Community health nursing - Dianne Watkins

This new edition of a highly successful key textbook for community health courses has been fully updated to reflect the changes in primary health care over the last decade. There are new chapters on the prevention of physical child abuse, community mental health nursing, community learning disability nursing and school nursing and greater emphasis on the significance of public health as a framework for practice. Community health nursing identifies frameworks that can help define new roles in practice and will provoke discussion on the common challenges and concerns relevant to all nurses in the community, including

Pressures for change
in health and social policy, primary care and quality improvement

The public health framework
epidemiology, poverty and health issues

The family as a framework for practice
from both sociological and psychological perspectives

Professional frameworks for practice
legal and ethical aspects, teamwork and leadership

Shifting the boundaries of community practice
changing clinical roles in specialist nursing areas

Challenges for the future
including value for money, information technology and promoting public health

Written by a combination of leading academics and practitioners from a range of disciplines, each chapter identifies key issues and questions for discussion. Extensively referenced and providing clear guidance on up to date further reading, this book provides and comprehensive and thought-provoking analysis of the key issues. All nurses intending to practice in the community will welcome this text as an essential response to the challenges ahead.