For a long time, the work of nursing personnel was considered as secondary, and without an independent meaning. The main criterion for its assessment was simply the correct execution of manipulations and physicist’s assignments. Nowadays, the significant contribution that professional nurses make to the implementation of activities aimed at protecting the health of the population is widely recognized in the world healthcare community. It is now known that the entire healthcare system, as well as the quality of medical care, largely depends on the work of nurses. The evidence from Hanžek’s (2018) study states that “nursing discharge summaries emphasize the role of the nurse in cost-effective planning and nursing care” (p. 51). Community health nurses hold a specific place in this work, as they provide the majority of the care.
For example, nurses who work at community centers are one of the first responders to people’s health-related complaints. They work closely with the community to resolve the pressing medical issues people are experiencing, providing care and help to every member of it. The patient needs are the priority for the community center nurses, as the patients attend these centers primarily to get help with their problems. Such needs may include psychological, medical, or social help, and nurses provide assistance for all of them. Moreover, they also design and present educational campaigns and care actions to the community. According to Hartzler et al. (2018), “health education typically targeted specific issues, such as cancer screening or self-management of a chronic illness” (p. 241). This contributes to the overall level of awareness in society.
In contrast to community center nurses, nurses who attend government agencies do not provide direct medical services to the population. Instead, they work closely on the state policies and guidelines to ensure that the state healthcare is comprehensive and well-designed. Still, similarly to community center nurses, agency nurses also develop educational programs to raise society’s awareness on different issues. There, the individual patient needs are not an issue – state agencies nurses study the medical needs of the population as a whole in order to develop specific policies that address them accordingly.
References
Hanžek, K. (2017). Attitudes and opinions of community health nurses on nursing discharge summaries and cooperation with Hospital Nurses. Croatian Nursing Journal, 1(1), 51–59. Web.
Hartzler, A. L., Tuzzio, L., Hsu, C., & Wagner, E. H. (2018). Roles and functions of community health workers in Primary Care. The Annals of Family Medicine, 16(3), 240–245. Web.