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Population Health Surveillance Practice of Public Health Nurses
Author(s) -
MeagherStewart Donna,
Edwards Nancy,
Aston Megan,
Young Linda
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2009.00814.x
Subject(s) - public health , public health nursing , documentation , public health surveillance , population , population health , nursing , medicine , qualitative research , health promotion , health care , community health , environmental health , political science , sociology , social science , computer science , programming language , law
Objective: To report the population health surveillance functions of public health nurses and to describe factors that impede these functions. Design and Sample: An interpretive qualitative study was conducted in Public Health Service areas in Eastern Canada. Participants were public health nurses ( n =55) with an average of 14.5 years of pertinent work experience. Measures: Semistructured face‐to‐face, telephone interviews, and focus groups were conducted, transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Results: The nurses in this study used ecosocial population health surveillance functions that included multilevel societal influences on health. Extensive interprofessional and intersectoral networks were foundational to their surveillance work, allowing them to monitor what was occurring in the community and transfer this knowledge into various systems to contribute toward improved health outcomes. However, the nurses did not acknowledge the significance of their population health surveillance work, and documentation structures did not support these surveillance functions. Conclusion: New surveillance methods and documentation structures that reflect an ecosocial surveillance approach are needed that are more consistent with public health nurses' population‐focused practice.