Book Reviews
Community / public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (5th edn)
By Mary A Nies and Melanie McEwen
ISBN: 978-1-43770860-8; 2011; Elsevier Saunders, St Louis MO;
Reviewed by Morgan Smith
Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia, City East Campus, Adelaide SA
This textbook provides a very broad introduction to a wide range of content relevant to community health and public health nursing. It covers introductory concepts central to these areas of practice including the health care system, issues that influence the health of the community, populations including vulnerable populations, common population health problems and a selection of community settings where nurses work. The textbook introduces students of nursing to the social determinants of health and locates the health of populations within this framework, emphasising the importance of upstream (primary health care, health promotion) as well as downstream interventions for improved population health outcomes. The textbook is written for undergraduate students of nursing and has many case studies, and examples of nursing practice. It also has learning objectives, key terms, content, summary and learning activities in each chapter. All authors are located in the United States of America and most examples of nursing practice and discussion of the health care system are specific to that country.
Critique
This is a clearly written, well structured textbook that introduces undergraduate students to concepts central to community health and public health nursing. A wide range of concepts and content is discussed clearly and succinctly providing students with an overarching perspective on the issues central to nursing in these areas. To understand the issues in greater depth requires the students to read further elsewhere. A significant amount of content is specific to the United States of America which reduces the overall usefulness of the textbook for students from other developed countries. This is an excellent beginning level textbook for undergraduate students of nursing located in the United States of America.
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