NURS 4215 - Community Health and Home Care Theory

The purpose of this course is to prepare nursing students for active participation in an increasingly diverse public health care system. The ANA Code of Ethics and the Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing Practice provide the ethical and clinical practice guidelines for analysis of public health and nursing-specific issues. The course provides an overview of the philosophy of public health and analyzes health care disparities, that exist in the United States between dominant and non-dominant vulnerable groups and populations. Evidenced-based research illustrates the extent of, and health care outcomes associate with, these disparities. The course content also discusses the social determinants of health and investigates current community-based efforts to articulate principles of social justice and re-dress inequities in the dominant health care system. This courses has an academic service learning component that addresses the professional nurse's role in advocacy, health promotion, health maintenance, disease prevention and illness management between and among the dominant culture and vulnerable populations.