Some great reasons why you should seek a career in Community Health Nursing
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Community health nursing is an exciting way of serving and giving back to the community. A community health nurse is a qualified and registered nurse who gets to work on a lot of health programs conducted by the district health organizations, and is usually employed by the public health organizations.
Community health nursing usually involves rendering services in less structured localities and also involves direct interaction with the normal public, communities and groups in order to incorporate optimum wellness among the public by enlightening them with the basic education related to preventive care, health education and health nursing.
Community health nursing usually involves with the administration of vaccination programs, conducting screening for cancer, perform routine examinations for women, children and elderly people. They also get to promote the importance of health care among children by conducting programs at the local schools. They also educate the community on deadly diseases like tuberculosis, HIV/aids, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. They not only provide the information about these diseases but also elaborate on the preventive measures against each of them. They also play a prominent role in screening of these diseases and investigate diseases which can easily be spread. They spread the importance of immunization among the community.
They also play an important role in educating women about pregnancy and the care to be taken during that phase. They teach the children on importance of oral hygiene and how to maintain it. They even pay home visits to administer drugs to chronic illnesses like paralysis, etc and administer flu or pneumonia shots to home based patients.
A community health nurse also gets an opportunity to assist the senior citizens by coordinating health activities like nutrition and fitness programs, provision of assistance on issues related to Medicare and other resources.
A major issue affecting the community health program is the shortage in the number of available qualified nurses. This shortage in the workforce has resulted in prevention of provision of community health nursing to individuals and groups in the rural areas.
They can be of a great help during disasters like earthquakes, tornados, etc, by providing emergency relief to the victims. They even have an opportunity to travel and visit a lot of locations and render their services in those locations. By closely working with the government organizations, they focus on improving the overall health of their community. They strive towards the prevention of diseases in their community.
The average salary earned by a community health nurse is usually dependent on the factors such as, education, the experience of a nurse, and the location of work and on an average the salary of a community health nurse is around $51, 000. The wages usually range from a minimum of $44, 000 to a maximum wage of $64, 000.
Community health nursing is an appropriate career option for those with a nursing degree and a passion towards community health care and it plays a vital role in the maintenance of health care in a community.