case study nursing community health 2.1

Epidemiology in Community Health Care

The community health nurse is reviewing several epidemiologic research studies

with student nurses that are beginning a 6-month community health rotation.

Epidemiology offers community health nurses a specific methodology for assessing

the health of aggregates. The nurse has requested that the student participate in a

semester long epidemiologic research study

1. Why is it important that community health nurses review epidemiologic

research?

2. What are the seven steps that student nurses must consider when

participating with the community health nurse in the epidemiologic research

study?

3. The goals of epidemiologic investigation are to identify the causal

mechanisms of health and illness states and to develop measures for

preventing illness and promoting health. Epidemiologists employ an

investigative process that involves a sequence of three approaches that build

on one another. What are the three investigate approaches?

4. The community health nurse has been requested to figure out the prevalence

rate and the incidence rate of influenza for a 1-month period of time. There

were 1,000 students who reported flu-like symptoms during 1 month in a

population of 5,000 students at the local community college, and during the

same month, 500 individuals developed influenza. What is the prevalence

rate and incidence rate?