Tracking Outcomes in Community-Based Care

Abstract

The Public Health Nursing Outreach for New Americans (PHNONA) faculty practice serves refugee and immigrant populations in the Denver metropolitan area. The practice provides health education and home visits for children within the Head Start program and their families. Nursing students in the baccalaureate program have the opportunity to rotate through this practice during their Public Health Nursing course. The Omaha System is used as a tool to facilitate student documentation. Data from 27 closed cases were analyzed. Common problems in the environmental domain were income and residence; in the physiological domain, dentition; in the psychosocial domain, communication with community resources; and in the health-related behaviors domain, health care supervision and nutrition. The majority of interventions were in the Case Management and Health Teaching, Guidance, and Counseling categories. The Problem Rating Scale for Outcomes showed statistically significant improvement from admission to discharge in the areas of knowledge, behavior, and status.

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