Community Settings for Family Health Nurses - Paper Example

Introduction

This paper examines the roles of the family health nurse in various community settings, that is, community education, home education, public health departments, community nursing centers, and nurse home visiting programs. It discusses these facilities in the community in terms of access to them, how families in the community benefit from them, and the usefulness or roles of a family health nurse in using these resources in the community setting. Family health nurses play an important role in using the resources available to them to improve community health by advocating for the enhanced health of populations, promoting healthy living, empowering communities, and partnering with families (Fooladi, 2015).

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Nurse Home Visiting Programs

Nurse home visiting programs are mechanisms used by public and community health nurses to promote the health of individuals in families. Such programs enable family health nurses to educate members of the family on how to stay healthy. Through such programs, family nurses also create awareness among families on disease prevention strategies. According to Sawyer, Frost, Bowering, and Lynch (2013), home visiting programs that community nurses deliver as part of their routine clinical practice are effective in improving family health by promoting positive relationships in the family.

Community Nursing Centers

Community nursing centers are public health facilities that are designed to provide affordable health care services to vulnerable and socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Such centers are usually established in neighborhoods with poor access to quality health care in urban and peri-urban environments so as to improve health outcomes in such settings. The role of the family or community health nurse in such facilities is to partner with other stakeholders in coordinating care delivery to the intended communities. These centers also provide families with health education services and resources for ensuring healthy living.

Public Health Departments

Public health departments are divisions within public health organizations that focus on coordinating public health programs aimed at improving care delivery to local communities. The role of a family health nurse in these departments is thus to use the public or community health resources provided to improve health outcomes for families in designated areas. The local public health departments also play the role of controlling, detecting, and preventing various diseases affecting members of the communities in which they are located.

Home and Community Education

Home education is a family health strategy aimed at improving the health of families by creating awareness and empowerment among families on ways of staying healthy. The role of a family nurse in home education is to encourage and advise families to adopt healthy behaviors and lifestyles, provide members with the necessary support and resources, and identifying barriers to healthy living among families (Adib-Hajbaghery, 2013). On the other hand, community education is a health promotion technique that targets a whole community by identifying health problems and providing solutions to them.

Aspects of Family Health Nursing in Community Health Settings

The main assets or resources of a family health nurse used in promoting health in community health settings include home visits and telephone support, family health assessments, and social support and protection services. The home visits and telephone support services are used by family health nurses to facilitate communication with families on ways of staying healthy. Further, family health assessments enable family health nurses to identify health problems facing members of a family and offer appropriate solutions and support. The social support and protection services are resources used by nurses to promote health among families in poor neighborhoods (Souza, Almeida, Veloso, Barbosa, & Vedana, 2013). Besides health education and advocacy, family health nurses promote community health by taking part in health policy formulation, facilitating access to public health resources, and creating cultural awareness in the community regarding ways of maintaining healthy living. As a result of the work of family health and community nurses, families and communities benefit from health outcomes such as increased involvement in care programs and interventions, greater access to public health resources, enhanced quality of life, and increased resilience.

Conclusion

In summary, family health nurses promote community health using facilities and resources in the community such as public health departments, home, and community education, community nursing centers, and home visiting programs. The key roles of a family health nurse regarding family and community health promotion are to empower communities and provide the necessary support services and resources.

References

Adib-Hajbaghery, M. (2013). Nurses role in the community. Nursing and Midwifery Studies, 2(2), 169-170

Fooladi, M.M. (2015). The role of nurses in community awareness and preventive health.International Journal of Community Based Nursing Midwifery, 3(4), 328-329

Sawyer, M.G., Frost, L., Bowering, K., & Lynch, J. (2013).The effectiveness of nurse home-visiting for disadvantaged families: Results of a natural experiment. BMJ Open Journal, 3, 1-9. Doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002720

Souza, J., Almeida, L.Y., Veloso, T.M. C., Barbosa, S.P., & Vedana, K.G.G. (2013). Family Health Strategy: Community resources in mental health care. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem, 26(6). Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-21002013000600014