Community and Public Health Nursing
Core concepts
Community health questions focus on population-based care, levels of prevention, and epidemiology. Know primary prevention (immunization, health education, seatbelt use), secondary prevention (screening, early detection), and tertiary prevention (rehabilitation, chronic disease management). Understand reportable diseases, outbreak investigation, and community assessment (windshield survey, key informants). Know levels of prevention apply to populations, not just individuals, and that community nurses emphasize health promotion and disease prevention. Familiarize yourself with vulnerable populations (elderly, homeless, uninsured) and cultural competence.
Traps
Questions may mislabel a screening test as primary prevention. Remember: screening = secondary. Also, community-focused answers target groups and systems, while individual-focused answers may be distractors when the question asks about population health.
Rule of thumb
Classify by when the action occurs: before disease (primary), during early disease (secondary), after disease (tertiary).
Worked example
A community nurse organizes a blood pressure screening fair. This is secondary prevention because it detects existing disease early.