Community/Public Health Nursing

Practice E Book: Health for Families

and Populations (Maurer, Community/
Public Health Nursing Practice) 5th
Edition, (Ebook PDF)
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CHAPTER  vii

C ONTR IB UTO RS

Charon Burda, MS, PMHNP-BC
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland School of Nursing
Department of Family & Community Health
Baltimore, Maryland
Chapter 25: Substance Use Disorders
Angeline Bushy, PhD, RN, FAAN,
PHCNS-BC
Professor & Bert Fish Chair
University of Central Florida, College of
Nursing
Orlando, Florida
Chapter 32: Rural Health
Verna Benner Carson, PhD, PMH/CNS-BC
Associate Professor
Towson University
Towson, Maryland
Chapter 33: Community Mental Health
Robin Fleming, PhD, MN, RN, NCSN
Nursing Practice and Education
Specialist
Washington State Nurses Association
Seattle, Washington
Chapter 30: School Health
Linda Haddad, PhD, RN, FAAN
Associate Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia
Chapter 10: Relevance of Culture and
­Values for Community/Public Health
Nursing
Sarah Hargrave, MS, BSN, RN, CPHQ
Regulatory Specialist
Bartlett Regional Hospital
Juneau, Alaska
Chapter 29: State and Local Health
­Departments
Gail Ann DeLuca Havens, PhD, RN
Owner and Principal
INSIGHT: Consultative Services in
­Healthcare Ethics
Bluffton, South Carolina
Ethics in Practice Boxes
Gail Heiss, MSN, RN
Nursing Education Specialist
VA Maryland Health Care System
Baltimore, Maryland
Chapter 18: Health Promotion and Risk
­Reduction in the Community
Chapter 19: Screening and Referral
Chapter 20: Health Teaching
Christina Hughes, BSN, MS, RN, NREMT-P,
CHEP
Director, Healthcare System Preparedness
MedStar Health ER One Institute
Emergency Preparedness Coordinator
EMS Liaison
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center ED
Baltimore, Maryland
Chapter 22: Disaster Management: Caring for
Communities in an Emergency
Jennifer Maurer Kliphouse, BSN, RN, BA
Wound Specialist
Frederick Regional Health System
Frederick, Maryland
Table 8–3: Communicable Diseases, Community
Health Concerns, and Treatment
The Nursing Process in Practice boxes
Helen Kohler, PhD, MSPH, RN
Visiting Professor
University of Eastern Africa
Baraton, Kenya
Visiting Professor
Moravian College
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Chapter 5: Global Health
Cara J. Krulewitch, PhD, CNM, FACNM
Associate Clinical Professor
George Washington University
Washington, DC
Chapter 23: Violence: A Social and Family
Problem
Tina Marrelli, MSN, MA, RN, FAAN
Editor, Home Healthcare Nurse
Marrelli and Associates, Inc.
Healthcare Consultants
Boca Grande, Florida
Chapter 31: Home Health Care
Michelle McGlynn, BSN, RN
Assistant Master Technical Instructor
University of Texas and Brownsville
Texas Southmost College, College of Nursing
Brownsville, Texas
Chapter 27: Children in the Community
Leslie Neal-Boylan, PhD, CRRN, APRN-BC,
FNP
Professor, Graduate Program Director
Southern Connecticut State University
School of Nursing
New Haven, Connecticut
Chapter 26: Rehabilitation Clients in the
Community
Corrine Olson, MS, BSN
Retired Deputy Chief, Public Health
Nursing
State of Alaska
Viroqua, Wisconsin
Frankston, Texas
Chapter 29: State and Local Health
­Departments
Anne Rentfro, PhD, RN
Professor
College of Nursing
The University of Texas at Brownsville
Adjunct Faculty
University of Texas Health Science
Center - Houston
Brownsville, Texas
Chapter 27: Children in the Community
Sally Roach, MSN, RN, APHN-BC, CNE
Associate Professor
University of Texas at Brownsville
Brownsville, Texas
Chapter 28: Older Adults in the
Community
Gina C. Rowe, DNP, MPH, APRN, BC
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland School of Nursing
Baltimore, Maryland
Chapter 7: Epidemiology: Unraveling the
Mysteries of Disease and Health
Barbara Sattler, RN, DrPH, FAAN
Professor
School of Nursing and Health
Professions
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Chapter 9: Environmental Health Risks
at Home, at Work, and in the Community
Susan M. Wozenski, JD, MPH
Assistant Professor and Vice Chair, Family
and Community Health
University of Maryland School
of Nursing
Dual Degree Director, MPH Program
Department of Epidemiology and Public
Health
University of Maryland School
of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland
Chapter 6: Legal Context for Community/
Public Health Nursing Practice
vii
viii CONTRIBUTORS
ANCILLARY CONTRIBUTORS
Joanna E. Cain, BSN, RN
President and Founder
Auctorial Pursuits, Inc.
Austin, Texas
NCLEX Review Questions
TEACH for RN- Case Studies
Discussion of Focus Questions
R EVI EWERS
Laurel Boyd, MA, MEd, RN
Assistant Professor, Nursing
University of West Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Jo DeBruycker, MPH, RN
Adjunct Professor
St. Cloud State University
Department of Nursing Science
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Jennifer Maurer Kliphouse, BSN, RN, BA
Wound Specialist
Frederick Regional Health System
Frederick, Maryland
Care Plans
Stephanie Powelson, MPH, EdD, RN
Chair, Nursing Department
Truman State University
Kirksville, Missouri
PowerPoint Slides
Christine Crytzer Divens, MSN, RN, CPN
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
of UPMC
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Susan L. Fogarty, MSN, RN
Associate Professor, Nursing
Ferris State University School of Nursing
Big Rapids, Michigan
Anna K. Wehling Weepie, DNP, RN, CNE
Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Nursing
and Associate Professor
Allen College
Waterloo, Iowa
Test Bank
Stephanie Powelson, MPH, EdD, RN
Chair, Nursing Department
Truman State University
Kirksville, Missouri
Julie St. Clair, MSN, RN
Instructor, Nursing Program
University of Southern Indiana
College of Nursing and Health Professions
Evansville, Indiana

June 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the term public health
nurse, adopted by the National Organization for Public Health
Nursing, the forerunner of the National League for Nursing.
Anniversaries and transitions offer time to reflect on the past
and present, as well as to clarify directions and strategies for
the future. When the first edition of this text was published, we
had just celebrated the 100th anniversary of modern commu-
nity/public health nursing in the United States. The second edi-
tion anticipated the arrival of the twenty-first century, which
brought both practical and symbolic implications for the future
of community/public health nursing. As the fifth edition is pub-
lished, we continue to confront global health issues including
climate change, food shortages and maldistribution, refugee
health, exposure to environmental chemicals, and disabilities
and deaths from conflicts and warfare. The United States health
care system is undergoing dramatic changes that will affect both
consumers and providers of health care services in critical ways.
Creative ways are called for to improve the health and well-
being of our citizens and communities.
This fifth edition explores our history and present prac-
tice, and contemplates our future. The title: Community/ Public
Health Nursing Practice: Health for Families and Populations
reflects the practice arena of community/public health, empha-
sizing the application of content to nursing practice, and shows
the broad scope of community-based and community-focused
practice.
Throughout this text, emphasis is placed on the core of "what
a community/public health nurse needs to know" to prac-
tice effectively in the context of a world, nation, society, and
health care system that are ever changing. This text is intended
for baccalaureate nursing students taking courses related to
­community/public health nursing, including registered nurses
returning for their baccalaureate degrees. The text is also suit-
able for entry-into-practice Clinical Nurse Leader students.
Beginning practitioners in community/public health nursing
will also find much useful information. The term community/
public health nursing is used in this text to remind the reader
that community-orientated nursing practice is broad based and
aimed at improving the health of families, groups, and popula-
tions. To save space in the text, the term community health nurse
may sometimes be used in place of community/public health
nurse. The term client is used to reflect individual, group, and
population recipients of nursing care, while the term patient is
used selectively to denote individuals under care in intense clin-
ical and hospital-based practice.
Changes in the delivery and financing of health care services
affect professional practice as well as individuals, families, pop-
ulations, and communities. Therefore in this edition we explore
past and present efforts at health service and funding reform,
critique progress toward stated reform goals, and identify cur-
rent and future areas of concern for health care providers and
communities.
Unlike 100 years ago, the major causes of death in the United
States today are not communicable diseases. Rather, the major
causes today are chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer,
PR EFAC E
stroke, pulmonary diseases, and diabetes, and, at all ages, unin-
tentional injury. Much of the premature death and disability
is preventable through control of environmental and personal
risk factors, such as smoking and obesity. Health promotion and
prevention have been historic aims of community/public health
nursing. Today, the National Health Objectives for the year 2020
identify measurable targets for reduction in death and disability.
Because community/public health nurses are in the forefront of
helping families and communities identify and reduce their risk
factors, the Healthy People 2020 objectives and progress toward
goal attainment are included in all appropriate chapters.
Reducing health disparities is a foremost national goal.
Health, illness, and health care are unevenly distributed among
people. The relevance of population-focused nursing emerges
when the unmet health needs of populations are recognized.
For example, numbers of injured veterans, the homeless, the
chronically mentally ill, and poor children are increasing. The
poor have higher rates of illness, disability, and premature
death. The cost of health care and absent or inadequate health
insurance coverage combine to also increase the numbers of
medically indigent, such as survivors of accidental head and spi-
nal trauma. This text explores the commitments and activities
of community/public health nursing in improving the health
of such vulnerable families, groups, and populations. Research
studies discussed throughout the text illustrate the success of
nursing interventions with vulnerable populations in commu-
nities and provide a basis for evidence-based practice.
To identify the health-related strengths and problems of a
community, it is necessary to assess the demographic and health
statistics of the community's population and to explore the
existing community structures, functions, and resources. In this
text, we stress the importance of developing partnerships with
community members. We present a community assessment tool
with several case studies showing its application to both geopo-
litical and phenomenological communities. We discuss varied
perspectives for planning and evaluating nursing care within
communities. Community/public health nurses recognize
that much of a person's attitude and behavior toward health is
learned initially in his or her own family. Family-focused health
promotion and prevention is an important community/public
health nursing strategy. As was true in previous centuries, some
families today experience multiple problems with unhealthy
environments, disabled or chronically ill members, develop-
mental issues, breakdowns in family communication, and weak
support systems.
The text reflects the increasing demand for community/
public health nursing in home health care for the ill. Hospital cost-
containment measures that began in the 1980s have resulted in a
decrease in the average length of stay of patients in hospitals. As
was true 100 years ago, families today are caring for ill members
at home and are requiring assistance from community health
nurses. In response to client needs, newer structures of nursing
care delivery also have emerged, including hospice and medical
daycare centers. A family focus and care for clients in their daily
settings—homes, schools, and worksites—are traditional aspects
ix
x PREFACE
of community/public health nursing. Community/public health
nursing acknowledges the importance of caring for the family
caregivers as well as for ill family members and of strengthening
community support services.
The community/public health nurse's involvement with
contemporary public health problems—substance abuse,
violence, and newly emerging or persistent communicable
diseases (including HIV/AIDS, MRSA, SARS, multi-drug
resistant tuberculosis, and West Nile Virus)—is thoroughly
covered. As a response to recent events, the disaster chapter
provides greater emphasis on disaster prevention and man-
agement. Adolescent sexuality and the health risks associated
with sexual activity for both adolescents and their infants are
explored. Chapters on vulnerable populations and community
mental health examine two areas of increasing concern for
community/public health nursing. Toxic substances in home,
work, and community environments are identified as special
health hazards.
Changes in the age composition of our country's residents
pose concerns related to the ratio of dependent persons. More
older adults and, in selected subpopulations, more children
make up the population. Special emphasis is given in the text to
a discussion of the support networks with which community/
public health nurses work as they provide nursing care with
elderly people, children, and persons with disabilities.
LEVEL OF LEARNER
This book is intended as a basic text for baccalaureate students
in community/public health nursing. It is appropriate for basic
baccalaureate students, registered nurses returning for bac-
calaureate degrees, and baccalaureate graduates and entry-­
into-practice Clinical Nurse Leader graduates who are new to
community/public health employment. It assists the learner in
the practical application of community/public health nursing
content.
The material covered in the text has been updated to be con-
sistent with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
2008 report The essentials of baccalaureate education for pro-
fessional nursing practice and the Association of Community
Health Nursing Educators 2010 report Essentials of baccalau-
reate nursing education for entry-level community/public health
nursing.
Additionally, the text can benefit registered nurses without
baccalaureate degrees who are changing their practice settings
because of health care system changes. For example, in some
places, registered nurses with strong technological medical-­
surgical or pediatric skills are being employed in home care.
These nurses, their supervisors, and/or in-service education
directors can use this text to provide background information,
especially in relation to the context of practice, family-focused
care, home visiting, and scope of community resources.
The text has a descriptive focus, including both historical
changes in practice and the relative magnitude of community/
public health nursing problems and solutions today. The text
also is structured to promote further inquiry related to each
subject and to connect information with examples of practice.
Thus, the text includes abstractions and concepts, as well as
questions and examples, to promote critical thinking and appli-
cation of the information.
We are pleased with student comments about the strengths
of previous editions and have maintained these positive charac-
teristics in the fifth edition:
• The text is very readable.
• The writing style maintains interest.
• Tables are clear and useful.
• Explanations discuss the relevance of ideas to practice.
• Examples show practical application.
• Evidence-based practice examples are integrated throughout.
• Each chapter is self-contained, without the need to refer to
appendixes.
This text builds on prerequisite knowledge and skills related
to application of the nursing process, interpersonal relation-
ships, and nurse/client communication skills. Other prerequi-
sites are knowledge of human development, basic concepts of
stress and adaptation, and nursing care with individuals. While
a basic general systems language is used with family and com-
munity theory, terms are defined for those who have not had
formal instruction in these concepts.
ORGANIZATION OF TEXT
The text is organized into eight units. Unit One, Role and
Context of Community/Public Health Nursing Practice,
describes the ethical commitments underlying community/
public health nursing practice as well as the scope and context
of community/ public health nursing practice. We explore how
the structure and function of our complex health care system
and legal and economic factors influence communities and
community/public health nursing practice. A chapter on global
health provides a broader perspective of the concepts of health
and illness throughout the world.
Unit Two, Core Concepts for the Practice of Community/
Public Health Nursing, presents basic concepts necessary
for effective community/public health practice. An under-
standing of the process of epidemiology, including the
impact and control of communicable diseases, is essential
to community/ public health nursing practice. A chapter on
environmental issues at home, at worksites, and in geopolit-
ical communities identifies specific health risks. Culturally
competent nursing care depends on understanding the
impact of culture and values on health and health behaviors.
Culturally competent nursing care also requires an under-
standing of the impact that diversity in culture and values
among clients and health providers may have on the nurse-
client relationships.
Unit Three, Family as Client, presents a broad theory base
related to family development, structure, functioning, and
health. A family assessment tool is provided, and sources for
additional tools are identified. Specific case studies demonstrate
the application of the nursing process with families. Special
emphasis is given to working with families in crisis and "multi-
problem" families.
Nurses with baccalaureate degrees belong to one of a few
professions whose members learn to care for people at home
as a part of their educational experiences. Many nurses without
baccalaureate degrees who desire to transfer from hospital to
home care settings must learn on the job. Consequently a chap-
ter is devoted to home visiting, a continuing facet of ­community/
public health nursing.

Unit Four, Community as Client, presents the commu-
nity and population approach that is unique to community/­
public health nursing. Communities may be characterized as
­geopolitical or phenomenological (communities of b ­ elonging).
Assessment tools are presented for each type of community
and case examples provided to illustrate the application of the
nursing process with communities. Numerous measures for
evaluating the outcomes of community/public health nursing
programs are discussed. Additionally, process and management
evaluations are examined.
Unit Five, Tools for Practice, develops three strategies for
population-focused intervention used frequently by commu-
nity/ public health nurses:
• Health promotion and risk reduction
• Screening and referral
• Health teaching
Specific tools are included that can be used to help indi-
viduals identify risk factors for illness and identify more
healthful personal behavior. Detailed instructions are pro-
vided for conducting health screening. Also included are
the current recommended schedules for health screening
for males and females of various age groups. These specific
practice skills may be applied with individuals, families, and
populations.
Unit Six, Contemporary Problems in Community/Public
Health Nursing, focuses on contemporary problems encountered
in community/public health nursing practice. Demographic and
epidemiological data help identify populations most at risk for
specified health problems. A chapter is devoted to each of the
following:
• Vulnerable populations, including people in poverty, the
homeless, migrant populations, and prison populations
• Disaster management
• Family and community violence
• Adolescent sexual activity and teenage pregnancy
• Substance use disorders
The impact of poverty on health is explored in depth. The
health risks of vulnerable groups are explored. Societal and per-
sonal factors contributing to health problems are identified,
including psychological and family stress related to homeless-
ness, poverty, and a migrant lifestyle.
The disaster chapter emphasizes the importance of preplan-
ning and outlines the roles of both public and private organi-
zations in disaster relief. Common disaster scenarios for both
natural and manmade disasters are presented. Changes in
disaster preparation and management to improve commu-
nity response to terrorism are outlined, and potential terrorist
threats are identified.
Unit Seven, Support for Special Populations, discusses three
vulnerable populations: persons with disabilities, children, and
older adults. Prevalence of health problems, common nursing
interventions, and the importance of community support ser-
vices are discussed.
Unit Eight, Settings for Community/Public Health Nursing
Practice, describes settings for community/public health nurs-
ing practice, including state and local health departments,
schools, home health agencies, rural communities, and commu-
nity mental health sites. Each chapter includes a day or a week
in the life of a community/public health nurse or a case study to
help students experience the reality of working in that setting.
PREFACE xi
CHANGES TO THE FIFTH EDITION
The fifth edition updates and expands content from the fourth
edition, which was widely acclaimed. New content is also
included and listed below.
Throughout the Text We Have Updated the Following:
• Demographic statistics
• Descriptive epidemiology, incidence and prevalence data
• Standards for practice and quality
• Initiatives to improve access to health care
• Current evidence-based findings and best practices
• References and recommended readings
• Community resources for practice
New Content in this Edition:
• Healthy People 2020 objectives with Healthy People 2020
boxes
• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
(ACA) and its impact on health care delivery systems, financ-
ing of health care services, specific populations, and health
disparities
• Shifting federal/state responsibilities in health care delivery
• State and federal efforts at universal health coverage
• Trends in employer-provided health insurance
• Community health centers
• Top ten public health accomplishments during the past
decade
• Global health disparities
• International health care delivery systems
• Impact of war, terrorism, and national disasters on health
and health care delivery
• Human trafficking and genital circumcision
• Evidence-based home visiting programs
• New health risk appraisal tools
• Newborn screening for genetic disorders
• Fatalities associated with weather-related disasters
• Bioterrorism and national and state planning responses,
including role of the United States Department of Homeland
Security
• Impact of sexting, sex education, and abstinence-only pro-
grams on teen behavior
• Addiction as a brain disorder
• Language stigma and substance use disorders
• Community re-integration and community living arrange-
ments for patients in with disabilities
• Bullying
Expanded Content in this Edition:
• Clinical examples that are related to the chapter content and are
common in the practice of community/public health nurses
• Internet resources for both faculty and students, including
additional links to Community Resources for Practice
• Distribution of community health nurses by worksites
• Social determinants of health
• Social justice
• Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D – Prescription
Drug Plan
• Cost-sharing impacts on access to health care
• Core public health functions
xii PREFACE
• Third-party reimbursement for nurse practitioners and clin-
ical nurse specialists
• Emerging problems with communicable diseases
• Climate change and health
• Chemical policies
• Immigration trends
• Health disparities and health care disparities
• Household composition in United States
• Family case management in community/public health
• Informatics and electronic health systems
• Evidence-based practice examples of community planning
and intervention
• Evidence-based practice examples of community health pro-
gram evaluations
• Mobilization Action Through Partnerships and Planning
(MAPP)
• Geographic information systems (GIS)
• Examples of epidemiological studies and their application in
public health practice
• Guidelines for screenings
• Nursing interventions related to the Transtheoretical
Model—Stages of Change
• SMOG formula to determine readability of print materials
• Sample health education lesson plan
• Migrant and prison health problems
• Contemporary tools for addictions screening
• Disability prevalence by age
• Common health problems throughout the life span
• Environmental aspects of school health
• State and local health department services and use of public
private partnerships
• Major challenges for public health in the twenty-first century
• Trends in child, older adult, rural, and school health services
• National goals for the community mental health system
CHAPTER ORGANIZATION TO PROMOTE LEARNING
Each chapter has the following features:
Focus Questions
Outline
Key Terms (boldfaced in the text)
Chapter narrative
Key Ideas
Learning by Experience and Reflection
References
Suggested Readings
The majority of chapters also present one or more of the follow-
ing special features to aid learning:
Case Study
The Nursing Process in Practice
Community Resources for Practice
Ethics in Practice
Focus Questions at the beginning of each chapter and Key
Ideas at the end help the reader focus on the material presented.
The questions encourage the reader to approach learning from
the perspective of inquiry. Key Ideas summarize the important
ideas. Where appropriate, epidemiological data are presented to
describe the magnitude of the health problems and the popula-
tions in which they occur more frequently.
Case Studies and The Nursing Process in Practice encourage
application of the chapter material. Most chapters provide an
example of the nursing process applied with a family or commu-
nity or a case study in which the chapter concepts may be applied.
Learning by Experience and Reflection at the end of each
chapter is designed to foster student learning through inquiry
and a variety of ways of knowing. Ways of knowing include
empirical knowledge and logic, interpersonal learning expe-
riences, ethics, and greater awareness of personal preferences
(aesthetics). Guidelines may promote reflection and self-­
awareness, observation, analysis, and synthesis. Each chapter
includes guidelines for learning appropriate to most students
as well as suggestions for those who are interested in further
exploration and creativity.
Community Resources for Practice appears at the end of
each chapter. This list of resources provides the organization
names and websites.
Suggested Readings have been selected with the level of student
in mind. Some readings expand on concepts and tools of practice
mentioned in the chapter. Other readings provide descriptions
of community/public health nursing programs or descriptions of
nurses' experiences related to their professional practice.
Ethics in Practice is a special feature appearing predomi-
nantly in chapters in Units Five and Six. A situation involving a
community/public health nurse is used to identify ethical ques-
tions, related ethical principles, and the actions of the specific
nurse. These situations provide the opportunity for student/
faculty dialogue to explore one's own ethical decision-making.
Several of the situations demonstrate the tension between the
rights of individuals and the rights of the public at large; other
situations depict competing values.
ANCILLARY PACKAGE
A complete teaching and learning package is available on the
book's dedicated Evolve website at http://evolve.elsevier.com/
Maurer/community/. This website offers materials for both
­students and instructors.
Study Aids for Students
See previous Evolve page for more details on student resources.
For Instructors
TEACH for Nurses: NEW to this edition, detailed chapter Lesson
Plans containing references to curriculum standards such as
QSEN, BSN Essentials and Concepts; new and unique Case
Studies; as well as Teaching Strategies and Learning Activities.
PowerPoint Slides: Slides of bulleted information that high-
light key chapter concepts to assist with classroom presentation
and lecture.
Teaching Strategies for Learning by Experience and Reflection:
Detailed plans and suggested activities for implementing the
Learning by Experience and Reflection exercises in the book.
Test Bank: Over 800 NCLEX-style questions, with cognitive
level, topic, rationale, and text page reference provided. One
question in each chapter is presented in the newer innovative
item format.
Discussion of Focus Questions: Short answers to the questions
that introduce each chapter.
Image Collection: Contains illustrations selected from the
textbook.
Frances A. Maurer
Claudia M. Smith
 C ONTENTS IN B R I E F

UNIT 1 ROLE AND CONTEXT OF UNIT 5 TOOLS FOR PRACTICE

COMMUNITY/PUBLIC HEALTH
18 Health Promotion and Risk Reduction in the
NURSING PRACTICE Community, 466
1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public 19 Screening and Referral, 486
Health Nursing, 2 20 Health Teaching, 505
2 Origins and Future of Community/Public Health
Nursing, 31
UNIT 6 CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN
3 The United States Health Care System, 54
4 Financing of Health Care: Context for Community/ COMMUNITY/PUBLIC HEALTH
Public Health Nursing, 86 NURSING
5 Global Health, 113
6 Legal Context for Community/Public Health 21 Vulnerable Populations, 527
Nursing Practice, 136 22 Disaster Management: Caring for Communities in
an Emergency, 552
23 Violence: A Social and Family Problem, 575
UNIT 2 CORE CONCEPTS FOR THE 24 Adolescent Sexual Activity and Teenage
PRACTICE OF COMMUNITY/ Pregnancy, 603
25 Substance Use Disorders, 631
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
7 Epidemiology: Unraveling the Mysteries of
Disease and Health, 161 UNIT 7 SUPPORT FOR SPECIAL
8 Communicable Diseases, 190 POPULATIONS
9 Environmental Health Risks: At Home, at Work,
and in the Community, 235 26 Rehabilitation Clients in the Community, 659
10 Relevance of Culture and Values for Community/ 27 Children in the Community, 679
Public Health Nursing, 266 28 Older Adults in the Community, 701

UNIT 3 FAMILY AS CLIENT UNIT 8 SETTINGS FOR COMMUNITY/

11 Home Visit: Opening the Doors for Family Health, 298 PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
12 A Family Perspective in Community/Public Health PRACTICE
Nursing, 322
13 Family Case Management, 340 29 State and Local Health Departments, 726
14 Multiproblem Families, 372 30 School Health, 749
31 Home Health Care, 777
32 Rural Health, 799
UNIT 4 COMMUNITY AS CLIENT 33 Community Mental Health, 822
15 Community Assessment, 393 Index, 841
16 Community Diagnosis, Planning, and
Intervention, 427
17 Evaluation of Nursing Care with Communities, 449

xiii
C O N T ENTS
UNIT 1 ROLE AND CONTEXT OF
COMMUNITY/PUBLIC HEALTH
NURSING PRACTICE
1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public
Health Nursing, 2
Claudia M. Smith
Visions and Commitments, 4
Distinguishing Features of Community/Public
Health Nursing, 6
Theory and Community/Public
Health Nursing, 7
Goals for Community/Public
Health Nursing, 11
Nursing Ethics and Social Justice, 11
The Nursing Process in
Community/Public Health, 13
Responsibilities of Community/Public
Health Nurses, 14
Expected Competencies
of ­Baccalaureate-Prepared Community/
Public Health Nurses, 22
Leadership in Community/Public
Health Nursing, 24
2 Origins and Future of Community/Public Health
Nursing, 31
Claudia M. Smith
Roots of Community/Public
Health Nursing, 32
Definition of Public Health, 37
Nursing and Sanitary Reform, 38
Population-Focused Care and
Subspecialties, 38
Expansion into Rural America, 41
Government Employment of Public
Health Nurses, 42
Dichotomy in Public Health Nursing, 43
Educational Preparation for Public
Health Nurses, 44
Expanded Practice in Community Health
Nursing: 1965 to 1995, 44
Reclaiming Public Health Nursing:
1995 to 2010, 45
Community/Public Health Nursing: Creating
the Future, 45
Continuing Issues, 50
3 The United States Health Care System, 54
Frances A. Maurer
Our Traditional Health Care System, 56
Components of the U.S. Health Care System, 57
Direct and Indirect Services and Providers, 63
xiv
Public and Private Sectors, 63
Public Sector: Government's Authority and
Role in Health Care, 63
Private-Sector Role in Health Care Delivery, 68
Public and Private Health Care Sectors
Before 1965, 71
Public and Private Sectors, 1965 to 1992, 71
Public and Private Sectors Today, 73
A National Health Care System? 79
Challenges for the Future, 80
4 Financing of Health Care: Context for Community/
Public Health Nursing, 86
Frances A. Maurer
Relevance of Health Care Financing
to Community/Public Health
Nursing Practice, 87
Relative Magnitude of Health
Spending in the United States, 87
Reasons for the Increase in Health Care Costs, 89
Groups at Risk for Increased Costs and
Fewer Services, 90
Health Care Financing Mechanisms, 90
Publicly Funded Programs for Health
Care Services, 94
Trends in Reimbursement, 104
The Nurse's Role in Health Care Financing, 108
5 Global Health, 113
Helen R. Kohler and Frances A. Maurer
Health: A Global Issue, 113
Health Disparities Among Countries, 114
International Health Organizations, 116
Health and Disease Worldwide, 118
Health Care Delivery Systems, 124
New and Emerging Health Issues, 128
Role of Nursing in International Health, 131
6 Legal Context for Community/Public
Health Nursing Practice, 136
Susan Wozenski
Public Health Law, 137
Community/Public Health Nurses and
Public Health Law, 137
Sources of Law, 138
Classification of Laws and Penalties, 146
Purposes and Application of Public
Health Law, 147
Legal Responsibilities of Community/Public
Health Nurses, 148
How to Find Out About Laws, 153
Standards of Care, 154
Quality and Risk Management, 154
Ethics and Law, 156

UNIT 2 CORE CONCEPTS FOR THE
PRACTICE OF COMMUNITY/
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
7 Epidemiology: Unraveling the Mysteries of
Disease and Health, 161
Gina C. Rowe
Interests of Population-Based Data, 162
Types of Epidemiological Investigation, 164
Understanding Aggregate-Level Data, 165
Concepts Related to Prevention, Health
Promotion, and Disease, 166
Health Information Systems, 168
Demographic Data, 170
Department of Commerce Health-Related
Studies, 172
Major Causes of Death, 172
Health Profiles or Status and the Life Cycle, 178
Health Profiles or Status of Populations
at High Risk, 184
Continuing Issues, 186
8 Communicable Diseases, 190
Frances A. Maurer
Communicable Diseases and Control, 190
Contemporary Issues in Communicable
Disease, 192
Influences of Modern Lifestyle
and Technology, 201
Issues of Population Safety Versus
Individual Rights, 202
Role of the Nurse in Communicable
Disease Control, 202
Epidemiology Applied to Communicable
Disease Control, 204
Role of Boards of Health, 207
Nursing Care in the Control of
Communicable Diseases, 209
9 Environmental Health Risks: At Home, at Work,
and in the Community, 235
Barbara Sattler
Overview of Environmental Health, 236
Assessment of Environmental Health
Hazards, 241
Environmental Issues for the 21st Century, 257
Community/Public Health Nursing
Responsibilities, 259
The Nurse's Responsibilities in Primary,
Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention, 260
The Future of Environmental Health
Nursing, 262
10 Relevance of Culture and Values for Community/
Public Health Nursing, 266
Linda Haddad and Claudia M. Smith
Cultural Pluralism in the United States, 267
Culture: What It Is, 268
Values, 269
Race, 270
CONTENTS xv
Ethnicity, 271
Racial and Ethnic Health and Health Care
Disparities, 272
Role of Insurance in Health Disparities, 273
Strategies for Eliminating Health Disparities, 274
Understanding Cultural Differences, 274
Biological Variations, 280
Culture-Bound Syndromes, 280
Cultural Patterns of Care, 281
Community/Public Health Nurse's Role
in a Culturally Diverse Population, 284
Culturally Appropriate Strategies for the
Community/Public Health Nurse Working
with Diverse Communities, 289
Contemporary Issues and Trends, 290
UNIT 3 FAMILY AS CLIENT
11 Home Visit: Opening the Doors for Family
Health, 298
Claudia M. Smith
Home Visit, 300
Nurse–Family Relationships, 301
Increasing Nurse–Family Relatedness, 304
Reducing Potential Conflicts, 309
Promoting Nurse Safety, 311
Managing Time and Equipment, 312
Postvisit Activities, 315
The Future of Evidence-Based Home-Visiting
Programs, 317
12 A Family Perspective in Community/Public
Health Nursing, 322
Claudia M. Smith
A Family Perspective, 322
What is Family, 324
Historical Frameworks, 327
How Can These Approaches be Integrated? 334
Family Perspectives in Nursing, 335
13 Family Case Management, 340
Claudia M. Smith
Family Case Management, 341
Family Assessment, 342
Analyzing Family Data, 346
Developing a Plan, 354
Implementing the Plan, 355
Evaluation, 361
Terminating the Nurse–Family
Relationship, 363
Evaluation of Family Case Management
Programs, 363
14 Multiproblem Families, 372
Claudia M. Smith
Families Experiencing Crisis, 373
Families with Chronic Problems, 373
Resilience, 377
Responsibilities of the Community/Public
Health Nurse, 377
xvi CONTENTS
UNIT 4 COMMUNITY AS CLIENT
15 Community Assessment, 393
Frances A. Maurer and Claudia M. Smith
Community Assessment: Application to
Community/Public Health Nursing
Practice, 394
Community Defined, 394
Basic Community Frameworks, 396
Systems-Based Framework for Community
Assessment, 398
Tools for Data Collection, 408
Approaches to Community Assessment, 412
Analysis, 413
16 Community Diagnosis, Planning,
and Intervention, 427
Frances A. Maurer and Claudia M. Smith
Population-Focused Health Planning, 428
Planning for Community Change, 430
Steps of Program Planning, 432
Implementation, 439
17 Evaluation of Nursing Care with
Communities, 449
Claudia M. Smith and Frances A. Maurer
Responsibilities in Evaluation of Nursing Care
with Communities, 449
Steps in Evaluation, 451
Questions Answered by Evaluation, 451
Uniqueness in Evaluation of Nursing Care
with Communities, 457
Analyzing Evaluation Data, 459
Modification of Nursing Care with
Communities, 459
Evaluation Methods and Tools, 459
UNIT 5 TOOLS FOR PRACTICE
18 Health Promotion and Risk Reduction in the
Community, 466
Gail L. Heiss
Meaning of Health, 468
Determinants of Health, 468
National Policy, 469
Health Models, 470
Health-Promotion and Health-Protection
Programs, 473
Health Promotion and Nursing
Practice, 477
19 Screening and Referral, 486
Gail L. Heiss
Definition of Screening, 487
Criteria for Selecting Screening Tests: Validity
and Reliability, 488
Contexts for Screening, 489
Community/Public Health Nurse's Role
in Screening, 496
Screening and the Referral Process, 499
20 Health Teaching, 505
Gail L. Heiss
Health-Teaching Process, 506
Research Evidence: What Works in Client
Health Education? 507
Nursing Assessment of Health-Related
Learning Needs, 508
Construction of Health Education
Lesson Plans, 510
Health-Related Educational Materials, 516
Principles of Teaching, 521
UNIT 6 CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS
IN COMMUNITY/PUBLIC
HEALTH NURSING
21 Vulnerable Populations, 527
Frances A. Maurer
Vulnerable Populations, 528
Poverty, 529
Race and Ethnicity and Their Relationship to
Income and Health Status, 531
The Uninsured, 533
Homelessness, 534
Migrant/Seasonal Workers, 538
The Prison Population, 539
Services Available for Vulnerable
Populations, 540
Nursing Considerations for Vulnerable
Populations, 543
22 Disaster Management: Caring for Communities in
an Emergency, 552
Christina Hughes and Frances A. Maurer
Definition of Disaster, 553
Factors Affecting the Scope and Severity
of Disasters, 554
Dimensions of a Disaster, 555
Phases of a Disaster, 556
Disaster Management: Responsibilities of
Agencies and Organizations, 557
Emergency Response Network, 560
Principles of Disaster Management, 561
Reconstruction and Recovery, 563
New Challenges for Disaster Planning
and Response, 564
Nursing's Responsibilities in Disaster
Management, 566
23 Violence: A Social and Family Problem, 575
Cara J. Krulewitch
Extent of the Problem, 576
National Health Priorities to Reduce
Violence, 576
Violence in the Community: Types and
Risk Factors, 577
Impact of Violence on the Community, 579
Violence Within the Family, 579

Child Abuse and Neglect, 580
Intimate Partner Violence, 583
Nursing Care in Abusive Situations:
Child Abuse or Partner Abuse, 587
Elder Abuse, 593
24 Adolescent Sexual Activity and Teenage
Pregnancy, 603
Frances A. Maurer
Teenage Sexual Activity, 604
Teenage Pregnancy, 608
Comparison of Pregnancy-Related Issues
in Other Countries, 611
Public Costs of Adolescent Pregnancy
and Childbearing, 612
Consequences of Early Pregnancy
for Teenagers and Infants, 612
Legal Issues and Teen Access to Reproductive
Health Services, 616
Nursing Role in Addressing Teenage
Sexual Activity and Pregnancy, 616
Primary Prevention, 617
Secondary Prevention: The Care
of Pregnant Teenagers, 620
Tertiary Prevention, 624
25 Substance Use Disorders, 631
Charon Burda
Background of Addiction, 632
Effects of Alcohol and Drugs on the Body, 636
Monitoring Incidence and Prevalence, 639
Stigma and Language, 642
Impact of Substance Use Disorders
on Individuals and Family Members, 643
Addictions and Communicable Diseases, 645
Responsibilities of the Community/Public
Health Nurse, 647
Community and Professional Resources, 652
Funding Issues and Access to Care, 652
UNIT 7 SUPPORT FOR SPECIAL
POPULATIONS
26 Rehabilitation Clients in the Community, 659
Leslie Neal-Boylan
Concept of Disability, 660
Concept of Rehabilitation, 660
Magnitude of Disability in the United States, 663
Legislation, 667
Needs of Persons with Disabilities, 669
Responsibilities of the Rehabilitation Nurse, 671
Community Reintegration Issues, 674
27 Children in the Community, 679
Anne Rath Rentfro and Michelle McGlynn
Children in the United States, 679
Families and Communities with Children, 682
Common Health Needs of Children, 685
Children at Risk, 689
CONTENTS xvii
Community Health Care for Children with
Special Needs, 693
Community/Public Health Nursing
Responsibilities, 694
Trends in Child Health Services, 695
28 Older Adults in the Community, 701
Sally C. Roach
Aging, 702
Role of Older Adults in the Family
and the Community, 703
Common Health Needs of Older Adults, 708
Impact of Poverty on Older Adults, 713
Development and Organization of Community
Resources, 714
Trends in Health Care Services for
Older Adults, 716
Responsibilities of the Nurse Working with
Older Adults in the Community, 718
UNIT 8 SETTINGS FOR COMMUNITY/
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
PRACTICE
29 State and Local Health Departments, 726
Sarah Hargrave , Corrine Olson and Frances A. Maurer
Core Functions and Essential Services
of Public Health, 726
Structure and Responsibilities of the State
Health Agency, 728
Structure and Responsibilities of Local Public
Health Agencies, 729
Services Provided by the State Health Agency
and the Local Health Department, 733
Evolution of Public Health Nursing
in Official Agencies, 738
External Influences on Public Health Nursing, 738
Public Health Nursing Practice, 738
Future Trends and Issues in Public
Health and Public Health Nursing, 744
30 School Health, 749
Robin Fleming
Historical Perspectives of School Nursing, 750
Components of Coordinated School
Health, 751
Organization and Administration
of School Health, 757
Responsibilities of the School Nurse, 759
Common Health Concerns of School-Aged
Children, 761
Future Trends and Issues in School
Health Programs, 768
31 Home Health Care, 777
Tina M. Marrelli
Definitions, 779
Standards and Credentialing, 779
Home Health Care Today, 780
xviii CONTENTS

Responsibilities of the Home Health 33 Community Mental Health, 822

Care Nurse, 786 Verna Benner Carson
Issues in Home Care, 788 Advent of Community Mental Health Care, 822
Hospice Home Care, 794 Philosophy of Community Mental Health
32 Rural Health, 799 Care, 826
Angeline Bushy Population Served by Community Mental
Definitions, 800 Health Care, 827
Status of Health in Rural Populations, 802 Services Provided in Community Mental
Factors Influencing Rural Health, 806 Health Care, 829
Rural Lifestyle and Belief Systems, 810 Role of the Nurse in Community Mental
Rural Community/Public Health Health Care, 830
Nursing Practice, 811 The Nursing Process in Practice, 831
Building Professional-Community Continuing Issues in Community Mental
Partnerships, 815 Health Care, 836
Trends and Issues, 817 Index, 841
 U N I T
1
Role and Context of Community/
Public Health Nursing Practice
1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health
Nursing
2 Origins and Future of Community/Public Health
Nursing
3 The United States Health Care System
4 Financing of Health Care: Context for Community/
Public Health Nursing
5 Global Health
6 Legal Context for Community Health Nursing Practice

1
CHAPTER

1
Responsibilities for Care in
Community/Public Health Nursing
Claudia M. Smith

FOCUS QUESTIONS
What is the nature of community/public health nursing practice?
What values underlie community/public health nursing?
How is empowerment important in community/public health
nursing?
What health-related goals are of concern to community/public
health nurses?
Who are the clients of community/public health nurses?
What are the basic concepts and assumptions of general
systems theory?
What is meant by the terms population-focused care and
aggregate-focused care?
What are the responsibilities of community/public health
nurses?
What competencies are expected of beginning community/
public health nurses?
How are community/public health nurse generalists and
specialists similar and different?

CHAPTER OUTLINE
Visions and Commitments Surveillance, Monitoring, and Evaluation
Distinguishing Features of Community/Public Health Policy Enforcement and Development
Nursing Environmental Management
Healthful Communities Case Management, Coordination of Care, and Delegation
Empowerment for Health Promotion Partnership/Collaboration
Theory and Community/Public Health Nursing Consultation
General Systems Theory Social, Political, and Economic Activities
Nursing Theory Empowerment for Creativity
Public Health Theory Self-Care and Development
Goals for Community/Public Health Nursing Expected Competencies of Baccalaureate-Prepared
Nursing Ethics and Social Justice Community/Public Health Nurses
Ethical Priorities Direct Care with Individuals
Distributive Justice Direct Care with Families
Social Justice Direct Care with Groups
The Nursing Process in Community/Public Health Direct Care with Aggregates/ Populations
Responsibilities of Community/Public Health Nurses Leadership in Community/Public Health Nursing
Direct Care of Clients with Illness, Infirmity, Suffering, and Professional Certification
Disability Quality Assurance
Referral and Advocacy Community/Public Health Nursing Research and
Teaching Evidence-Based Practice

KEY TERMS
Aggregate General systems theory Public health nursing
Commitments Group Risk
Community-based nursing Population Social justice
Community health nursing Population-focused Visions
Community/public health nurse Professional certification
Distributive justice Public health nurse

2
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
Imagine that you are knocking on the door of a residential trailer,
seeking the mother of an infant who has been hospitalized because
of low birth weight. You are interested in helping the mother
­prepare her home before the hospital discharge of the infant.
Or imagine that you are conducting a nursing clinic in a high-
rise residence for older adults. People have come to obtain blood
pressure screening, to inquire whether ­tiredness is a side effect of
their antihypertensive medications, or to validate whether their
recent food choices have reduced their sodium intake. Or picture
yourself sitting at an office desk. You are ­telephoning a physical
therapist to discuss the progress of a school-aged child who has
mobility problems secondary to cerebral palsy.
Now, imagine yourself at a school parent–teacher associa-
tion (PTA) meeting as a member of a panel discussion on the
prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) trans-
mission. Think about developing a blood pressure screening
and dietary education program for a group of predominantly
African American, male employees of a publishing company.
Picture yourself reviewing the statistics for patterns of death in
your community and contemplating with others the value of a
hospice program.
Who would you be to participate in all these activities, with
people of all ages and all levels of health, in such a variety of set-
tings—homes, clinics, schools, workplaces, and community meet-
ings? It is likely you would be a community health nurse, and you
would have specific knowledge and skills in public health nursing.
Note that we have used the terms community health n ­ ursing
and public health nursing. In the literature, and in ­practice,
there is often a lack of clarity in the use of these terms. Also,
the use of these terms changes with time (see Chapter 2).
Both the American Nurses Association (ANA, 1980) and the
Public Health Nurses Section of the American Public Health
Association (APHA, 1980, 1996) agree that the type of involve-
ment previously described is a synthesis of nursing practice and
public health practice. What the ANA called community health
nursing, the APHA called public health nursing (Box 1-1).
In 1984, the Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions
of the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), spon-
sored a national consensus conference. Participants were invited
from the APHA, the ANA, the Association of State and Territorial
Directors of Nursing, and the National League for Nursing. The
purpose was to clarify the educational preparation needed for
public health nursing and to discuss the future of public health
nursing. It was agreed that “the term ‘community health nurse’
is … an umbrella term used for all nurses who work in a com-
munity, including those who have formal p ­ reparation in pub-
lic health nursing (Box 1-2 and Figure 1-1). In essence, public
health nursing requires specific educational preparation, and
community health nursing denotes a setting for the practice of
nursing” (USDHHS, 1985, p. 4) (emphasis added). The consen-
sus conference further agreed that educational preparation for
beginning practitioners in public health nursing should include
the following: (1) epidemiology, s­ tatistics, and research; (2) ori-
entation to health care systems; (3) identification of high-risk
populations; (4) application of public health concepts to the
care of groups of culturally diverse persons; (5) interventions
with high-risk populations; and (6) orientation to regulations
affecting public health nursing practice (USDHHS, 1985). This
educational preparation is assumed to be complementary to a
basic education in nursing.
3
BOX 1-1  SELECTED DEFINITIONS
OF COMMUNITY/PUBLIC
HEALTH NURSING
American Nurses Association
Community health nursing is a synthesis of nursing practice and
­public health practice applied to promoting and preserving the health
of ­populations. The practice is general and comprehensive. It is not
­limited to a particular age group or diagnosis, and it is continuing,
not episodic. The dominant responsibility is to the population as a
whole; nursing directed to individuals, families, or groups contrib-
utes to the health of the total population. … The focus of community
health ­nursing is on the prevention of illness and the promotion and
­maintenance of health.
American Public Health Association
Public health nursing is the practice of promoting and protecting
the health of populations using knowledge from nursing, social, and
public health sciences. … Public health nursing practice includes
assessment and identification of subpopulations that are at high risk
for injury, ­disease, threat of disease, or poor recovery and focusing
resources so that services are available and accessible. … [Public
health nurses work] with and through relevant community leaders,
interest groups, employers, families, and individuals, and through
involvement in ­relevant social and political actions.
Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations
Public health nursing is population-focused, community-oriented
­nursing practice. The goal of public health nursing is the prevention of
disease and disability for all people through the creation of conditions
in which people can be healthy.
Data from American Nurses Association. (1980). A conceptual model
of community health nursing (pp. 2, 11). Washington, DC: Author;
American Public Health Association, Public Health Nursing Section.
(1996). The definition and role of public health nursing: A statement
of APHA Public Health Nursing Section (pp. 1, 4). Washington, DC:
Author; and Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations.
(1999). Scope and standards of public health nursing practice.
Washington, DC: American Nurses Association.
Following the logic of the consensus statements, a registered
nurse who works in a noninstitutional setting and has either
received a diploma or completed an associate-degree nursing
education program can be called a community health nurse and
practices community-based nursing because he or she works
outside of hospitals and nursing homes. However, this nurse
would not have had any formal education in public health
­nursing. Such a nurse may provide care directed at individuals
or families, rather than populations (ANA, 2007).
Public health nurses provide population-focused care.
Assessment, planning, and evaluation occur at the population
level. However, implementation of health care programs and
services may occur at the level of individuals, families, groups,
communities, and systems (ANA, 2007; Minnesota Department
of Health, 2001; Quad Council of Public Health Nursing
Organizations, 2004). The ultimate question is: Have the health
and well-being of the population(s) improved?
Large numbers of registered nurses are employed in home
health care agencies to provide home care for clients who are
ill. This text can assist those without formal preparation in
public health nursing to expand their thinking and practice to
­incorporate knowledge and skills from public health nursing.
4 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
BOX 1-2  WHERE ARE COMMUNITY
HEALTH NURSES EMPLOYED?
1. More than 355,000 registered nurses are employed in community
health in the United States (see Figure 1-1), who constitute 14% of
all employed registered nurses.
2. Between 1980 and 2000, the numbers of nurses employed in
­community health nursing settings increased by 155% compared
with an increase of 55% in nurses working in hospitals.
3. Between 2004 and 2008, the numbers of nurses in community
health settings remained stable, with fewer working for state and
local health departments as a result of government budget cuts.
4. The largest percentage (47%) of community health nurses work in home
health and hospice agencies to provide nursing care to i­ndividuals with
illnesses, injuries, and disabilities and to their families.
5. Almost one in five community health nurses is employed by a local
or state health department or community health or rural health
­center. These nurses provide primary care services, promote health,
and prevent illnesses, injury, and premature death.
6. Other community health nurses work with populations associated
with a specific age group or type of organization: youth in public
and parochial schools, students in colleges and universities, indi-
viduals in correctional facilities, and adults at work sites.
7. It is not the place of employment that determines whether a nurse
is a community/public health nurse, however. Instead, community/
public health nurses are distinguished by their education and by the
community/population focus of their practice.
Data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2006).
The registered nurse population: Findings from the March 2004
National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Washington, DC:
Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health
Professions, Division of Nursing; and USDHHS. (2010). The registered
nurse population: Findings from the 2008 National Sample Survey of
Registered Nurses. Washington DC: Health Resources and Services
Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Division of Nursing.
Community mental health
and substance abuse
(10,700)
Correctional
(nonhospital)
(14,200) Home health
Hospice (128,200)
(37,500)
Occupational
health
(18,800)
School health
(84,400)
State and local health departments
and community and rural health centers
(61,300)
FIGURE 1-1 Estimated community health nurses by work
sites—2008 (total community health nurses = 355,100). (Data
from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [2010]. The regis-
tered nurse population: Findings from the 2008 National Sample Survey
of Registered Nurses. Washington, DC: Health Resources and Services
Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Division of Nursing.)
For those currently enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing
e­ducation program, this text can assist in integrating ­public
health practice with nursing practice as part of the formal
­educational preparation for community/public health nursing.
The terms community/public health nurse and public
health nurse are used in this text to denote a nurse who has
received formal public health nursing preparation. Community/
public health nursing is population-focused, community-ori-
ented nursing. Population focused means that care is aimed at
improving the health of one or more populations. To save space
in the narrative of this text, the term community health nurse is
sometimes used instead of community/public health nurse.
VISIONS AND COMMITMENTS
When describing an object, we often discuss what it looks like,
what its component parts are, how it works, and how it relates
to other things. Although knowledge of structure and function
is important, in interpersonal activities, the exact form is not as
important as the purpose of the exchange. And the quality of
our specific, purposeful relationships derives from our visions
of what might be as well as our commitments to work toward
these visions.
Visions are broad statements describing what we desire
something to be like. They derive from the ability of human
beings to imagine what does not currently exist. Commitments
are agreements we make with ourselves that pledge our energies
for or toward realizing our visions.
As a synthesis of nursing and public health practice, commu-
nity/public health nursing accepts the historical commitments
of both. By definition and practice, our caring for clients who
are ill is part of the essence of nursing. Likewise, we bring from
nursing our commitment to help the client take responsibility
for his or her well-being and wholeness through our genuine
interest and caring. We add, from public health practice, our
role as health teacher to provide individuals and groups the
opportunity to see their own responsibility in moving toward
health and wholeness.
Community/public health nurses are concerned with the devel-
opment of human beings, families, groups, and c­ommunities.
Nursing provides us our commitment to assist individuals
­developmentally, especially at the time of birth and death. Public
health expands our commitment beyond i­ndividuals to consider
the development and healthy ­functioning of families, groups,
and communities.
Public health practice makes its unique contribution to
­community/public health nursing by adding to our commit-
ments. These commitments include the following:
1. Ensuring an equitable distribution of health care
2. Ensuring a basic standard of living that supports the health
and well-being of all persons
3. Ensuring a healthful physical environment
These commitments require our involvement with the ­public
and private, political and economic environments.
Boxes 1-3 and 1-4 list the commitments of nursing and public
health, respectively, that are grounded in their h ­ istorical devel-
opments. These commitments are the foundations on which
specific professional practices, projects, goals, and ­activities can
be created.
Because our culture is biased toward “doing” (being active,
being busy, and producing), we often are not conscious of
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
BOX 1-3  COMMITMENTS OF NURSING
1. Patterning an environment of safety and asepsis that promotes
health and protects clients
2. Promoting health for individuals by caring for them when they are
not able to do so themselves because of age, illness, disability, or
dysfunction
3. Promoting health for individuals and support for families related to
developmental stages (pregnancy, labor and delivery, and care of
newborns; care of dependent family members; care of dependent
elderly; care of the dying)
4. Promoting wellness and integration during illness, disability,
and dying
5. Treating clients equitably without bias related to age, race, gender,
socioeconomic class, religion, sexual preferences, or culture
6. Calling forth the client's commitment to his or her own well-being
and wholeness
BOX 1-4  COMMITMENTS OF PUBLIC
HEALTH
1. Patterning of an environment that promotes health
2. Promotion of health for families and populations
3. Assurance of equitable, just distribution of health care to all
4. Creation of a just economic environment to support health and v­ itality
of individuals, families, groups, populations, and communities
5. Prevention of physical and mental illnesses as a support to the
wholeness and vitality of individuals, families, groups, populations,
and communities
6. Provision of the greatest good for the greatest number—thinking
collectively on behalf of human beings
7. Education of others to be aware of their own responsibility to move
toward health, wholeness, and vitality
our visions of what might be. We study, exercise, go out with
friends, cook, clean, play with children, invest money, and shop.
We can get bogged down in “doing” the activities and projects
appropriate to our commitments. For example, if you are com-
mitted to having relationships with friends, recall a time when
a meeting with friends felt like a duty and obligation. You were
going through the motions of being together, but you were
not ­genuinely relating to your friends. At that moment, you
were not c­reating the relationship from your commitment;
you probably felt burdened rather than enlivened.
Likewise, it is possible to get bogged down professionally
by doing the “right” things that public health nurses are sup-
posed to do, but not feeling satisfied. We are disappointed that
results do not show up quickly or that suffering persists. We
create too many professional projects and feel spread too thin.
We burn out.
Working on activities directed toward the commitments
underlying community/public health nursing does not guaran-
tee that we will achieve our visions. But not working toward our
visions and giving up on our commitments guarantees that we
are part of the problem rather than part of the solution in our
communities. Not working toward our visions also results in
dissatisfaction and disconnectedness.
Remaining in touch with the reasons we are doing some-
thing empowers us. Our vision of healthy, whole, vital individu-
als, ­families, and communities, as well as our related commitments,
can provide a renewing source of energy. And it is hope and energy
5
that we draw on to empower our professional practice and bring
vitality to our relationships with individuals, families, and groups.
Expressing our visions and commitments to others provides
them an opportunity to become partners in working for what
might be. By having partners, we gain support not only for our
visions but also for specific projects.
Janel, the mother in a young family consisting of a mother,
a father, and a 2-year-old son with cerebral palsy, called
the health department during her second pregnancy. She
requested that a nurse assist her in having a healthy sec-
ond child. No one could guarantee that vision, but Janel's
­willingness to seek a partner in the commitment provided
an ­opportunity for a nurse–client relationship that would
increase the likelihood of a healthy newborn. The nurse,
Shari, and Janel developed specific projects related to, among
other things, financial access to prenatal care, nutrition,
­prenatal monitoring, and anxiety management.
Community/public health nurses often have visions about
health that others do not know are possible. Nurses can educate
and speak about visions of health and specific commitments that
can increase the likelihood of particular health possibilities.
Amos and Joice, a married couple in their sixties, were
­committed to remaining self-sufficient. Both had diabetes,
and Joice had had a stroke that resulted in right hemipare-
sis and expressive aphasia. When Joice had to retire from
her job, their income declined dramatically. Amos worked
two jobs and was rarely home to be a companion to his
wife. The couple fought about money, and because Joice's
verbal ­
­ communication was very slow and unclear, for
the first time in their marriage, they resorted to express-
ing frustration and anger by hitting each other. Initially,
the family did not ask Cassandra, the community/public
health nursing student, for assistance. On one visit, recog-
nizing that the wife was angry, Cassandra began to explore
the family stressors. The student's vision that “families can
solve problems through communication” made it possible
for her to discuss the problem with the spouses and solicit
their commitment to explore alternatives with her. The
couple eventually agreed to turn to their extended family,
social service agencies, and a bank for additional sources of
revenue. In this situation, it was the nurse who i­ nitiated the
discussion of her vision and enlisted the family m ­ embers'
commitment to exploring possibilities.
We have discussed two examples of expressing a vision as a
basis for creating commitments in nurse–client relationships
and in relationships between the nurse and other service pro-
viders. It is helpful for each nurse to express his or her visions
and commitments to peers and supervisors. As nurses, we need
colleagues to encourage us, work with us, and coach us. Work
groups whose members can identify some visions common
to their individual practices and can agree on some common
­commitments have a vital source of energy. When we know
what we are for, we can assertively invite others to participate
with us. When others are working with us, more possibilities are
created for synergistic effects.
6 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF COMMUNITY/
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
Community/public health nurses are expected to use the
nursing process in their relationships with individuals,
­families, groups, populations, and communities (ANA, 2007).
Community/public health nursing is the care provided by
educated nurses in a particular place and time and directed
toward promoting, restoring, and preserving the health of the
total population or community. Families are recognized as an
important social group in which values and knowledge are
learned and health-related behaviors are practiced.
Healthful Communities
What aspects of this definition are different from definitions of
nursing in general? The explicit naming of families, groups, and
populations as clients is a major focus. Community-based health
nurses care for individuals and families. Community/public
health nurses also may care for individuals and families; ­however,
they are cared for in the context of a vision of a healthful com-
munity. Beliefs underlying community/public health nursing
­summarized from Chapter 2 are presented in Box 1-5. Community/
public health nursing is nursing for social betterment.
 ommunity health nursing focuses on the health of a group,
C revealed. Nurses can assist in this process by fostering hope and
community, or population.
BOX 1-5  BELIEFS UNDERLYING
COMMUNITY/PUBLIC HEALTH
NURSING
• Human beings have rights and responsibilities.
• Promoting and maintaining family independence is healthful.
• Environments have an impact on human health.
• Nurses can make a difference and promote change toward health
for individuals, families, and communities.
• Vulnerable and at-risk populations/groups/families need special
attention, especially the aged, infants, those with disabilities and
illnesses, and poor persons.
• Poverty and oppression are social barriers to achievement of health
and human potential.
• Interpersonal relationships are essential to caring for others.
• Hygiene, self-care, and prevention are as important as care of the sick.
• Community/public health nurses can be leaders and innovators in
developing programs of nursing care and programs for adequate
standards of living.
• Community/public health nursing care should be available to all,
not just to the poor.
Community/public health nurses seek to empower ­individuals,
families, groups, community organizations, and other health and
human service professionals to participate in c­ reating health-
ful communities. The prevailing theory about how ­healthful
communities develop has been that individuals and social
­
groups clarify their identities first and then protect their own
rights while also considering the rights of others. More recent
studies on the moral development of women in the United
States suggest that women first participate in a network of
­relationships of caring for others and then consider their own
rights (Gilligan, 1982).
The ideal for a healthful community is a balance of
­individuality and unity. Community/public health nurses seek
to promote healthful communities in which there is individual
freedom and responsible caring for others. It is impossible for an
individual to consider only his or her desires without infringing
on the freedom of others. For collective well-being to exist, we
must also be concerned about caring accountability. We must
“ask about justice, about … each person having space in which
to grow and dream and learn and work” (Brueggemann, 1982,
p. 50). We must ask about the conditions that promote health.
Empowerment for Health Promotion
Because community/public health nurses often work with
persons who are not ill, emphasis is placed on promoting and
preserving health in addition to assisting people to respond
to illnesses. Although not all illnesses can be prevented and
death cannot be eliminated, community health nurses seek
to empower human beings to live in ways that strengthen
resilience; decrease preventable diseases, disability, and
­
­premature death; and relieve experiences of illness, vulnerabil-
ity, and suffering.
Empowerment is the process of assisting others to uncover
their own inherent abilities, strengths, vigor, wholeness, and
spirit. Empowerment depends on the presence of hope. Power
is not actually provided by the community/public health nurse.
Empowerment is a process by which possibilities and opportu-
nities for the expression of an individual's being and abilities are
by removing barriers to expression.
Community/public health nurses use the information
and skills from their education and experiences in medi-
cal–surgical, parent–child, and behavioral or mental health
­nursing to assist individuals, families, and groups in ­creating
­opportunities to make choices that promote health and whole-
ness. In c­ommunity/public health nursing, nurses rarely
make the choices for ­others. Instead, as a means of ­expanding
opportunities for others, c­ommunity/public health nurses
­
provide i­nformation about interpersonal relationships and
alternative ways of doing things. This is especially true when
community/public health nurses instruct others in how to care
for those with illnesses or how generally to support the growth
and development of other members of families or groups. For
example, a husband might be shown how to safely transfer his
wife from the bed to a chair, or a young father might be taught
how to praise his son and set limits without resorting to threats
and frequent punishment.
Being related to people can invite a person to risk being
connected and to trust in the face of his or her fears. This is
particularly true for those who have experienced intense or pat-
terned isolation, abuse, despair, or oppression. A nurse is said
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
to be “present” with a client when the nurse is both physically
near and psychologically “being with” the person (Gilje, 1993).
Various ways a community/public health nurse can be “present”
are revealed in the case study at the end of this chapter.
Culturally competent care is essential in both public health
and nursing practice (ACHNE, 2010; ANA, 2007; Campinha-
Bacote et al., 1996; USDHHS, 1997). Community/public health
nurses must recognize the diverse backgrounds and preferences
of the individuals, families, populations, and communities
with whom they work. Cultural influences on health problems,
health promotion and disease prevention activities, and other
health resources should be assessed. In addition, cultural differ-
ences must be considered when developing and adapting nurs-
ing interventions.
THEORY AND COMMUNITY/PUBLIC
HEALTH NURSING
Nursing practice is based on the concepts of human beings,
health and illness, problem-solving and creative processes, and
the human–environment relationship (Alligood & Marriner-
Tomey, 2010; Hanchett, 1988). Our environment includes
­physical, social, cultural, spiritual, economic, and political facets.
Our knowledge of these concepts evolves from several routes,
including personal experience, logic, a sense of right and wrong
(ethics), empiric science, aesthetic preferences, and an under-
standing of what it means to be human (Alligood & Marriner-
Tomey, 2010). Concepts are labels or names that we give to our
perceptions of living beings, objects, or events. Theories are a set
of concepts, definitions, and hypotheses that help us describe,
explain, or predict the interrelationships among concepts
(Alligood & Marriner-Tomey, 2010).
Although Florence Nightingale began the formal develop-
ment of nursing theory, most theory development in nurs-
ing has occurred since the 1960s (Choi, 1989). Alligood &
Marriner-Tomey (2010) describe the work of numerous nurs-
ing theorists. (Obviously, we cannot discuss all of them here.)
In community/public health nursing, general systems theory
­provides a way to link many of the concepts related to n ­ ursing.
The nursing theories of Johnson (1989), King (1981), Neuman
and Fawcett (2002), and Roy (Roy & Andrews, 1999) rely,
in part, on general systems theory. Perspectives on client–­
environment r­elationships from these theories are discussed
later in this chapter.
General Systems Theory
An open system is a set of interacting elements that must
exchange energy, matter, or information with the external envi-
ronment to exist (Katz & Kahn, 1966; von Bertalanffy, 1968).
Open systems include individuals as well as social systems such
as families, groups, organizations, and communities with whom
the community/public health nurse must work (Figure 1-2).
Systems theory is especially useful in exploring the numerous
and complex client–environment interchanges. For example,
a community/public health nurse might provide postpartum
home visits to a woman and her newborn, simultaneously
focusing on the adjustment of the entire family to the birth. The
same nurse might also teach teen parenting classes in a high
school and monitor the birth rates in the community, identi-
fying those populations at statistical risk of having low-birth-
weight infants.
7
COMMUNITY
Group
Person
Person
Person
Family Person
Person
Person
Organization
Person
Person
Person
Person
FIGURE 1-2 Social systems.
Compared with inpatient settings, the environments in
c­ommunity/public health nursing practice are more variable
and less controllable (Kenyon et al., 1990). General ­systems
theory provides an umbrella for assessing and analyzing the
­various clients and their relationships with dynamic environ-
ments. In this text, family and community assessments are
approached from a general systems framework.
Each open system has the same basic structures (Smith &
Rankin, 1972) (Figure 1-3, A). Figure 1-3, B, is an example
of application of the open system model to a specific organi-
zation. The boundary separates the system from its environ-
ment and regulates the flow of energy, matter, and information
between the system and its environment. The environment is
­everything outside the boundary of the system. The skin acts
as a ­physical boundary for human beings. A person's preference
for ­relatedness is a more abstract boundary that helps deter-
mine the ­pattern of interpersonal relationships. Family bound-
aries might be determined by law and culture, such as a rule that
a family consists of blood relatives. A family can have more open
boundaries and define itself by including persons not related
by blood. Groups, organizations, and some c­ ommunities have
membership criteria that assist in defining their ­boundaries.
Other community boundaries might be geographic and
­political, such as city limits.
Outcomes are the created products, energy, and ­information
that emerge from the system into the environment. Health
behaviors and health status are examples of outcomes. External
influences are the matter, energy, and information that come
from the environment into the system. External influences
can be resources for or stressors to the system. Each system
uses the external influences together with internal resources to
achieve its purposes and goals. Feedback is information chan-
neled back into the system from its environment that describes
the ­condition of the system. When a nurse tells a mother that
her child's blood pressure is higher than the desired range,
8 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing

ENVIRONMENT:
(includes suprasystem)

UNDARY
BO

INTERNAL
EXTERNAL structures
and OUTCOMES:
INFLUENCES:
processes

Internal feedback

A EXTERNAL FEEDBACK:

ENVIRONMENT:
Spiritual –Elderly revered Political –Legislators responsive to requests of elderly
Physical –Air pollution Economic –High unemployment; many youth have left city
Social –High street crime Cultural –Eastern European descent

SUPRASYSTEM: City Department of Aging

D
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES: BOUN ARY: M OUTCOMES:
em
Money from Dept. of be Health status of residents
Structures
Aging for Eating (i.e., mortality rate,

rs
Resident council
Together Program incidence of falls, use
hi
Physical safety
p
of health resources,
features
cri
Legislation and rules risk factors such as
governing residence
Processes teria–55 ye hypertension,
Information regarding Communication functional levels)
health Emotional climate Craft products sold in city
Decision-making
Resources such as Lobbying efforts for seniors
availability of primary
ars

health care provided INTERNAL FEEDBACK: Quality of life

an

Satisfaction with residence

Extended family support
d
o

ve
r o
r d
isable
d

EXTERNAL FEEDBACK:
Information that rate of falls is higher than in
B other similar residences
FIGURE 1-3 A, Model of an open system. B, Residence for older adults viewed as an open system.

the nurse is providing health information as feedback to the
mother. Feedback provides an opportunity to modify system
functioning. The mother can then decide when and where to
seek ­medical evaluation.
Each system is composed of parts called subsystems.
Subsystems have their own goals and functions and exist
in ­ relationship with other subsystems. In a human being,
the gastrointestinal system is an example of a subsystem. In
social systems, the subsystems might be structural or func-
tional. Structural subsystems relate to organization. Examples
of structural subsystems are a mother–child dyad in a fam-
ily or the nursing department in a local health ­department.
Functional subsystems are more abstract and relate to
­specific purposes. For example, the subsystems of organiza-
tions have been ­conceptualized as production, maintenance,
­integration, and adaptation (Katz & Kahn, 1966). Subsystems
of a ­community are often named by their function, such as
the health care subsystem, the educational subsystem, and the
­economic subsystem.
Systems might relate as separate entities that interact, or
they might create a variety of partnerships and confederations.
Systems might be hierarchical. The suprasystem is the next larger
system in a hierarchy. For example, the suprasystem of a county
is the state; the suprasystem of a parochial school might be the
church or the diocese that sponsors the school.
The assumptions that relate to all open systems (von
Bertalanffy, 1968) are similar to those underlying holism in
nursing (Allen, 1991) and the ecological model of health in
public health (Institute of Medicine, 2003):
1. A system is greater than the sum of its parts. One ­cannot
understand a system by studying its parts in isolation.
For example, we cannot make inferences about the health
­status of a family unless we inquire about the health status
of each member. However, knowing the health history and
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
­ resent status of individual members does not tell us how
p Self-Care
the family addresses its health concerns. Knowing the parts
is n ­ ecessary, but not sufficient, to describe the health of the
family system.
2. The primary focus of systems theory is the relationship of
the parts, not the parts per se. Life is dynamic. When
nurses assess a family or community at a specific time, the­
assessment is more like a photograph than a movie.
Exploring how the ­system has changed, how the individual
members affect each other, and how the system interacts
with the environment helps the assessment to become
more like a movie.
3. A change in one part of a system affects the whole system.
Change is a part of life. It might be accompanied by suffer-
ing because of either the type of change (an accident) or
the quantity of the change (too many changes exceed the
resources). At other times, change brings relief and strength-
ened resources.
4. Elements of one system can also be parts of another system.
For example, a college student also belongs to a family, social
groups, and perhaps a religious organization.
5. Exchanges between a system and its environments tend to
be circular or cyclical. Interaction exists between the system
and its environment. For example, in a community with a
high percentage of hazardous occupations, a high a­ ccident
rate might increase the rates of disability and unemploy-
ment within families. Because the unemployed pay less
income tax, less money is available to develop services for
those with ­disabilities within a community that has a high
disability rate. Such a community has fewer resources, and
therefore, new businesses might find it a less attractive
­location. Although a single cause-and-effect relationship
cannot u ­ sually be ­established, health problems are inter-
connected with social concerns. In the community just
described, accident rates might be related to unemployment
and economics.
6. Human beings and social systems seek to survive and to avoid
disorganization and randomness (or entropy). As social sys-
tems develop, they tend to become more complex, with spe-
cialized structures and functions. Organizations often change
their goals rather than disband when they have achieved
their original goals. A multitude of health care professions,
services, programs, and equipment have developed within
the U.S. health care system. Community/public health
nurses must recognize this complexity when helping others
access health care and when proposing changes.
7. Systems operate with equifinality, meaning that the same end
point can be reached from a variety of starting points and
through various paths. There is not one right way. Culture
influences child-rearing practices among families, for
­example, and local communities organize their health care
­services differently.
Nursing Theory
Nursing theories are based on a range of perspectives about
the nature of human beings, health, nursing, and the environ-
ment. Most nursing theories have been developed with individ-
ual ­clients in mind (Hanchett, 1988). However, many concepts
from the different nursing theories are applicable to n
­ ursing that
addresses families and communities. The concepts of s­ elf-care
and environment are introduced here.
9
Self-care is “the production of actions directed to self or to
the environment in order to regulate one's functioning in the
­interests of one's life, integrated functioning, and well-being”
(Orem, 1985, p. 31). Self-care depends on knowledge, resources,
and action (Erickson et al., 1983). The concept of self-care
is consistent with the community/public nursing focus on
empowerment of persons and groups to promote health and to
care for themselves.
Although each person is responsible for his or her own
health habits, the family and community have responsibilities to
­support self-care (USDHHS, 1995). The family is the ­immediate
source of support and health information. The ­community
has responsibilities to provide safe food, water, air, and waste
disposal; enforce safety standards; and create and support
­
opportunities for individual self-care (USDHHS, 1995). When
the focus is on self-care, the family and community are viewed
primarily as suprasystems to individuals.
Client–Environment Relationships
Nursing theories acknowledge that humans live within an envi-
ronment (Alligood & Marriner-Tomey, 2010). Nurses are c­ aring
professionals within clients' environments and i­ nfluence clients
through direct physical care, provision of information, inter-
personal presence, and environmental management. Nursing
theories that build on general systems theory tend to place
more emphasis on the environment than do other nursing
­theories (Hanchett, 1988). The continuously changing environ-
ment requires that the client expend energy to survive, perform
activities of daily living, grow, develop, and maintain harmony
or balance. Clients must adapt within a dynamic environment
(Table 1-1). (Also see Chapter 9 on environment.)
Public Health Theory
Public health theory is concerned with the health of human
populations. Public health is a practice discipline that applies
knowledge from the physical, biological, and social sciences
to promote health and to prevent disease, injury, disability,
and premature death. Epidemiology is the study of health in
human populations and is explored in more detail in Chapter 7.
Population, prevention, risk, and social justice are among
the concepts from public health theory that are i­mportant
to ­community health nursing. The first three concepts are
­discussed here, and justice is discussed later in this chapter.
Populations and Risk
Population has two meanings: people residing in an area, and a
group or set of persons under statistical study. The word group
is used here to mean a set or collection of persons, not a system
of individuals who engage in face-to-face interactions, which is
the definition of group used in the discussion of systems ­theory.
The fact that there are many definitions for population and
group leads to lack of clarity and fosters debate and dialogue.
Both definitions of population are used in public health and
community health nursing. The initial goal of public health
was to prevent or control communicable diseases that were
the major causes of death within human populations (i.e., the
­people living in specific geographic or political areas). Today,
for example, a director of nursing in a city health department
is concerned with the health of the population within the city
limits. When used in this way, population means all the people
10 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
TABLE 1-1  PERSPECTIVES
ON CLIENT–ENVIRONMENT
RELATIONSHIPS IN SELECTED
NURSING THEORIES
RELATIONSHIP OF CLIENT
THEORIST AND ENVIRONMENT
Dorothy Johnson Clients attempt to adjust to environmental
factors. Strong inputs from the environment
might cause imbalance and require excess
energy to the point of threatening the
existence of the client. Stable environments
help clients conserve energy and function
successfully.
Sister Callista Roy Clients attempt to adjust to immediate
environmental excesses or absences within
a background of other stimuli. Successful
adaptation allows survival, growth,
and improved ability to respond to the
environment.
Imogene King Clients interact purposefully with other people
and the environment. Health is the continuous
process of using resources to function in daily
life and to grow and develop.
Betty Neuman Clients continuously interact with people and
other environmental forces and seek to defend
themselves against threats. Health is balance
and harmony within the whole person.
Data from Alligood, M., & Marriner-Tomey, A. (2010). Nursing theorists
and their work (7th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.
in the area or community. The noun public is often used as a
­synonym for this definition of population.
Because not everyone has the same health status, the s­ econd
definition of population—a set of persons under ­ statistical
study—is especially important in public health practice. Using
this definition, a population is a set of persons having a c­ ommon
personal or environmental characteristic. The common char-
acteristic might be anything thought to relate to health, such
as age, race, gender, social class, medical diagnosis, level of
­disability, exposure to a toxin, or participation in a health-seek-
ing behavior such as smoking cessation. It is the researcher or
health care practitioner who identifies the characteristic and
set of ­persons that make up this population. In epidemiology,
numerous sets of persons are studied clinically and statisti-
cally to identify the causes, methods of treatment, and means
of ­prevention of diseases, accidents, disabilities, and premature
deaths. In community/public health nursing, epidemiologi-
cal information is used to identify populations at higher risk
for specific preventable health conditions. Risk is a statistical
­concept based on probability. Community/public health nurs-
ing is concerned with human risk of disease, disability, and
premature death. Therefore, community/public health nurses
work with persons within the population to reduce their risk
for developing such a health condition.
Aggregate is a synonym for the second definition of
­population. Aggregates are people who do not have the related-
ness ­necessary to constitute an interpersonal group (system) but
who have one or more characteristics in common, such as preg-
nant teenagers (Schultz, 1987). Williams (1977) focused atten-
tion on the aggregate as an additional type of client with whom
community/public health nurses apply the problem-solving
process. For example, aggregates can be identified by virtue
of setting (those enrolled in a well-baby clinic), ­demographic
characteristic (women), or health status (smokers or those with
hypertension) (APHA, 1980, 1996). It is the community/­public
health nurse who identifies the aggregate by naming one or
more common characteristics.
Children in a sports league are one example of a group because
they have one or more characteristics in c­ ommon as well as a
face-to-face relationship.
The terminology for statistical groups and aggregates is
c­onfusing. Although there are subtle differences, the terms
­at-risk population, specified population, and population group
are used to mean aggregate. The APHA (1980, 1996) uses the
term at-risk population in place of the term aggregate. In its
description of community health nursing, the ANA (1980) uses
the term specified population. Others use population group to
mean a population that shares similar characteristics but has
limited face-to-face interaction (Porter, 1987). It is important
to remember that regardless of which of these terms is used,
such a p ­opulation is not a system. The individuals within
these p­ opulations are not classified because of interaction or
­common goals. It is the community/public health nurse who
conceptually classifies, collects, or aggregates the individuals
into such a population. The individuals within such a popu-
lation often might not even know one another. The nurse has
identified the population to focus intervention efforts toward
health ­promotion and prevention.
Prevention
Prevention is a complex concept that also evolved from an
attempt to control diseases among the public. Epidemiology
is the science that helps describe the natural history of specific
diseases, their causes, and their treatments. The natural history
of a disease includes a presymptomatic period, a symptomatic
period, and a resolution (death, disability, complications, or
recovery) (Friedman, 2003). The broad concept of prevention
has three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The goal of pri-
mary prevention is the promotion of health and the ­prevention
of the occurrence of diseases. Activities of primary prevention
include environmental protection (such as maintaining asep-
sis and providing clean water) and personal protection (such
as providing immunizations and establishing smoke-free areas).
The goal of secondary prevention is the detection (screening)
and treatment of a disease as early as possible during its natural
history. For example, Papanicolaou (Pap) smear testing allows
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing 11

cervical cancer to be detected earlier in the disease process so
that cure is more likely. Tertiary prevention is geared toward
preventing disability, complications, and death from diseases.
Tertiary prevention includes rehabilitation.
All levels of prevention can be accomplished through work
with individuals, families, and groups. Prevention can also be
accomplished by targeting changes in the behaviors of specified
populations, changes in social functioning of communities (law,
social mores), and changes in the physical environment (waste
disposal). The well-being and health of the entire population
within the community is the ultimate goal of public health.
GOALS FOR COMMUNITY/PUBLIC
HEALTH NURSING
Care is always in the here and now, responsive to the needs of
specific persons, in a specific place, at a specific time. It is always
personal and intimate. Even when community/public health
nurses work with other professionals and community groups,
they express care through recognition of the uniqueness of each
of the others.
There are several major goals for community health ­nursing
(Box 1-6). Table 1-2 identifies examples of health outcomes
for each of the goals for each category of client. All nurses
address these goals, but most do so with individuals, hospi-
talized ­individuals and their families or friends, and small
groups. In ­addition to formulating these goals with individu-
als, ­community/­public health nurses do the same with f­ amilies,
groups, aggregates, populations, and organizations/systems
within the community.
BOX 1-6  MAJOR GOALS FOR
COMMUNITY/PUBLIC HEALTH
NURSING
• Care of the ill, disabled, and suffering in nonhospital settings
• Support of development and well-being throughout the life cycle
• Promotion of human relatedness and mutual caring
• Promotion of self-responsibility regarding health and well-being
• Promotion of relative safety in the environment while conserving
resources
• Reduction of health disparities among populations
From Smith, C. M. (1985). Unpublished data. Baltimore: University of
Maryland School of Nursing.
NURSING ETHICS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
The goals of community health nursing reflect the values and
beliefs of both nursing and public health. Each profession has
an ideology, or set of values, concepts, ideas, and beliefs, that
defines its responsibilities and actions (Hamilton & Keyser,
1992). Ideologies are linked closely with ethics—the study of,
and thinking about, what one ought to do (i.e., right conduct).
Public health and nursing are based on the same ethical prin-
ciples: respecting autonomy, doing good, avoiding harm, and
treating people fairly (Fry, 1983; Wallace, 2008) (Table 1-3).
These principles are sometimes in conflict. Issues related to
application of these principles are discussed in case examples
in Ethics in Practice boxes (see Chapters 8, 9, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26,
27, and 28).

TABLE 1-2  EXAMPLES OF HEALTH OUTCOMES RELATED TO GOALS OF COMMUNITY/

PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
PROMOTION
SUPPORT OF SUPPORT OF PROMOTION OF OF HEALTHFUL
CARE OF THE ILL DEVELOPMENT RELATEDNESS SELF-RESPONSIBILITY ENVIRONMENT
Individual Individual learns Teenage mother adjusts Adult joins group for Adult child of alcoholic Homeless person seeks
self-management of to newborn care socialization seeks counseling shelter
diabetes mellitus
Family Family cares for member Extended family decides Family with disabled Family identifies Older adult couple
with terminal cancer how best to care for child seeks out other preferences of members improves safety in the
aging grandparents such families home
Group Children with physical Junior high school Several women in a Women at a mother and Mothers Against Drunk
disabilities are cared students explore residence start a children's center take on Driving advocates
for in school responsibility sharing group responsibilities in the laws against driving
regarding sexual center while intoxicated
activity
Aggregate/ Barriers are identified Work site program * Work site program for Curriculum is developed
Population in a number of clients regarding counseling for health risk for schools regarding
regarding failure to preretirement planning reduction is initiated burn prevention
return for tests of cure is established
after antibiotics
Community Hospice program is Regulations for safe A network of case Crisis hotline is established Waste recycling program
initiated in a city daycare are passed as management is is established
country ordinance established for
discharged clients with
psychiatric disorders
*By definition, aggregates are individuals or families with common characteristics who are identified as such by the community health nurse or
other professional. If such clients become known to one another and develop a sense of belonging or support, the aggregate would become a
group or community.
12 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
TABLE 1-3   BASIC ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN HEALTH PROFESSIONS
PRINCIPLE DEFINITION
Altruism Concern for the welfare of others
Beneficence Doing good
Nonmaleficence Avoiding harm
Respect for autonomy Honoring self-determination (i.e., right to make
one's own decisions; respecting privacy)
Veracity Truth-telling
Fidelity Keeping promises
Justice Treating people fairly
Data from American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (1986). Essentials of college and university education for professional nursing, Washington,
DC: The Association; and Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (2008). Principles of biomedical ethics (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Ethical Priorities
Historically, the ANA Code for Nurses (ANA, 1985, p. 2) stated
that the most important ethical principle of nursing practice is
“respect for the inherent dignity and worth … of human exis-
tence and the individuality of all persons” (Box 1-7). However,
because public health is concerned with the well-being of the
entire population, the foremost ethical principle of public
health practice is doing good for the greatest number of persons
with the least amount of harm. Consequently, in community
health nursing, there is a tension between an individual-focused
BOX 1-7  CODE OF ETHICS FOR NURSES
1. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compas-
sion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of
every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or e­ conomic
status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.
2. The nurse's primary commitment is to the client, whether an
­individual, family, group, or community.
3. The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the
health, safety, and rights of the client.
4. The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual n­ursing
practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks
­ autonomy might also be curtailed by involuntary confinement
­consistent with the nurse's obligation to provide optimal client care.
5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including
the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain
­competence, and to continue personal and professional growth.
6. The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining, and improv-
ing health care environments and conditions of employment
­conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent
with the ­values of the profession through individual and collective
actions.
7. The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession
through contributions to practice, education, administration, and
knowledge development.
8. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the
­public in promoting community, national, and international efforts
to meet health needs.
9. The profession of nursing, as represented by associations and
their members, is responsible for articulating nursing values, for
­maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and for
shaping social policy.
From Fowler, M. (Ed.). (2008). Guide to the Code of Ethics for nurses:
Interpretation and application. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses
Association.
EXAMPLE
Being present
Providing immunizations
Not abandoning client
Allowing client to refuse treatment, informed
consent; maintaining confidentiality
Communicating authentically and not lying
Arriving on time for home visit
Providing nursing services to all, regardless of
ability to pay
ethic and a society-focused ethic (Fry, 1983; Hamilton &
Keyser, 1992). Community/public health nurses consider both
ethical perspectives.
How does a nurse respect the autonomy of individuals while
securing health for many? There is no single “right” answer.
The question needs to be asked often and answered anew as
circumstances change. At times, the community/public health
nurse's decision will be to protect the autonomy of an indi-
vidual while working for environmental changes that seek to
protect many. For example, a community/public health nurse
honors a ­teenager's autonomy and does not force him or her
to avoid smoking cigarettes. However, the nurse can lobby for
higher cigarette taxes that decrease consumption, for enforce-
ment of laws prohibiting cigarette sales to minors, and for
substance-free ­
­ recreation centers. Both nursing and public
health ideologies value education and environmental modifi­
cations over coercion.
The ANA (2008, p. 149) acknowledges that there are “situa-
tions in which the right to individual self-determination may be
outweighed or limited by the rights, health, and welfare of oth-
ers, particularly in relation to public health considerations.” For
example, in an airplane disaster, one individual already close to
death might be allowed to die to save several others. Individual
if a person is threatening to commit suicide or to abuse or kill
another, or if the person has a drug-resistant form of tubercu-
losis. Community quarantine may be necessary to prevent the
spread of an outbreak of avian flu.
Distributive Justice
A more difficult issue emerges when we consider the number of
individuals with competing interests and needs. “Quality health
care is a human right for all” (ANA, 2008). If so, what kind, and
how much? Nursing is working to “ensure the availability and
accessibility of high-quality health services to all persons whose
health needs are unmet” (ANA, 1985, p. 16).
How are health care, nursing, and other social services
to be distributed within the population? How are healthful
environments to be created and hazards reduced? Justice is
an ethical concept concerned with treating human beings
fairly. Nurses are to provide competent, personalized care,
regardless of an individual client's financial, social, or per-
sonal characteristics (ANA, 2007). Distributive justice is
the ethical concept ­ concerned with the fair provision of
­opportunities, goods, and services to populations of people.
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
Because the nursing code of ethics focuses primarily on the
care of individuals, community health nurses also need other
perspectives of justice in helping to provide ethical care to
populations (Fry, 1985).
There are two perspectives for determining justice when
working with populations: egalitarian (equal) and utilitarian
(Fry, 1985). In an egalitarian system of justice, each person has
equal access to equal health services. Providing every person in
a country with access to basic health services is an example of
egalitarian justice. In a utilitarian system of justice, resources
are distributed so as to provide the greatest good for the great-
est number with the least amount of harm. When resources
are limited, the utilitarian perspective is helpful. At times, indi-
viduals might be harmed under the utilitarian perspective. The
airplane disaster mentioned earlier is an example of utilitarian
decision making. With utilitarian justice, it is important to try
to determine the benefits and risks of an action (Wallace, 2008).
A health care system does not meet the criterion for justice
if health care services are provided only to those who can
pay. In such a system, health care is provided unequally (only
to those who can afford it), and the good of the entire popula-
tion is not considered.
Social Justice
Our public health ethic goes further. Not only is health care
considered a right, but “a basic standard of living necessary for
health” is also a right (Winslow, 1984). Furthermore, a health-
ful environment and protection from environmental hazards
are prerequisites for health (Kotchian, 1995). Because environ-
mental risks are greater for some individuals, groups, families,
and populations, environmental issues have been framed as
social justice issues (Lum, 1995). If hazardous waste is dumped
­primarily in low-income communities, justice is not achieved.
Social justice is explicitly defined in the most recent edition
of Public Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice:
[Social justice is] the principle that all persons are ­entitled
to have their basic human needs met, regardless of d­ ifferences
in economic status, class, gender, race, ethnicity, ­citizenship,
religion, age, sexual orientation, disability or health. This
includes the eradication of poverty and illiteracy, the
­establishment of sound environmental policy, and equality
of opportunity for healthy personal and social development.
(ANA, 2007, p. 43)
As discussed in the history of public health nursing in
Chapter 2, public health nursing is rooted in social justice.
However, social justice has not been consistently described in
recent national nursing documents (Bekemeier & Butterfield,
2005). Fahrenwald and colleagues (2007, p. 190) advocate for
public health nursing faculty to assist “students to understand
and participate in social justice actions that aim to amend … the
social conditions that influence health and the delivery of health
care.” Other public health nursing scholars r­ecommend that
social justice “from a population vantage point” be ­recognized as
the central concept in public health nursing (Schim et al., 2007).
Creating a just society and a just health care system in a con-
text of limited resources is a major challenge in the twenty-first
century. Questions that are being asked to determine health care
priorities for populations are, for example, the following: Who
decides what is good? What are the benefits and risks? How do
we weigh the short-term and long-term benefits and risks? How
13
do we determine who has a reasonable chance of benefiting?
In our democratic society, there are competing interests, and
the process is ongoing. Potentially, all community ­members,
­government leaders, nurses, and other health care profession-
als contribute to priority setting. Community/public health
­nursing practice and research contribute information to help
answer these questions. An ethic that includes social justice also
helps focus priorities.
There is a constant tension between facilitating the ­freedom
of individuals and nurturing a community in which people
feel connected enough to care for one another. One of our
challenges as community/public health nurses is to ­
­ foster
­communities in which people experience their interconnec-
tion and treat one another justly. In the remainder of this
­chapter, the specific responsibilities and competencies that
assist ­community/public health nurses in working for social
betterment are explored.
THE NURSING PROCESS IN COMMUNITY/
PUBLIC HEALTH
Public Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (ANA,
2007) was developed in concert with the steps of the n ­ ursing
process and indicates that community/public health nurses
are to apply the entire nursing process to promote the “health
of the public” (p. 88). To improve the health of one or more
populations, baccalaureate-prepared community/public health
nurses often implement programs with individuals, ­families,
and groups to promote health and wellness (Box 1-8).
Masters-prepared c­ommunity/public health nurses “develop
­
and ­evaluate programs and policy designed to prevent d ­ isease
and promote health for populations at risk” (ANA, 2007,
pp. 88–89). These standards describe both a competent level of
nursing care provided to clients (see Box 1-8) and a ­competent
level of behavior within the profession (discussed later in the
chapter under Quality Assurance). Therefore, standards of clin-
ical ­community/public health nursing practice help define the
scope and quality of community/public health nursing care;
they also help to distinguish community/public health nursing
from other nursing specialties. One of the particular ­features
of the s­pecialty is that community/public health nurses are
­concerned with the health of communities.
How do community/public health nurses work with
communities? Community/public health nurses use demo-
­
graphic and epidemiological data to identify health problems
of ­families, groups, and populations; community/public health
nurses incorporate knowledge of community structure, organi-
zation, and resources in developing solutions to meet the needs
of families, groups, and populations (Quad Council, 1999).
From this point of view, the community might be seen as part
of the environment or suprasystem of the families, groups, and
populations.
The ANA (1980) makes a distinction between direct and
indirect care in community health nursing. Direct ­community/
public health nursing care is the application of the n ­ ursing
process to individuals, families, and groups and involves
face-to-face relationships. Direct care includes management
and coordination of care. For example, a community/­public
health nurse who performs a developmental assessment of an
infant, teaches the mother about age-appropriate play, and
administers immunizations is engaged in direct care. Indirect
14 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing
BOX 1-8  STANDARDS OF CARE
OF PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
PRACTICE
Standard 1: Assessment
The public health nurse collects comprehensive data pertinent to the
health status of populations.
Standard 2: Population Diagnosis and Priorities
The public health nurse analyzes the assessment data to determine
the population diagnoses and priorities.
Standard 3: Outcomes Identification
The public health nurse identifies expected outcomes for a plan that is
based on population diagnoses and priorities.
Standard 4: Planning
The public health nurse develops a plan that reflects best practices
by identifying strategies, action plans, and alternatives to attain
expected outcomes.
Standard 5: Implementation
The public health nurse implements the identified plan by partnering
with others.
Standard 5A: Coordination
The public health nurse coordinates programs, services, and other
activities to implement the identified plan.
Standard 5B: Health Education and Health
Promotion
The public health nurse employs multiple strategies to promote health,
prevent disease, and ensure a safe environment for populations.
Standard 5C: Consultation
The public health nurse provides consultation to various community
groups and officials to facilitate the implementation of programs and
services.
Standard 5D: Regulatory Activities
The public health nurse identifies, interprets, and implements public
health laws, regulations, and policies.
Standard 6: Evaluation
The public health nurse evaluates the health status of the population.
From American Nurses Association. (2007). Public health nursing: Scope
and standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: Author. Public Health Nursing:
Scope and Standards of Practice is currently out of print. Please refer to
the newly revised edition that is scheduled to be released in early 2013.
community/public health nursing does not involve interper-
sonal relationships with all persons who benefit from care.
Priorities are determined after assessing the health status of the
entire population and aggregates, the existing resources, the
environment, and the social mechanisms for solving problems
(American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 1986).
Goals include ­promotion of self-help and appropriate use of
health resources by c­ ommunity members, development of new
­services, and provision of effective, adequate direct nursing
care services (ANA, 1980). Indirect care also includes the use of
political, social, and economic means to ensure a basic standard
of living for community members. A nurse who writes a grant
­proposal for providing primary health care to a rural p
­ opulation
is engaged in indirect community/public health nursing care.
All professional nurses are expected to collaborate with their
peers to improve nursing care and to collaborate with others to
develop new health resources and “ensure safe, legal, and ethical
health care practices” (AACN, 1986, p. 18). Therefore, we might
ask: How is community/public health nursing distinct from other
specialties? One distinction is that community/public health
nursing has a broader perspective and is concerned with the
health of the entire community and all of the aggregates within
it. A second difference is that the direct care in community health
is targeted toward individuals, families, groups, and aggregates
based on those at risk (Quad Council, 1999). Care is not provided
just to those who seek it. It is the responsibility of community/
public health nurses to identify those who might benefit from
health promotion and health prevention, as well as those with ill-
nesses and disabilities who are not receiving care (ANA, 2007).
RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMUNITY/PUBLIC
HEALTH NURSES
Community/public health nurses have a basic set of responsi­
bilities regardless of where they work. The traditional
­historical responsibilities of community/public health nurses
(see Chapter 2) are summarized in Box 1-9. At present, the
Minnesota model for public health nursing practice, known
as the interventions wheel or the Minnesota wheel, describes
17 ­public health interventions that may be focused on (or
targeted to) ­several levels of practice: individuals/families,
communities, and s­ystems that impact population health
(Minnesota Department of Health, 2001). Although these
interventions are also used by other public health disciplines,
the constellation of interventions and the levels of practice
“represent public health nursing as a specialty practice of
nursing” (Minnesota Department of Health, 2001, p. 1). The
Public Health Nursing Section of the Minnesota Department
of Health developed this practice-based model and with a
grant from the federal Division of Nursing identified support-
ing evidence from the literature, research, and expert opinion
(Keller et al., 2004a, 2004b). The interventions wheel is pre-
sented in Figure 1-4. Table 1-4 includes ­definitions of each
of the interventions. This model is being used to strengthen
public health nursing ­practice, e­ ducation, and management
BOX 1-9  RESPONSIBILITIES
OF COMMUNITY/PUBLIC
HEALTH NURSES
1. Providing care to the ill and disabled in their homes, including
teaching of caregivers
2. Maintaining healthful environments
3. Teaching about health promotion and prevention of disease and
injury
4. Identifying those with inadequate standards of living and untreated
illnesses and disabilities and referring them for services
5. Preventing and reporting neglect and abuse
6. Advocating for adequate standards of living and health care services
7. Collaborating to develop appropriate, adequate, acceptable health
care services
8. Caring for oneself and participating in professional development
activities
9. Ensuring quality nursing care and engaging in nursing research
 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing 15

Di
icy Surveillance He sease
Pol ment & a
l o p n t Inv lth Ev &
e est
e
Dev forcem iga ent
tion
l En
Population-Based
cia ing

O
So ket

ut
ar

re
a
M

ch
Population-Based

cy

Scr
oca
Cas

een
e

Adv
Fin
din

ing
g
Population-Based
Community
Organizing

Referral &
Follow-up
Individual-Focused

ent
Co lding
Bui

Ma Case
em
alit

nag
ion

Community-Focused
C
ol
la ed
bo g at ns
ra Systems-Focused le tio
tio
n De unc
F
Con lth
sult
atio Hea ing
n c h
Counseling Tea

FIGURE 1-4 Minnesota Public Health Interventions Wheel (March, 2001). (From Minnesota
Department of Health, Division of Community Health Services, Public Health Nursing Section. [2001]. Public
health interventions: Applications for public health nursing practice. St. Paul: Author.)

(Keller et al., 2004a, 2004b). (More information about this
model can be found at the end of this chapter under the
Community Resources for Practice).
Several responsibilities stand out as being of great importance
for baccalaureate-prepared community/public health nurses:
(1) identification of unmet needs; (2) advocacy and referral to
ensure access to health and social services; (3) teaching, especially
for health promotion and prevention; (4) screening and case
finding; (5) environmental management; (6) collaboration and
coordination; and (7) political action to advocate for adequate
standards of living and health care services and resources. In the
following discussion of nursing responsibilities in community/
public health, direct care of the clients who are ill is discussed
first because it is the responsibility with which nurses are most
­familiar. (See Chapter 19 for an in-depth discussion of screening
and case finding and Chapter 13 for family care management.)
Direct Care of Clients with Illness, Infirmity, Suffering,
and Disability
“Doing for” those who cannot do for themselves because of ill-
ness, infirmity, suffering, or disability is the historical basis of
nursing. Hospitals and nursing homes have been the places
where most nursing care has been provided in the United
States during the twentieth century. However, home care of
persons with illnesses by nurses preceded hospital care. Since
the mid-1960s, care for clients with illnesses in their homes has
reemerged as a significant mode of care. Reasons for this include
the aging of the population, the relatively high p ­ revalence of
chronic ­diseases, reimbursement for skilled nursing care in the
home (see Chapter 31), and the decreased length of hospital
stays resulting from efforts to reduce hospital costs.
Care of individuals in the home today builds on care that
nurses have learned to provide in institutional settings. Whatever
theoretic framework is used for viewing the needs and health
problems of individuals, with creativity, it can be transferred to
the home setting. Generally, a family's access to 24-hour home
nursing care for sick family members depends on the family's
ability to pay for such services. Most insurance policies limit
payment for nursing care for persons with illnesses in their
homes to the intermittent performance of specific treatment
procedures and to the nurse's instructing a family member or
other caregiver in 24-hour care.
As is discussed in Unit Three, a distinguishing feature of
community/public health nursing is that care is provided from a
family-focused model, which is broader than, and qualitatively
different from, an individual-focused model. The community
health nurse is concerned not only with the health of the iden-
tified client but also with the health of other family members,
especially the caregiver, and the family as a unit.
Populations also can experience illness and suffering as a
result of natural or human-caused disasters such as Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans. Chapter 22 discusses emergency
­preparedness and nursing during disasters.
Referral and Advocacy
Community/public health nurses often encounter individuals
who have significant concerns, untreated diseases, or unmet
needs related to a basic standard of living (food, clothing,
16 CHAPTER 1 Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing

TABLE 1-4   PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS WITH DEFINITIONS

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION DEFINITION
Surveillance Describes and monitors health events through ongoing and systematic collection, analysis, and
interpretation of health data for the purpose of planning, implementing, and evaluating public
health interventions. (Adapted from MMWR. [1988].)
Disease and other health event Systematically gathers and analyzes data regarding threats to the health of populations,
investigation ascertains the source of the threat, identifies cases and others at risk, and determines control
measures.
Outreach Locates populations-of-interest or populations-at-risk and provides information about the nature
of the concern, what can be done about it, and how services can be obtained.
Screening Identifies individuals with unrecognized health risk factors or asymptomatic disease conditions
in populations.
Case-finding Locates individuals and families with identified risk factors and connects them with resources.
Referral and follow-up Assist individuals, families, groups, organizations, and/or communities to identify and access
necessary resources to prevent or resolve problems or concerns.
Case management Optimizes self-care capabilities of individuals and families and the capacity of systems and
communities to coordinate and provide services.
Delegated functions Are direct care tasks a registered professional nurse carries out under the authority of a health
care practitioner as allowed by law. Delegated functions also include any direct care tasks a
registered professional nurse entrusts to other appropriate personnel to perform.
Health teaching Communicates facts, ideas, and skills that change knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs,
behaviors, and practices of individuals, families, systems, and/or communities.
Counseling Establishes an interpersonal relationship with a community, a system, family or individual
intended to increase or enhance their capacity for self-care and coping. Counseling engages
the community, a system, family, or individual at an emotional level.
Consultation Seeks information and generates optional solutions to perceived problems or issues
through interactive problem solving with a community, system, family, or individual. The
community, system, family, or individual selects and acts on the option that best meets the
circumstances.
Collaboration Commits two or more persons or organizations to achieve a common goal through enhancing
the capacity of one or more of the members to promote and protect health. (Adapted from
Henneman, E., Lee, J., Cohen, J. [1995]. Collaboration: A concept analysis, Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 21, 103–109.)
Coalition building Promotes and develops alliances among organization or constituencies for a common purpose.
It builds linkages, solves problems, and/or enhances local leadership to address health
concerns.
Community organizing Helps community groups to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and
develop and implement strategies for reaching the goals they collectively have set. (Adapted
from Minkler, M. [Ed.]. [1997]. Community organizing and community buildings for health.
New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, p. 30.)
Advocacy Pleads someone's cause or acts on someone's behalf, with a focus on developing the community,
system, individual, or family's capacity to plead their own cause or act on their own behalf.
Social marketing Utilizes commercial marketing principles and technologies for programs designed to
influence the knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, behaviors, and practices of the
population-of-interest.
Policy development Places health issues on decision maker's agendas, acquires a plan of resolution, and
determines needed resources. Policy development results in laws, rules and regulations,
ordinances, and policies.
Policy enforcement Compels others to comply with the laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and policies created in
conjunction with policy development.
From Minnesota Department of Health, Division of Community Health Services, Public Health Nursing Section (2001); and Minnesota Department
of Health, Division of Community Health Services, Public Health Nursing Section. (2001). Public health interventions: Applications for public health
nursing practice. St. Paul: Author. Retrieved December 19, 2011, from http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/cfh/ophp/resources/docs/phinterventions_
manual2001.pdf

s­helter, transportation) or who have experienced oppression
such as neglect or abuse. The community/public health nurse
is not expected to independently solve all existing problems.
When problems cannot be managed solely by the nurse and
client, the community/public health nurse assists the client in
seeking appropriate resources.
Referral is the process of directing someone to another
source of assistance. The community health nurse is expected to
make assessments with clients, discuss the possible significance
of such findings, explore the meaning of the experience with the
client, and refer the client to appropriate resources. This process
is discussed in more depth in Chapter 19.
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN