Nur 405 Windshield Survey
Windshield Survey with Reflection
Sarah Kinnard
NUR/405 Healthy Communities: Theory and Practice
November 7, 2011
Beth Edwards, MSN, FNP- BC Windshield Survey
The first step required for providing community health nursing services involves a comprehensive assessment of the community. This can be accomplished by a windshield survey, conducted by making visual observations from a car while driving through the neighborhood. Valuable information and data collection during a windshield survey can be used to identify the health-related needs of the community and evaluate the need for additional community health services. Delaware is divided into three counties; Kent is centrally located between New Castle and Sussex County. Kent County is home to the state capital, Dover. I have chosen Kent County Delaware, where I reside, as the focus for my windshield survey.
Community Health Defined According to Stanhope and Lancaster, (2008, p. 192) “A community is defined as a social network of interacting individuals, usually concentrated in a defined territory.” Members within a community interact with each other in local businesses, schools, hospitals, and churches; this interaction creates a sense of belonging and purpose within the community. Community health recognizes the specific health needs of the community, offering resources and health education to improve community health outcomes. Community health is defined as “the meeting of collective needs by identifying problems and managing behaviors within the community itself and the between the community and larger society” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008, p. 347). Community health is not limited to improving outcomes of an individual suffering from a particular disease or illness, but concentrates on the improvement of the community as a whole. In public health nursing, the community rather than an individual becomes the client. Although individuals make up the community and nurses may assist
Sarah Kinnard
NUR/405 Healthy Communities: Theory and Practice
November 7, 2011
Beth Edwards, MSN, FNP- BC Windshield Survey
The first step required for providing community health nursing services involves a comprehensive assessment of the community. This can be accomplished by a windshield survey, conducted by making visual observations from a car while driving through the neighborhood. Valuable information and data collection during a windshield survey can be used to identify the health-related needs of the community and evaluate the need for additional community health services. Delaware is divided into three counties; Kent is centrally located between New Castle and Sussex County. Kent County is home to the state capital, Dover. I have chosen Kent County Delaware, where I reside, as the focus for my windshield survey.
Community Health Defined According to Stanhope and Lancaster, (2008, p. 192) “A community is defined as a social network of interacting individuals, usually concentrated in a defined territory.” Members within a community interact with each other in local businesses, schools, hospitals, and churches; this interaction creates a sense of belonging and purpose within the community. Community health recognizes the specific health needs of the community, offering resources and health education to improve community health outcomes. Community health is defined as “the meeting of collective needs by identifying problems and managing behaviors within the community itself and the between the community and larger society” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008, p. 347). Community health is not limited to improving outcomes of an individual suffering from a particular disease or illness, but concentrates on the improvement of the community as a whole. In public health nursing, the community rather than an individual becomes the client. Although individuals make up the community and nurses may assist
References: County Health Ratings. (2011). Kent, Delaware. Retrieved from http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/delaware/kent Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Black or African American population. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/populations/BAA/BAA.htm Healthy People.gov. (2011). Nutrition and weight status: interventions and resources. Retrieved from http://healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/ebr.aspx?topicId=29 Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2008). Population-centered health care in the community (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2010). The Office of Minority Health. Retrieved from http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov