CUMMUNITY HEALTH QUESTION AND ANSWERS
• Which of the following best describes community-based nursing?
• A practice in which care is provided for individuals and
families
• Providing care with a focus on the group’s needs
• Giving care with a focus on the aggregate’s needs
By definition, community-based nursing is a setting-specific practice
in which care is provided for “sick” individuals and families where
they live, work, and attend school. The emphasis is on acute and
chronic care and the provision of comprehensive, coordinated, and
continuous care. These nurses may be generalists or specialists in
maternal–infant, pediatric, adult, or psychiatric mental health
nursing. Community-based nursing emphasizes acute and chronic
care to individuals and families, rather than focusing on groups,
aggregates, or systems.
• Which of the following best
describes community-
oriented nursing?
• Focusing on the provision of
care to individuals and
families
• Providing care to manage acute or chronic conditions
• Giving direct care to ill individuals within their family setting
• Having the goal and
disease of health
promotion prevention.
By definition, community-oriented nursing has the goal of
preserving, protecting, or maintaining health and preventing disease
to promote the quality of life. All nurses may focus on individuals
and families, give direct care to ill persons within their family
setting, and help manage acute or chronic conditions. These
definitions are not specific to community-oriented nursing.
• Which of the following is the primary focus of public health nursing?
• Families and groups
• Illness-oriented care
• Individuals within the family unit
• Health
care of
communities
and
population.
In public health nursing the primary focus is on the health care of
communities and populations rather than on individuals, groups,
and families. The goal is to prevent disease and preserve, promote,
restore, and protect health for the community and the population
within it. Community-based nurses deal primarily with illness-
oriented care of individuals and families across the life span. The
aim is to manage acute and chronic health conditions in the
community, and the focus of practice is on individual or family-
centered illness care.
• Which of the following is responsible for the dramatic increase in life
, expectancy during the 20th century?
• Technology increases in the field of medical laboratory research
• Advances in surgical techniques and procedures
• Sanitation and other population-based prevention programs
Improvements in control of infectious diseases through
immunizations, sanitation, and other population-based prevention
programs led to the increase in life expectancy from less than 50
years in 1900 to more than 78 years in 2013. Although people are
excited when a new drug is discovered that cures a disease or when
a new way to transplant organs is perfected, it is important to know
about the significant gains in the health of populations that have
come largely from public health accomplishments.
• A nurse is developing a plan to decrease the number of
premature deaths in the community. Which of the following
interventions would most likely be implemented by the nurse?
• Increase the community’s knowledge about hospice care.
• Promote healthy lifestyle behavior choices among the
community members.
• Encourage employers to have wellness centers at each industrial
site.
• Ensure timely and effective medical
intervention and treatment for community
members.
Public health approaches could help prevent premature deaths by
influencing the way people eat, drink, drive, engage in exercise, and
treat the environment. Increasing knowledge of hospice care,
encouraging on-site wellness centers, and
ensuring timely treatment of medical conditions do not address the
focus of improving overall health through health promotion
strategies. This is the major method that is suggested to decrease
the incidence of premature death.
• Which of the following is a basic assumption of public health efforts?
• Health disparities among any groups are morally and legally wrong.
• Health care is the most important priority in government planning
and funding.
• The health of individuals cannot be separated from
the health of the community.
• The government is responsible for
lengthening the life span of
Americans.
Public health practice focuses on the community as a whole, and
the effect of the community’s health status (resources) on the
health of individuals, families, and groups. The goal is to prevent
disease and disability and promote and protect the health of the
community as a whole. Public health can be described as what
society collectively does to ensure that conditions exist in which
people can be healthy. The basic assumptions of public health do
not judge the morality of health disparities. The focus is on
prevention of illness not on spending more on illness care.
Additionally, individual responsibility for making healthy choices is
, the directive for lengthening life span not the role of the
government.
• Which of the following actions would most likely be performed by a public
health nurse?
• Asking community leaders what interventions should be chosen
• Assessing the community and deciding on appropriate
interventions
• Using data from the main health care institutions in the community
to determine needed health services
• Working with community
groups to create policies to
improve the environment
Although the public health nurse might engage in any of the tasks
listed, he or she works primarily with members of the community to
carry out core public health functions, including assessment of the
population as a whole and engaging in promoting health and
improving the environment. The interventions of asking community
leaders which interventions should be chosen, assessing the
community and deciding on appropriate interventions, and using
data from health care institutions do not demonstrate the
engagement of the community when making decisions about what
the community actually wants and needs.
• Which of the following public health nurses most clearly fulfills the
responsibilities of this role?
• The nurse who met with several groups to discuss community
recreation issues
• The nurse who spent the day attending meetings of
various health agencies
• The nurse who talked to several people about their particular health
concerns
• The nurse who watched the city
council meeting on local cable
television
Any of these descriptions might represent a nurse communicating,
cooperating, or collaborating with community residents or groups
about health concerns. However, the nurse who spent the day
attending meetings of various health agencies is the most
representative, because in public health, concerns are addressed
from a broader perspective. In public health, broad concerns of the
community should be addressed. Concerns are broader than
recreation, individual concerns are not as important as aggregate
priorities, and watching television (a one-way form of
communication) is less effective than interacting with others.
• Which of the following best defines aggregate?
• A large group of persons
• A collection of individuals and families
• A collection of people who share one or more
characteristics
An aggregate is defined a collection of people who share one or
more personal or environmental characteristics. Members of a
community can be defined in terms of either geography (e.g., a
, county, a group of counties, or a state) or a special interest (e.g.,
children attending a particular school). These members make up a
population. The term population may be used interchangeably with
the term aggregate. A large group of persons, a collection of
individuals and families, and another name for demographic group
are not accurate definitions of the term aggregate.
• A registered nurse was just employed as a public health nurse.
Which question would be the most relevant for the nurse to ask?
• “Which groups are at the greatest risk for problems?”
• “Which patients should I see first as I begin my day?”
• “With which physicians will I be most closely collaborating?”
• “With which nursing assistants will I partner the most?”
Asking which groups are at greatest risk reflects a community-
oriented perspective. The incorrect responses reflect a focus on
individuals rather than a community-oriented perspective.
• Making sure that essential community-oriented health services are
available defines which of the core public health functions?
• Policy development
• Assessment
• Assurance
Assurance includes making sure that essential community-oriented
health services are available in the community. The definition does
not fit the terms assessment, policy development. Scientific
knowledge-based care is not a core function of public health.
Assessment is systematic data collection on the population,
monitoring the population’s health status, and making information
available about the health of the community. Policy development
refers to efforts to develop policies that support the health of the
population, including using a scientific knowledge base to make
policy decisions.
• When talking to a women’s group at the senior citizens’ center, the
nurse reminded them that the only way the center would be able to afford
to provide transportation services for them would be for them to continue
to write letters to their local city council representatives requesting
funding for such a service. What was the nurse trying to accomplish
through this action?
• Ensure that the women did not expect the nurse to solve their
problem.
• Demonstrate that the nurse understood the women’s concerns and
needs.
• Express empathy, support, and concern.
• Help the
women
engage in
political
action.
Public health nurses engage themselves and others in policy
development and encourage and assist persons to communicate
their needs to those with the power to take action. The nurse is
• Which of the following best describes community-based nursing?
• A practice in which care is provided for individuals and
families
• Providing care with a focus on the group’s needs
• Giving care with a focus on the aggregate’s needs
By definition, community-based nursing is a setting-specific practice
in which care is provided for “sick” individuals and families where
they live, work, and attend school. The emphasis is on acute and
chronic care and the provision of comprehensive, coordinated, and
continuous care. These nurses may be generalists or specialists in
maternal–infant, pediatric, adult, or psychiatric mental health
nursing. Community-based nursing emphasizes acute and chronic
care to individuals and families, rather than focusing on groups,
aggregates, or systems.
• Which of the following best
describes community-
oriented nursing?
• Focusing on the provision of
care to individuals and
families
• Providing care to manage acute or chronic conditions
• Giving direct care to ill individuals within their family setting
• Having the goal and
disease of health
promotion prevention.
By definition, community-oriented nursing has the goal of
preserving, protecting, or maintaining health and preventing disease
to promote the quality of life. All nurses may focus on individuals
and families, give direct care to ill persons within their family
setting, and help manage acute or chronic conditions. These
definitions are not specific to community-oriented nursing.
• Which of the following is the primary focus of public health nursing?
• Families and groups
• Illness-oriented care
• Individuals within the family unit
• Health
care of
communities
and
population.
In public health nursing the primary focus is on the health care of
communities and populations rather than on individuals, groups,
and families. The goal is to prevent disease and preserve, promote,
restore, and protect health for the community and the population
within it. Community-based nurses deal primarily with illness-
oriented care of individuals and families across the life span. The
aim is to manage acute and chronic health conditions in the
community, and the focus of practice is on individual or family-
centered illness care.
• Which of the following is responsible for the dramatic increase in life
, expectancy during the 20th century?
• Technology increases in the field of medical laboratory research
• Advances in surgical techniques and procedures
• Sanitation and other population-based prevention programs
Improvements in control of infectious diseases through
immunizations, sanitation, and other population-based prevention
programs led to the increase in life expectancy from less than 50
years in 1900 to more than 78 years in 2013. Although people are
excited when a new drug is discovered that cures a disease or when
a new way to transplant organs is perfected, it is important to know
about the significant gains in the health of populations that have
come largely from public health accomplishments.
• A nurse is developing a plan to decrease the number of
premature deaths in the community. Which of the following
interventions would most likely be implemented by the nurse?
• Increase the community’s knowledge about hospice care.
• Promote healthy lifestyle behavior choices among the
community members.
• Encourage employers to have wellness centers at each industrial
site.
• Ensure timely and effective medical
intervention and treatment for community
members.
Public health approaches could help prevent premature deaths by
influencing the way people eat, drink, drive, engage in exercise, and
treat the environment. Increasing knowledge of hospice care,
encouraging on-site wellness centers, and
ensuring timely treatment of medical conditions do not address the
focus of improving overall health through health promotion
strategies. This is the major method that is suggested to decrease
the incidence of premature death.
• Which of the following is a basic assumption of public health efforts?
• Health disparities among any groups are morally and legally wrong.
• Health care is the most important priority in government planning
and funding.
• The health of individuals cannot be separated from
the health of the community.
• The government is responsible for
lengthening the life span of
Americans.
Public health practice focuses on the community as a whole, and
the effect of the community’s health status (resources) on the
health of individuals, families, and groups. The goal is to prevent
disease and disability and promote and protect the health of the
community as a whole. Public health can be described as what
society collectively does to ensure that conditions exist in which
people can be healthy. The basic assumptions of public health do
not judge the morality of health disparities. The focus is on
prevention of illness not on spending more on illness care.
Additionally, individual responsibility for making healthy choices is
, the directive for lengthening life span not the role of the
government.
• Which of the following actions would most likely be performed by a public
health nurse?
• Asking community leaders what interventions should be chosen
• Assessing the community and deciding on appropriate
interventions
• Using data from the main health care institutions in the community
to determine needed health services
• Working with community
groups to create policies to
improve the environment
Although the public health nurse might engage in any of the tasks
listed, he or she works primarily with members of the community to
carry out core public health functions, including assessment of the
population as a whole and engaging in promoting health and
improving the environment. The interventions of asking community
leaders which interventions should be chosen, assessing the
community and deciding on appropriate interventions, and using
data from health care institutions do not demonstrate the
engagement of the community when making decisions about what
the community actually wants and needs.
• Which of the following public health nurses most clearly fulfills the
responsibilities of this role?
• The nurse who met with several groups to discuss community
recreation issues
• The nurse who spent the day attending meetings of
various health agencies
• The nurse who talked to several people about their particular health
concerns
• The nurse who watched the city
council meeting on local cable
television
Any of these descriptions might represent a nurse communicating,
cooperating, or collaborating with community residents or groups
about health concerns. However, the nurse who spent the day
attending meetings of various health agencies is the most
representative, because in public health, concerns are addressed
from a broader perspective. In public health, broad concerns of the
community should be addressed. Concerns are broader than
recreation, individual concerns are not as important as aggregate
priorities, and watching television (a one-way form of
communication) is less effective than interacting with others.
• Which of the following best defines aggregate?
• A large group of persons
• A collection of individuals and families
• A collection of people who share one or more
characteristics
An aggregate is defined a collection of people who share one or
more personal or environmental characteristics. Members of a
community can be defined in terms of either geography (e.g., a
, county, a group of counties, or a state) or a special interest (e.g.,
children attending a particular school). These members make up a
population. The term population may be used interchangeably with
the term aggregate. A large group of persons, a collection of
individuals and families, and another name for demographic group
are not accurate definitions of the term aggregate.
• A registered nurse was just employed as a public health nurse.
Which question would be the most relevant for the nurse to ask?
• “Which groups are at the greatest risk for problems?”
• “Which patients should I see first as I begin my day?”
• “With which physicians will I be most closely collaborating?”
• “With which nursing assistants will I partner the most?”
Asking which groups are at greatest risk reflects a community-
oriented perspective. The incorrect responses reflect a focus on
individuals rather than a community-oriented perspective.
• Making sure that essential community-oriented health services are
available defines which of the core public health functions?
• Policy development
• Assessment
• Assurance
Assurance includes making sure that essential community-oriented
health services are available in the community. The definition does
not fit the terms assessment, policy development. Scientific
knowledge-based care is not a core function of public health.
Assessment is systematic data collection on the population,
monitoring the population’s health status, and making information
available about the health of the community. Policy development
refers to efforts to develop policies that support the health of the
population, including using a scientific knowledge base to make
policy decisions.
• When talking to a women’s group at the senior citizens’ center, the
nurse reminded them that the only way the center would be able to afford
to provide transportation services for them would be for them to continue
to write letters to their local city council representatives requesting
funding for such a service. What was the nurse trying to accomplish
through this action?
• Ensure that the women did not expect the nurse to solve their
problem.
• Demonstrate that the nurse understood the women’s concerns and
needs.
• Express empathy, support, and concern.
• Help the
women
engage in
political
action.
Public health nurses engage themselves and others in policy
development and encourage and assist persons to communicate
their needs to those with the power to take action. The nurse is
