COMMUNITY

HEALTH CENTRE
Amit Singh
M.sc Nursing
 DEFINITION
"According WHO, Community health refers to
the health status of the members of the
community to the problems affecting their
health and to the totality of health care
provided for the community.“

According to American Association Community

health nursing is a synthesis of nursing practice
and public health practice applied for promoting
and preserving the health of people.
 OBJECTIVES

Objectives of community health nursing are as follows-

1. To assess health needs and problems of the community
members and to provide essential health care as per need.
2. To reduce Infant Mortality Rate(IMR) and Maternal Mortality
Rate(MMR)
3. To reduce incidence and prevalence of various
communicable and non communicable diseases.
4. To raise expectancy of life.
5. 5. To plan and implement various national health
programmes properly.
6. 6. To evaluate health services which arebeing provided to
the people, andreplan and reimplement as per need.
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH NURSING

1. Before planning and implementation of community health

nursing services it is very essential for a community health
nurse to know about the community. A map of the working
area should be prepared by the community health nurse.
2. Community health nursing services should be based on
the identified health needs and problems of the
community members.
3. Community health nursing services should be accessible to
all the community members ir-respective of their sex,
religion, caste, socio- economic status, political
background etc.
4. Health services should be planned and implemented as
per availability work of resources. As far as possible, or
locally available resources should be given priority.
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 5. There should be well defined aims and objectives

of community health nursing services.
 6. There should be active participation of the
community members in the planning, implementation
evaluation of these services.
 7. All the health personnel involved in the planning
and implementation of health services should be
worked as a team. They should co operate each other.
 8. Health personnel must not accept any gifts or
bribe.
COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSE

Community health nurse is a nurse

who provides preventive , promotive
and curative health services to the
individuals , families and group of
community in the community
settings.
 QUALITIES OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH NURSE

1. Good observer - Community health nurse

should be a good observer. As she provides
nursing care independently so she should
have the ability to recognize physical,
mental and psychological status of an
individual. She should also be capable to
recognize abnormal sign and symptoms of
a patient.
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2. Good communicator- Community health nurse

should be a good communicator. She talks with the
individuals and families to find out their health related
needs and problems so she should be well known
about the principles of good communication.
3. Ability to take proper decisions- While providing
community health nursing services, most of the
decisions are to be taken by her independently based
on health needs and problems of an individual or
family. So she should have ability to take proper
decisions.
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4. Technically Sound- For providing good quality of

preventive, promotive, diagnostic and curative
health services, the community health nurse should
be technically sound. She must be well known about
the basic principles of nursing including public
health nursing.
5. Having knowledge about the community- As
community health nursing services are provided in
the community setting so she should be well known
about the community. She should have knowledge.
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6. Physically, Mentally and Socially

healthy- For providing good quality of
comprehensive nursing care, community
health care should be physically, mentally
and socially healthy.
7. Ready to play a much wider role-
Community health nurse assesses the
World health status of people to identify
their health needs and problems, makes a
planning, performs various activities and
finally evaluates the effectivity of health
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7. Ability to act as a leader- Community health

nurse should be a good teacher, guide,
administrator of programmes and manager. She
should have ability to co-ordinate, guide and
supervise her team members.
8. Resourceful and proper use of resources-
Community health nurse should have an ability to
use available resources properly. Before planning
and implementation of health services she should
acquire information regarding available resources.
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9. Managerial abilities- As community

health nurse participates in implementing
various national health programmee and
organizing various camp in her area so she
should have good managerial abilities
10.Other qualities- are professional nurse
such as emotional stability, ptience,
polite,caring,intelligent, alert active etc.
ADVANTAGS OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH NURSING

i. It provides opportunity for an community health nurse to

make direct observation.
ii. It is helpful in rendering health services to the needy
people who are unable to go to hospitals and health
centres.
iii. It makes possible to have active involvement of
community members in planning, implementation and
evaluation of health care services.
iv. It provides an opportunity for maintaining good
interpersonal relations and understanding with the
community members. It makes the health care more
effective.
 FUNCTION OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH NURSE

Community health nurse plays a wider role than an institutional

nurse. An institutional nurse performs various nursing activities
as per instructions given by doctor or her seniors. On other
hand community health nurse works independently. Functions of
community health nurse are as follows-
a) Assessment
b) Planning
c) Implementation
d) Evaluation
e) Administrative work
f) Teaching
g) Communication
 Assessment

Community health nurse assesses the health status

of the community members to identify their health
related needs and problems.
During assessment following information are
collected -
Health needs problem of the community members.
Various social, economical, psychological and
political factors that influence their health.
Living standard and education level etc.
 PLANNING

After identification of health needs and problems of

the community members, the nurse makes a
planning for providing nursing care.
During this, nurse carries out following activities -
Analysis of the data which have been collected
during assessment
Setting up of short term and long term goals
She makes a plan regarding methods and
techniques that will be used during
implementation phase
 IMPLEMENTATION

Implementation of health care services to

the people as per their requirement is an
important function of community health
nurse. During implementation, several
nursing activities decided upon as being
most effective are carried out by the
community health nurse in order to fulfil
people,s health needs and to resolve their
health problems.
 EVALUATION

Once all the nursing activities have been

carried out, the nurse completes an evaluation
to find out effectivity of nursing care.
After evaluation, the possible outcomes are
usually described under three terms-
 Fully effective
 Partially effective
 Ineffective
ADMINISTRATIVE WORK

Community health nurse supervises her sub

ordinates and provides necessary guidance
to ensure implementation of better health
services to community members. She is also
responsible for planning, implementation
and evaluation of health services which are
being provided by subcentres and Primary
Health Centres located in her area.
 TEACHING

Community health nurse participates in the

teaching programme of dais, ANMS, Health
workers (Male), GNM students, ANM students
etc. She provides informations to her sub
ordinates regarding latest techniques and
instruments.
 COMMUNICATION

Community health nurse acts as a bridge

between health services which are being
provided by the government and community
members. She provides informations to the
people regarding health services, health
programmes and schemes.
 RESEARCH

Community health nurse also participates in

health related research works. These
research work enable her to learn about new
techniques and therapeutic methods.