Core functions of public health

¶ … Functions of Public Health

In the course of their daily activities nurses are provided with unique opportunities to observe and gather information concerning public health issues. Interactions with community members in a variety of capacities enable nurses to integrate knowledge about the entire population with personal and clinical understandings of the health and illness experiences of individuals and families within the population. This knowledge can be vital in assessing trends and containing issues that may threaten the well-being of the general population.

The core functions of public health are assessment, assurance, and policy development. Assessment involves monitoring health status in order to identify health issues within the community, investigating identified issues, and evaluating the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of the health services within the community. Assurance involves communicating to the community that they can count on a competent public personal care workforce, linking people to personal health services and providing these services and health care when it may not otherwise be available, informing and educating people about health issues and empowering them to take control of their own health, and arranging community partnerships in order to identify and solve health problems. Policy development involves producing policies and plans that support health efforts on both individual and community levels, enforcing laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety, and conducting research to develop new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.

The Public Health Leadership Society ("Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health," 2002) state that ethical practice should address the fundamental causes of disease and requirements for health, aiming to prevent adverse health outcomes in a way that respects the rights of individuals in the community. Other considerations are: 1) to develop programs and priorities with community input, 2) to advocate and work for the empowerment of disenfranchised community members, 3) to seek and provide information needed to implement effective policies and programs that protect and promote health in a timely manner, and 4) incorporate a variety of approaches that anticipate and respect diverse values, beliefs, and cultures in the community. Public health nursing practice differs from care in acute settings in that it is more inclusive and contains a political element that must be honored in order to ensure the best possible outcome.