Edition Chapters: 1, 2, 17, 18, 16, 41,
12, 13, 14, 24 Quiz banks All Solved
Correct.
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 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. -
Answer 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.
Cognitive Level: Analysis
Associated Chapter Objective: 1
REF: p. 6
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. - Answer 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.
Cognitive Level: Synthesis
Associated Chapter Objective: 2
REF: p. 10
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.
d. opinions that nursing should focus on the provision of direct client care and services. -
Answer ANS: D
Barriers to implementing population-focused care include lack of understanding of the public
health nurse role and its relationship to other roles in nursing, such as direct care and services;
workplace role socialization that determines what roles are appropriate and inappropriate or
accessible and inaccessible for nurses; and lack of comprehensive training at the graduate level
in the disciplines basic to public health such as epidemiology, biostatistics, community
development, service administration, and policy formation.
Cognitive Level: Synthesis
Associated Chapter Objective: 5
REF: pp. 17-18
4. The role and goals of the community health nursing practice can best be described as:
,a. community-based interventions aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health
of populations residing in institutional facilities such as nursing homes.
b. education of nurses and other staff working in community-based and community-oriented
settings to improve the overall effectiveness of their programs to meet client needs.
c. population-level strategies aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of
populations through the delivery of personal health care services to individuals, families, and
groups in an effort to improve the health of the community as a whole.
d. activities targeted at improving the health status of clients served by community-based
health service agencies such as hospice and home health agencies. - Answer ANS: C
Community health nursing practice is the synthesis of nursing theory and public health theory
applied to promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of populations through the
delivery of personal health care services to individuals, families, and groups. The focus of
community health nursing practice is the health of individuals, families, and groups and the
effect of their health status on the health of the community as a whole (individual to families to
groups to community flow). This is different from public health nursing, which is the synthesis of
nursing theory and public health theory applied to promoting and preserving the health of
populations. The focus of public health nursing practice is the community as a whole and the
effect that the community's health status, including health care resources, has on the health of
individuals, families, and groups (community to groups to families to individual flow). Both
community health and public health nursing are considered to be community-oriented practices
involving free-living (noninstitutionalized) clients. Community-based nursing practice is setting
specific, and care is provided to clients where they live (home health or hospice nursing,
community-based clinic), work (occupational health nursing), and/or attend school (school
nursing). The emphasis of community-based nursing practice is acute and chronic care (illness
care) and the provision of comprehensive, coordinated, and continuous services, usually within
a specialty area.
Cognitive Level: Analysis
Associated Chapter Objective: 2
REF: p. 16
5. A community-oriented nurse has identified obesity as a problem in the middle school. The
next step in a population-focused practice is to make information available about the health of
the middle school students. This describes the core public health function of:
a. assessment.
b. assurance.
c. policy development.
, d. research. - Answer ANS: A
Assessment is a core function of public health and refers to systematically collecting data
concerning the population, monitoring the population's health status, and making information
available on the health of the community. In a community-oriented approach, a nurse would
apply both nursing and public health theory. In this case, assessment would be the first step
from the perspective of both theories. Because the practice is population focused and
community oriented, it would involve the assessment of the community subpopulation of
middle school children and the impact of obesity on their overall health status.
Cognitive Level: Application
Associated Chapter Objective: 1
REF: p. 6
6. The state public health agency has received multiple complaints regarding the availability of
elder transportation services to a specific county senior center. The state agency assigns a public
health nurse to work with the community to evaluate its program for elder transportation
services to publicly sponsored eldercare programs. The public health core function applied is:
a. assurance.
b. policy development.
c. primary prevention.
d. public transportation. - Answer ANS: A
The public health core function of assurance focuses on the responsibility of public health
agencies to be sure that activities are appropriately carried out to meet public health goals and
plans. This involves making sure that essential community-oriented health services are available
and accessible, especially to vulnerable populations who would otherwise not receive necessary
services. Assurance also includes assisting communities to implement and evaluate plans and
practices.
Cognitive Level: Application
Associated Chapter Objective: 1
REF: p. 6
7. A nurse planning a smoking cessation clinic for adolescents in the local middle schools and
high schools is providing: