ROLES/ COMPETENCIES OF A

PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE

• Clinician, who is a health care provider,
taking care of the sick people at home or
in the RHU

• Health Educator, who aims towards health

promotion and illness prevention through
dissemination of correct information;
educating people

• Facilitator, who establishes multi-sectoral

linkages by referral system
• Supervisor, who monitors &
supervises the performance of
midwives and auxiliary health
workers

• Leader and Change agent,

influences people to participate in
the over all process of community
development
• Manager, organizes the nursing
service component of the local health
agency or local government
• - responsible for the delivery of package
of services provided by the health
program to the target clientele

• Researcher, participates on the

conduct of research and utilizes
research findings in practice.
 OTHER SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF A NURSE,
SPELLED BY THE IMPLEMENTING RULES AND
REGULATIONS OF RA 7164 (PHILIPPINE NURSING
ACT OF 1991) INCLUDES:
• Supervision and care of women during
pregnancy, labor and puerperium
• Performance of internal examination and
delivery of babies
• Suturing lacerations in the absence of a
physician
• Provision of first aid measures and
emergency care
• Recommending herbal and symptomatic
meds…etc.
In the care of the families:
• Provision of primary health care services
• Developmental/Utilization of family
nursing care plan in the provision of care
In the care of the communities:
• Community organizing mobilization,
community development and people
empowerment
• Case finding and epidemiological
investigation
• Program planning, implementation and
evaluation
• Influencing executive and legislative
individuals or bodies concerning health
and development
 PRINCIPLES OF CHN
• The COMMUNITY is the PATIENT in
CHN, the FAMILY is the UNIT OF CARE.

• In CHN, the client is considered as

an ACTIVE partner NOT
PASSIVE recipient of care
• CHN practice is affected by:
developments in health technology, in
particular,
• changes in society, in general

• The goal of CHN is achieved through

multi-sectoral efforts

• CHN is a part of health care system and

the larger human services system.
 LEVELS OF CLIENTELE

• 1. Individual
• 2. Family
• 3. Community
• 4. Population Groups
 Client Patient
May or may not be sick Sick

Collaborates with the health Dependent on health

professionals when it comes to professionals for decisions and
his/her care health care

Assumes an active role in health Passive receiver of health services

care
Health professionals perform Health professionals generally
health promotion and disease perform disease prevention
prevention activities activities
 THE INDIVIDUAL AS A
CLIENT
Basic approaches in looking
at the individual:

1.Atomistic

2.Holistic
 ATOMISTIC APPROACH
(BY BYRNE AND THOMPSON)
• - views man as an organism composed of different
physical structures
• -these parts are organized making them logically fit
together to function effectively
• Levels of organization
1. Chemical Level
2. Organelle Level
3. Cellular Level
4. Tissue Level
5. Organ Level
6. System level
 HOLISTIC APPROACH
• - traces the pattern of man’s
relationship with other beings in the
society

• -views man as a whole organism with

interrelated and interdependent parts
functioning to produce behavior
unacceptable or acceptable to the
society
DIMENSIONS OF MAN
1. MAN AS A PHYSICAL
BEING
- Genetic endowment,
sex, and

Physical attributes (such

as anatomy and
physiology)
2. MAN AS A SOCIAL BEING
- Relating to others
- Family- first agent of
socialization
- *Socialization- process
of social learning to
acquire knowledge,
attitudes, skills, and
- *Socialization- process
of social learning to
acquire knowledge,
attitudes, skills, and

roles appropriate to sex,

social class, ethnic and
cultural group
3. MAN AS A SPIRITUAL
BEING
- A person is capable of
virtues: faith, hope, love
and charity.

- Believes in a power
beyond himself
4. MAN AS A
THINKING/INTELLECTUAL BEING
- Capable of
perception, cognition
and communication

- Logical thinking and

reasoning
- A. Intelligence- the
capacity to learn from
experience and adapt
successfully to one’s
environment
- Affected by heredity and
environment
- B. Perception-
selecting, organizing,
and interpreting sensory
information
- -affected by man’s prior
experiences and
expectations.
- C. Communication-
enables man to relate
with other human
beings.
- Verbal and non-verbal
5. MAN AS A
PSYCHOLOGICAL BEING
- Capable of feeling,
rationality, conscious
and unconscious states

- His rational side makes

him merciful, kind,
compassionate
 FAMILY THEORIES & MODELS
1. Developmental Stage Theory

• Families are viewed as ever

changing and growing with each
member expected to accomplish
tasks at every stage of development;
•
• Individual is a member of the family
where each new member adds to
the complexity of the interaction
within the family
 FAMILY THEORIES & MODELS
2. Structural-Functional
• Family is seen as a social system
passively adapting to external
influences, instead of acting as a
change agent itself;

• Individual is seen as fulfilling roles

within the social system
FAMILY THEORIES & MODELS
• Main functions of the family:

1. Develop a sense of family

purpose & affiliation

2. Add & socialize new members

3. Provide & distribute care &
services to members

4. Organize members & resources

in meeting family goals
 FAMILY THEORIES & MODELS
3. Family Systems Theory
• Family is viewed as a system in
which the family members are
interdependent and are working
towards specific goals;

• Individual is a member of the

family & considered a subsystem
 FAMILY THEORIES & MODELS
4. Role Theory
• Family- life is structured according to the roles
that are assumed by the person in interaction
with others;

• Individual - is seen in terms of roles –

specialized or shared, depending on age, sex,
social norms, status, & complexity

• Role strain -when individuals have difficulty

meeting others’ or their own expectations
i.e. role conflict, role overload
 FAMILY THEORIES & MODELS
5.Crisis Theory
• Family is made up of members who
individually experience a state of
disequilibrium from situational,
developmental, or societal sources
of stress called crisis;

• Individual in crisis presents with

illness, which may pose as a
problem to the whole family
•Basic assumptions:

• All family members are

affected by the inability of
one to cope

• Family coping mechanisms

are adopted to aid in the
coping of any one member
 3. THE POPULATION GROUPS
Group of people sharing the same
characteristics, developmental
stage, or common exposure to
particular environmental factors.

Vulnerable Groups:
• Infants and Young Children
• School age
• Adolescents
• Mothers/Women
• Males
• Old People
 4. THE COMMUNITY
Group of people sharing common
geographical boundaries and/or
common values and interests.

Specialized Fields:
Community Mental Health Nursing
Occupational Health Nursing
School Health Nursing
Community Mental Health Nursing
• A unique clinical process which includes an
integration of concepts from nursing, mental
health, social psychology, psychology,
community networks, and the basic sciences

Occupational Health Nursing

• The application of nursing principles and
procedures in conserving the health of workers
in all occupations

School Health Nursing

• The application of nursing theories and
principles in the care of the school population