Community and Public Health Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Community and Public Health Nursing - Essay Example A metaphor for community is 'system' in that a community has inter-related and inter-dependant structures that work together to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Further, the behaviors of the people making up this system are reactive to stimuli. The community as a whole can be conceived of conceptually as 'client' (McGary, 2003). A community is comprised of aggregate groups. An aggregate a can be defined as a collection of all the individuals within the community who have the same specific characteristics, for example the aggregate of older persons or families within London (Bakken, Cashen, Eneida, Mendonca, O'Brien, & Zieniewicz, 2000). Where the focus of care is on more than the single person the term aggregate is often used. In this sense, the aggregate can also be conceptualized as 'client'. The aggregate are the sub-population which share a common interest, problem or purpose. However, as an aggregate is part of a community there is an inter-relationship between th e needs of the aggregate and the needs of the wider community(Bakken et al., 2000).. Hence, each of these 'clients' functions within an external environment, and incorporates and is affected by biopsychosocial factors. To effectively differentiate between a community and aggregate is essential for nurses to be able to provide community care and care of specific groups.