Task A.

Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonged life, and promoting health
and efficiency through organized community effort; for the sanitation of the environment; the
control of communicable infections; the education of the individual in personal hygiene; the
organization of medical and nursing services for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of
disease and the development of the social machinery to ensure everyone a standard of living
adequate for maintenance of health so organizing these benefits as to enable every citizen to
realize the birthright of health and longevity.

In public health nursing refers to the practice of nursing in the national and local government
health departments which actually include health centers and rural health units and also the
public schools. And some of these are greatly practiced in the public sector.

Public health nursing and community health nursing have often been somewhat interchanges
used in the Philippines. However, the phrase community health nursing emerged out of an
interest in reaffirming the original thrust of public health nursing. The standard differentiated the
public health nursing and community health nursing only in one area: setting of work as dictated
by funding.

Although, community health nursing highlights some important points. First, the goal of
professional practice is the promotion and preservation of the health of population. Second, the
nature of practice is a comprehensive, general, continual, and episodic; Third, The knowledge
base comes from nursing and public health; Fourth, The different levels of individuals, families,
and groups and lastly the practitioners recognition of the primacy of the population as a whole.

For the public Health it is somewhat functions as a set of fundamental activities that address the
determinants of health, protect a populations health and treat disease. It is somewhat represent
public goods and in this respect governments would need to ensure the provision of these
essential functions but would not necessarily have to implement and finance them. It is just the
public health functions to be adequately delivered and well defined and coordinated in the public
health system and must put in place.

The implementation of both may be achieved through other government agencies, community
and non-governmental organizations or the private sector, and among others.
References:

Frances Prescilla L. Cuevas, RN, MAN. Et al; Public health nursing in the Philippines 10 th
edition, publication committee of the national league of Philippine government Nurses,
incorporated.

Araceli S. Maglaya, RN,Phd: Nursing Practice in the Community. 4th edition

Jean P. Reyala (2000) Community Health Nursing Service, 9th edition