Future Nursing Trends

The current and future trends of nursing are dictated by the needs of the population. Trends such as changing demographics and the need for interdisciplinary education practices are happening because of aging population and complexity of healthcare. At this time, citizens born between 1946 and 1964 account for the largest age group in the United States (Sullivan, 2016). This increased age range in a large percentage of the population has directed health care towards the trend of population and community based services. As population demographics change, healthy communities and positive patient outcomes depend upon health care to keep up with the changing trends. Community based services can be defined in a number of ways. Many people, including health care professionals, think of home health and services for the elderly and disabled when they think about community based health care services. It is true these services make up a large majority of community focused healthcare, but public health nursing is also an important provider of community services. Public Health Nurses provide education and preventative services, while most other agencies provide care for those who
Shopping Matters is a great example of how District 4 Public Health is providing community education. This program is provided in a grocery store; a nurse or nutritionist educates the participants on healthy eating and cooking tips as they tour the store. This tour demonstrates how to eat healthy on a limited budget. Another example of community based services is annual school based influenza vaccine clinics offered in the elementary schools throughout the district. These clinics benefit the students and school systems. The students are protected from the flu, which helps school systems meet their goals of decreased absenteeism rates (Pannaraj et.al,