In 1988, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report on the future of public
health and its mission that defined public health as:
a. what
... [Show More] public-private partnerships do to treat vulnerable populations.
b. what the government does to ensure that vital programs are in place.
c. what the U.S. Public Health Service does to prevent disease, promote health, and
deliver services.
d. what society does collectively to ensure the conditions in which people can be
healthy.
ANS: D
In 1988, the IOM's report stated that public health is "what we, as a society, do
collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy." Consequently,
the mission of public health is "to generate organized community effort to address
the public's interest in health by applying scientific and technical knowledge to
prevent disease and promote health." This clearly places the emphasis on the desire
of the population and community to ensure access to services that foster the health
status of the overall community through the equitable distribution of resources
addressed to community problems that affect health.
2. A registered nurse is seeking a position as a public health nurse. In reviewing the
job description, the nurse would expect to find a description of a position that
focused on functions such as:
a. monitoring pregnant teenagers for symptoms of complications of pregnancy.
b. offering free hypertension screening and treatment referral at local health fairs to
low-income, uninsured, community members.
c. partnering with local seasonal farmworkers to design a program aimed at
preventing illness and injury, and advocating for this population with local political
and community leaders.
d. preventing injury among a population of elderly residents in an assisted living
facility and treating residents' chronic illnesses.
ANS: C
The scope of practice of public health nurses is population focused and community
oriented, with a primary emphasis on population-level interventions that target
strategies for health promotion and disease prevention. In addition, public health
nursing is concerned with the health of all members of a population or community,
particularly vulnerable populations, and uses political processes as a major
intervention strategy.
3. A public health nurse leader is encountering barriers when trying to shift the public
health agency's efforts to a population-focused practice. The reasons peers are not
supportive of the proposed shift to a population focus are most likely related to:
a. agency colleagues' push for nurses to focus on population initiatives.
b. costs associated with staff training and revision of documents.
c. lack of support from the agency's funding sources [Show Less]