to improve the health of the community through the selective application of nursing and public health interventions as part of an overall community health effort. The focus of community health care is on the community; The direction and nature of the care program is determined by the needs of the community as a whole and by the nature of the community's health efforts. 

    Their definition is expanded to include this statement: “The health of the community is as much the product of its physical and social environment, its institutions and their interfaces as it is of the additive health conditions of its population. The interaction between the individual and his/her environment, whether it be the micro environment of the family and immediate neighbors or the macro environment of the city, village, or countryside, is a major determinant of family and community health.

Community Health Nursing Philosophy 

The philosophy of Community Health Nursing derives from the acceptance of certain concepts and facts as a basis for working with people. Among them are:

    1:The essential dignity and worth of the person,

    2:Possession of opportunities and resources of the individual to face her own life,

    3:The importance of the freedom to express one's individuality,

    4:The great growth potential of all social beings,

   5:The individual's right to basic needs (food, housing, medical care), without which the realization of life is often blocked,

    6:The need for people to fight and strive to improve their lives and their environment, 

    7:The individual's right to receive help in times of need and crisis.

    The primary purpose of community health care is to help determine the health needs of systems (individual, family, community) and provide comprehensive care services that help them achieve, maintain, or regain a high level of wellness. Community Health Nursing strives to fulfill this purpose by employing systematic processes and concurrent processes to help patients meet their basic health care needs.