Supporting one another: the definition of PHN, awards, and the impromptu

Public health nursing is nursing practice directed toward a population. Public health nursing practice includes assessment and identification of sub-populations who are at high risk of injury, disease, threat of disease, or poor recovery and focusing resources so that services are available and accessible. The goal of public health nursing is to improve the health of populations through ongoing assessment; coordinated interventions; and care management, working with and through relevant community leaders, interest groups, employers, families and individuals; and through involvement in relevant social and political actions. The underlying assumptions concerning the quantity, quality and availability of health care in the United States are under reconsideration and revision. Responsibility and accountability for the provision of basic health services to the entire population, and specifically to vulnerable populations, include both public and private providers. The dialogue must include public health nursing and the unique expertise and skills that public health nurses bring to promoting and protecting the health of populations.