American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of Practice vs. Public Health Nursing (PHN) practice Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing
American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of Practice vs. Public Health Nursing (PHN) practice Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing
Like most professional associations, nurses organize themselves into groups of practitioners to not only perform functions they cannot accomplish as separate individuals but also influence policy making in their area of expertise and adjudge one another as equally and professionally competent (American Nurses Association (ANA), 2010). In such associations, the practitioners also create, establish, and enforce rules of conducts designed to improve the standards of quality care and guarantee professional accountability (ANA, 2010). Most importantly, these professional organizations shoulder a legal as well as a moral (ethical) responsibility to both the public and its members to develop and implement standards that guide the practice and scope of its members (ANA, 2010). One such association is the American Nurses Association (ANA), and the other is the Public Health Nursing (PHN) practice.
PHN practice occurs within the nursing and public health domain of population health care delivery (Canadian Public Health Association [CPHA], 2010). It focuses on improving the health of persons in the population by emphasizing prevention, mobilization, and spearheading health promotion programs in selected determinants of community health (APHA & PHNS, 2013). Frequently used interchangeably with the community health nursing, PHN practice is guided by the provisions of the American Nursing Association of Public Health (American Public Health Association (APHA), 2016). The nursing roles of PHN practice includes the solicitation of their multi-level view of nursing in population health advocacy, policy development, and planning in addressing health issues at the community level through the use of nursing theories, pieces of evidence, and a commitment to communal health equity.
ANA, on the other hand, was founded in 1911 following the 1896 first convention of the American and Canadian Nurses (ANA, 2010). Since then, the association has grown to be the nations’ full-service professional nursing organization representing the interests of more than 3.4 million registered nurses (RNs) in the country (ANA, 2010). As part of its mandate, ANA advances the profession of nursing practitioners by promoting the rights of nurses in their places of work, fostering high standards of practice among its members, and influencing policy making on issues affecting nurses and the public. Through its constituent member affiliations such as the American Academy of Nursing (AAC) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), ANA represents and promotes the welfare of practicing RNs throughout the United States (ANA, 2010).
While both ANA and PHN practice advance the promotion of health and disease prevention in the country, they differ in some way as far as their approach, scope, and standards of practice of improving health are concerned. For instance, whereas ANA offers different kinds of membership to its aspiring nurses (such as E-membership and ANA Only Membership), only registered nurses according to ANA by-laws are eligible to an ANA membership (ANA, 2010). In contrast, PHN practice only mandates a baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) for entry-level PHN practice with no special organizational affiliation (Kulbok, Thatcher, Park, & Meszaros, 2012). Secondly, the scope of PHN practice is the synthesis of public health science and nursing theories and models where the focus is promoting and maintaining health down to the community level (Kulbok, Thatcher, Park, & Meszaros, 2012). ANA, however, relies on its professionally drafted resources such as the 2001 ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements to inform the thinking, decision-making and guide the practice of the nurses across all settings of work, level, and roles (ANA, 2010).
Thirdly, while PHN practice relies on a set of Core Competencies to inform the scope and standard of the practice, ANA tends to incline more on professional accreditation, certification, licensure, and achievement of set educational standards (ANA, 2010; Cravetz, Krothe, Reyes, & Swider, 2011). Lastly, ANA and PHN differ considerably on the key characteristics defining their practice. PHN mostly focuses on addressing the health needs of an entire population including such elements as addressing socio-health inequalities of sub-populations, emphasis on preventive mechanisms and application of the such based on sound systematic approach at all levels of the community (APHA & PHNS, 2013). ANA, on the other hand, is focused on operating within a prescribed social, legal, ethical contract and codes geared towards promoting patient-centered health management, patient coordination, and education concerned with the accessibility and availability of nursing services to the concerned healthcare consumer (ANA, 2010).
References
American Nurses Association (ANA). (2010). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2nd ed.). Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.
American Public Health Association (APHA). (2016). Public Health Nursing. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from https://www.apha.org/apha-communities/member-sections/public-health-nursing
American Public Health Association (APHA), & Public Health Nursing Section (PHNS). (2013). The Definition and Practice of Public Health Nursing. Retrieved from Public Health Nursing Definition Document Task Force website: https://www.apha.org/~/media/files/pdf/membergroups/phn/nursingdefinition.ashx
Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA). (2010). Public Health - Community health nursing practice in Canada: Roles and activities (4th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.cpha.ca/uploads/pubs/3-1bk04214.pdf
Cravetz, M., Krothe, J., Reyes, D., & Swider, S. M. (2011). Quad Council Competencies for Public Health Nurses. Retrieved from The Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations (QCPHNO) website: http://www.achne.org/files/quad%20council/quadcouncilcompetenciesforpublichealthnurses.pdf
Kulbok, P. A., Thatcher, E., Park, E., & Meszaros, P. (2012). Evolving Public Health Nursing Roles: Focus on Community Participatory Health Promotion and Prevention. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN), 7(2). Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-17-2012/No2-May-2012/Evolving-Public-Health-Nursing-Roles.html
