Community Health Nursing

Course Objectives

1. Design the nursing process to promote health with community partners across the life span in community settings with both predictable and unpredictable circumstances.

2. Create partnerships with communities in the customized therapeutic care process to protect, promote, and restore optimal community health.

3. Analyze practice decisions within the community utilizing critical thinking.

4. Evaluate strategies to improve community health through scholarship.

5. 8. Develop and exhibit self-directed behaviors in the community health setting.

6. 9. Demonstrate behaviors that are professional in nature in accordance with the American Nurses Association and the Texas Board of

Nursing (Essential VIII)

Experiential Learning Practice Objectives:

1. Demonstrate cultural sensitivity when formulating customized therapeutic nursing care with the community.

5. Demonstrate leadership, initiative and professionalism in the community health setting and demonstrate accountability for behavior.

6. Seek appropriate assistance and utilize guidance to facilitate own learning.

7. Demonstrate behaviors that are professional in nature in accordance with the American Nurses Association and the Texas Board of

Nursing (Essential VIII)

Assignment Goal:

The students will be able to analyze critical data to identify health threats and risks in their assigned community.

Assignment Objectives:

1. The student will locate demographic data and vital statistics that relate to the assigned community.

2. The student will summarize the collected data

3. The student will identify 2 strengths and weaknesses of the community based on the summary

4. The students will formulate a nursing diagnosis based upon the analysis of the data.

Demographic Assessment Project Overview

This assignment utilizes data mining, a tool of nursing informatics, to locate critical information about your community. The US Census, performed by law stated in The US Constitution, is collected every ten years. The results of the census are found here. The information gleaned here is immensely valuable in assessing and planning interventions for a community. This is a routine practice for public health nurses and community nurses.

It is important to understand that the date from the US Census is self- reported. It may or may not be accurate. You may notice that the percentages do not always add up to 100 percent (or they add up to more than 100 percent). Sometimes people fill the census forms out a little differently than instructed, which gives interesting results! Report the numbers as they are stated in the Census documents and relax.

List objectives for the project and state how they were met:

• The objective of this survey is to provide data on the community and resource available

• Assess the community

• Gain a better understanding of the community

These tasks were met by:

• The data was provided by me driving and observing the demographics, environment health services and anything that is vital for the community to thrive.

• What I assess was the population; the difference in the age group was younger, and majority race of people was black.

• I gain a better understanding of the neighborhood and why there are the two liquor store and two corner stores at opposite end of the street, because at various times I see young adults hanging out in front of these stores.

How did the project change your perception about community health?

How will you apply what you learned from the project to you practice?