Community Health Nursing Process Quiz

NURS 3036 Week 2

• Topics covered this week include evidence-informed practice in community health nursing, milestones in epidemiology, epidemiological measures, working with the community, community development, teamwork, and navigating challenging situations in those contexts.

• Evidence-informed practice combines research evidence, practitioner wisdom, and family experiences.

• The PICO method (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) is used to develop clinical questions based on client health status

• Steps in evidence-informed practice include developing a clinical question, using various evidence sources (including CHN professional knowledge and clinical experience, scientific knowledge, client experiences, community considerations), and applying different levels of evidence (individual studies, synopses of studies, syntheses, synopses of syntheses, summaries) , and using clinical practice guidelines by experts.

• Epidemiology is the study of what affects a population, including factors that influence disease and health problems.

• Key figures in epidemiology history include John Snow (cholera) and Florence Nightingale (army mortality).

• The Framingham study identified causality between risk factors and cardiovascular disease (hypertension, high cholesterol, increased body weight).

• The epidemiological triangle shows the interactions between the agent, host, and environment in the spread of disease.

Types of Epidemiology

• Descriptive epidemiology monitors and analyzes related data for trends (who, when, and where).
• Analytical epidemiology uncovers cause-and-effect relationships, and focuses on why & how to prevent or treat health problems.

Epidemiological Measures

• Mortality rates measure deaths caused by a disease within a population.
• Morbidity rates involve disease occurrences (incidence and prevalence; incidence is new cases; prevalence is all cases) in a population.
• Incidence rate is the number of new cases of a disease during a specific time period divided by the total population at risk during the same time period.
• Prevalence rate is the total number of people affected by a disease at a particular time, divided by the overall population at risk at that time.

Analytical Measures of Association

• Risk refers to probability of a disease occurrence within a specified period.
• Relative risk is the probability of disease in the exposed group compared to the unexposed group.
• Odds Ratio compares the odds of a disease in an exposed group to the odds in the unexposed group.

Interpreting Epidemiological Measures

• Relative Risk and Odds Ratios: A ratio of 1 means risk is same; above 1 means increased risk for exposed group. Below 1 means decreased risk.

• Confidence intervals(Cls) are used to rule out chance. If a CI excludes 1, results are statistically significant; if it includes 1, the results are not statistically significant. Wider intervals mean lower precision; narrower intervals mean greater precision.

• Community definitions include individuals, institutions, shared place, common interest, time that overlaps. Community health assessment considers strengths, constraints, factors influencing health, using information from existing sources as well as direct observation (windshield surveys).

• Community health nursing process involves assessment for understanding the community (physical environment, societal services, economy, transportation) and subsequent planning intervention and evaluation.

• Community Health Nursing Processes: steps involved include assessment, analyzing/diagnostics, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

• Factors impacting implementation include the CHN's role, the nature and scope of the health condition affecting the community, and the community's receptiveness to change.

• The ability to engage the community to improve health is paramount.

Working With Groups, Teams, & Partners

• Tuckman and Jensen's Stages of Group Development: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning.
• Important group leadership styles include authoritarian, laissez-faire, democratic, and shared.
• Conflict is an inevitable aspect of groups. Important strategies for collaborative practice in hard situations are discussed. Group evaluation is a key component in understanding and improving effectiveness.

Community Development

• Community development involves continuous process of social change leading to permanent enhancements
• Key components are capacity building, intersectoral networking, and local area development.
• Effective community development is based on existing strengths and focuses on empowerment from the perspective of individuals in that geographic region.

Conclusion

• Community health and epidemiology are important methods used in nursing practices. A comprehensive understanding of both is required in order for CHNs to be successful in their role.