Public Health Nursing Standards

Public health nursing standards of care require the use of standardized procedures to improve community health.

The National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP) provides standards of care for public health nurses to promote the delivery of public health services. Public health nursing standards ensure consistency and quality in the delivery of community-based education, health care and health improvement.

Assessment

Public health nursing standards identify targeted interventions by reviewing the needs, risks, strengths and requirements of the community population.

Diagnosis

Public health nurses diagnose individuals and assess community and individual health care needs. The standards rely on evidence-based guidelines that enable nurses to properly evaluate individual and population-based needs.

Intervention

Nurses create interventions to improve individual and community health for the benefit of the overall population. Public health nursing standards of care focus on interventions that include education, community development and health policy development.

Partnerships

Public health nurses mobilize community resources and urge organizations to support community outreach and health care. They create relationships with community partners to strengthen the public health nursing role and expand public education and population health management.

Policy Development

Nursing standards require nurses to develop policies that focus on interventions to protect the general health of the community, and promote community health improvement.

References

• Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing Practice
• Centers for Disease Control: Crosswalk of Model Standards and Key Points within the Three NPHPSP Instruments
• NPHPSP: Local Public Health System Model Standards