The Role of the Nurse Leader in Population Health
Primary Aspects of Public Health Nursing Practice
It is defined as “the practice of promoting and protecting the health of individuals by relying on nursing, public health, and nursing sciences.” (American Public Health Association, 2013). Therefore, the primary aspects of public health nursing (PHN) practice include health promotion, preventing disease, and promoting the health of populations. Nurses promote health by creating healthy, supportive environments, enhance community cohesion for actions, build robust public policy, reorient health services, and develop personal skills. Prevention of illness entails reproductive and family health, sexual health, prevention of chronic diseases, nutrition and food security, and enhance mental health. Another scope of the primary aspect of PHN practice-health protection- includes infectious disease, protection from injury, environmental health, and emergency health. Through primary health care, community development, education and outreach, and research, PHN practice is promoted.
Primary Aspects of Population Health
The primary aspects of population health focus on the health outcomes of a group of individuals. Another fundamental aspect is concerned with the patterns of health determinants which influence the health of a population, such as culture, socioeconomic statuses, and education. Lastly, it encompasses defining and measuring health outcomes and health determinants’ roles through policies and interventions.
Role of a Nurse Leader in Population Health
Nurse leadership roles in bridging the gap between public health nursing and population health rely on integrating primary care and public health to prevent illness and promoting the health of populations. Nurse leaders can coin primary health care, community development, education, and outreach, and participate in population health research to address the health practice gaps (Simpson & Richards, 2015). Such nurses can extend their primary care scope by participating in patient-centeredness through follow-up programs in the community. Participating in research, community outreach, and education enables the identification of varied social determinates of health in a population that cause gaps in health, thus demonstrating competency in DNP Essential III: Clinical Scholarship and Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Practice (DeCapua, 2017).
Community-centered approaches, as it is for a patient-centered approach, provide more opportunities to partner with community stakeholders such as community health workers, physical educators, and trainers, and resources. Therefore, they demonstrate competency in DNP Essential VI: Inter-Professional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes (DeCapua, 2017). Consequently, they can advocate for public health policies and interventions in communities by involving pertinent policymakers, congruent with DNP-essential V; health care policy for Advocacy in health care. As a result, they can influence social determinants of health and improve population health, a practice that is pertinent with DNP Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population Health for Improving the Nation’s Health (DeCapua, 2017).
References
American Public Health Association. (2013). The definition and practice of public health nursing: A statement of the public health nursing section. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.
DeCapua, M. (2017, September 18). The Essentials of the DNP Program. Retrieved from http://www.dnpnursingsolutions.com/dnp-nursing-program-overview/dnp-program-essentials/
Simpson, V., & Richards, E. (2015). Flipping the classroom to teach population health: Increasing the relevance. Nurse education in practice, 15(3), 162-167.