Key Terms
- community
- a group of people with at least one characteristic in common
- community health
- the physical, mental, and social well-being of a community; involves health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention
- community/public health nursing
- specialty focused on improving the health of communities and populations through health promotion, disease prevention, risk reduction, community education, management of outbreaks and epidemics, and other initiatives
- competencies
- foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable nurses to meet client needs
- contact tracing
- identification of people who may have been exposed to a specific disease and are at risk for disease acquisition or spread
- disease surveillance
- data-collection activities that aim to inform a disease response plan
- scope of practice
- professional activities involved in a particular role; supports nurses working to their level of qualification, expertise, and competence
- social prescribing
- referrals to community resources outside of traditional health care settings
- standards of practice
- rules of conduct to which professionals are expected to adhere; support nurses’ decision making and delivery of care
- vaccine uptake
- the proportion of the population receiving a vaccination