Family Health Nursing Research Paper

Community Settings for Family Health Nurses A family health nurse can provide care in a variety of settings such as, home visits, community nursing centers, and public health departments and also be an educator in the home and community. In this paper, I will discuss these facilities in my community, access to these resources, how families in the community benefit, and three ways a family health nurse may be useful in community resources. There are a variety of settings where a family community/public health nurse provides care and in order to prevent illness and promote health, it is important to use concepts and principles that can be applied in the diverse settings and varying types of families that they encounter (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, …show more content…
First, educating families and communities helps promote health and prevent disease and when information is gained through a community assessment, specific teaching can be provided in the areas that are identified as more at-risk. Some of the factors that determine health are physical environment, genes and biology, medical care, and social environment or characteristics. A variety of strategies can be used to revise characteristics, modify behaviors, and identify care limitations. For example, if losing weight is something that needs to be focused on, teaching methods can include the hazards of obesity, benefits of exercise, and importance of healthy eating. Second, a family nurse promotes health by facilitating access to community resources such as, immunizations, exercise classes, well-child care, nutrition, and family planning. When considering the context of families, the areas they live in, and what choices are available, the nurse must be realistic and work toward what is achievable. Sometimes there are barriers due to race, gender, and social class and the best possible solutions need to be found by remaining ethically sound, being an advocate for care, and encouraging a partnership between families and professionals. Third, being involved in policy development is important and a family community/public health nurse has firsthand knowledge of emerging and current health issues because of daily contact with vulnerable and at-risk populations. When nurses are engaged in formulating policies, they are in a unique position to make a difference as they are trusted, readily respected, and are known to have an impact on the quality of life of those in their communities. They can help ensure there is access to cost effective and appropriate care and develop policies that