As countries in the Western Hemisphere make progress in the implementation of health sector reform but fall short of reaching the goal set in the late 1970s of Health For All by the Year 2000, community nursing is being viewed as an important alternative for the cost-effective delivery of basic public health and clinical services to individuals, families, and the community. Through innovative approaches and replication of successful demonstration projects, community nursing can improve access to care, particularly for a country's most vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups. Examples from Belize, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, and Honduras illustrate how community nursing, in its many forms, continues to be relevant today and why it is likely to expand as we enter the twenty-first century.
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