Catholic Hospice’s Community Health Nurses Essay

Ana de Castanedo

The main learning objective of the clinical experience at Catholic Hospice is targeted at demonstrating the role of community health nurses in family-centered care. Community health nurses focus on broader goals of improving health outcomes of not individual patients but communities in general (“Becoming a community health nurse,” n.d.). To reach the outlined objective, the following schedule has been designed:

• Day 1: Getting to know the facility, key personnel, and performing the overall assessment of the situation;
• Days 2-3: Assisting a community health nurse that works in the facility (providing treatment and advice to community members);
• Days 4-6: Focusing on a specific community health problem (prevention of falls in the elderly that live with their families);
• Day 7: Analyzing experiences and determining whether the objective has been met.Catholic Hospice’s Community Health Nurses Essay

One placement issue that occurred this week was associated with the lack of cooperation from other healthcare providers at the facility. During the first several days, the majority of nurses at Catholic Hospice were unwelcoming and did not offer advice or assistance because of distrust. However, after getting to know me, their attitudes improved.

Exploring the role of community health nurses in family-centered care is associated with establishing trusting relationships between patients and their families that live in a specific community (Dening & Hibberd, 2016). Therefore, this objective is linked to advocacy, effective communication, and the education of patients within the community. Also, community nurses can help families to get to know each other and share their experiences regarding dealing with a specific health problem. In this case, the prevention of falls in elderly patients that live with their children at home is an excellent opportunity for families to bond.Catholic Hospice’s Community Health Nurses Essay