The purpose of this course is to introduce students to community health nursing, health promotion and disease prevention across the life-span. A major focus of this course is for students to critically think about and discuss the role of community health care nurse within a global environment. Nursing students will be exposed to the culturally diverse population, health disparities that exist around the world, and some of the efforts by individuals, groups, organizations, and countries to deal with disparities.
This course broadens the concepts of nursing introduced across the curriculum and helps students gain a broad understanding of the history and overarching principles of public health, and the role of the discipline in improving health and reducing health inequities. Students study the multiple and interacting factors which impact on human health, including bio-physiology; behavior; culture; societal structure (social, political, economic, and built context); and the natural environment. Emphasis is placed on increasing the student’s self-awareness, communicating effectively, and meeting the community health needs of families and communities. Analysis of the health care delivery system includes the impact of political, legal, social and cultural influences on the health of clients.