Public Health Assesement

For this clinical activity, you will choose a community/public health nurse to interview. This can be any nurse who practices in a community health role, meaning they must work with the community in some way (not in a hospital but in a community setting). Hint: School nurses work really well for this activity. The nurse you interview must hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing or higher or be working in an Advanced Practice Nursing Role (Nurse Practitioner).
Table 1 Rubric for Interview with a Community Health Nurse
Interview a Community/Public Health Nurse: Tasks Interview Questions/Points Allotted
Identify a Community/Public Health Nurse in your community and reach out to them to schedule an interview date/time. Please make sure to explain who you are and the intent of the interview. Make sure that you have your interview questions typed and prepared prior to the interview!

HINT: School Nurses are always a good option.

Collect the following information from the Community/Public Health Nurse (see column on right). You will need to have the nurse complete a form stating qualifications and have this approved by your course instructor before completion of the interview (Nurse Interview Approval form). All questions must be answered and have support from at least one journal article from a nursing research journal. The interview will then be provided in a written report turned into your course instructor.

Required items for submission:
• Nurse Approval form (submitted at the beginning of the semester).
• Create a MS Word document answering all seven of the questions posed in the column on the right.
• This is a scholarly written paper adhering to APA 7th edition. You MUST use headings in correct APA format to organize your paper (see your APA manual for how to create levels of headings). Include a title page and reference page. Paper length should be 8-10 double-spaced pages (not including title and references). Interview Questions:

1. Ask the PHN about his or her scope of practice at the individual/family, community, and system levels of practice. Which public health interventions from the Public Health Intervention Wheel (MDH, 2001) on page 28 in the PHN Manual does the PHN use the most in practice? Which interventions is the PHN performing independently? What are some examples of delegated functions PHNs might do based on the Nurse Practice Act in your state? 10 points
2. Identify which Healthy People 2030 objectives this PHN is working on in his or her area of practice. 5 points
3. Ask the PHN what professional nursing organizations are for PHN and how the PHN maintains their certification and competencies in public health nursing. Is the RN a member of the U.S. Public Health Corp? 10 points
4. Find out how health legislation and regulation affect the agency, the populations served, and nursing practice of the PHN; How did the last legislative session effect public health nursing? If this nurse does not know, then look for yourself to find an answer. In starting your search online, go to your state nursing association. For Texas go to texasnurses.org and choose “legislative update” under the advocacy tab for information about the 88th Texas Legislature session. 15 points
5. Find the Nurse Practice Act for your state. When was the legislation passed and updated? What parts of the legislation are significant for public health nursing practice? See p. 127-140 in the PHN Manual to explore additional information about the Nurse Practice Act and how it appies to the role of the PHN. 15 points
6. Ask these more specific questions about his/her community that they serve:
   • What does the nurse view as the problem in the community?
   • What cultural differences are seen in the community?
   • How do the cultural beliefs affect the community?
   • What are the demographics within the community?
   • What are your perceptions about this community?
   • What are the strengths and weaknesses within this community?
   • What would you recommend for improving this community? 20 points
7. Discuss one research article that would be applicable to this PHN and his/her community. Explain why you chose this article. 15 points

• This is a scholarly written paper adhering to APA 7th edition. You MUST use headings in correct APA format to organize your paper (see your APA manual for how to create levels of headings). Include a title page and reference page. Paper length should be 8-10 double-spaced pages (not including title and references). 10 points

Total points: 100 points
** Must address all areas above. **
5 points deducted per day for late submissions past the due date/time.