Public Health Nursing Exam 1 Practice Questions and Answers
2026/2027 | Nursing Exam Prep
ANS: D
In 1988, the IOM's report stated that public health is "what we, as a society, do collectively to assure the
conditions in which people can be healthy." Consequently, the mission of public health is "to generate
organized community effort to address the public's interest in health by applying scientific and technical
knowledge to prevent disease and promote health." This clearly places the emphasis on the desire of
the population and community to ensure access to services that foster the health status of the overall
community through the equitable distribution of resources addressed to community problems that
affect health. - Correct answer✅✅ 1. In 1988, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report on
the future of public health and its mission that defined public health as:
a. what public-private partnerships do to treat vulnerable populations.
b. what the government does to ensure that vital programs are in place.
c. what the U.S. Public Health Service does to prevent disease, promote health, and deliver services.
d. what society does collectively to ensure the conditions in which people can be healthy.
ANS: C
The scope of practice of public health nurses is population focused and community oriented, with a
primary emphasis on population-level interventions that target strategies for health promotion and
disease prevention. In addition, public health nursing is concerned with the health of all members of a
population or community, particularly vulnerable populations, and uses political processes as a major
intervention strategy. - Correct answer✅✅ 2. A registered nurse is seeking a position as a public
health nurse. In reviewing the job description, the nurse would expect to find a description of a position
that focused on functions such as:
a. monitoring pregnant teenagers for symptoms of complications of pregnancy.
b. offering free hypertension screening and treatment referral at local health fairs to low-income,
uninsured, community members.
c. partnering with local seasonal farmworkers to design a program aimed at preventing illness and
injury, and advocating for this population with local political and community leaders.
,d. preventing injury among a population of elderly residents in an assisted living facility and treating
residents' chronic illnesses.
ANS: D
Barriers to implementing population-focused care include lack of understanding of the public health
nurse role and its relationship to other roles in nursing, such as direct care and services; workplace role
socialization that determines what roles are appropriate and inappropriate or accessible and
inaccessible for nurses; and lack of comprehensive training at the graduate level in the disciplines basic
to public health such as epidemiology, biostatistics, community development, service administration,
and policy formation. - Correct answer✅✅ 3. A public health nurse leader is encountering barriers
when trying to shift the public health agency's efforts to a population-focused practice. The reasons
peers are not supportive of the proposed shift to a population focus are most likely related to:
a. agency colleagues' push for nurses to focus on population initiatives.
b. costs associated with staff training and revision of documents.
c. lack of support from the agency's funding sources.
d. opinions that nursing should focus on the provision of direct client care and services.
ANS: C
Community health nursing practice is the synthesis of nursing theory and public health theory applied to
promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of populations through the delivery of personal
health care services to individuals, families, and groups. The focus of community health nursing practice
is the health of individuals, families, and groups and the effect of their health status on the health of the
community as a whole (individual to families to groups to community flow). This is different from public
health nursing, which is the synthesis of nursing theory and public health theory applied to promoting
and preserving the health of populations. The focus of public health nursing practice is the community
as a whole and the effect that the community's health status, including health care resources, has on the
health of individuals, families, and groups (community to groups to families to indivi - Correct
answer✅✅ 4. The role and goals of the community health nursing practice can best be described as:
a. community-based interventions aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of
populations residing in institutional facilities such as nursing homes.
b. education of nurses and other staff working in community-based and community-oriented settings to
improve the overall effectiveness of their programs to meet client needs.
,c. population-level strategies aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of populations
through the delivery of personal health care services to individuals, families, and groups in an effort to
improve the health of the community as a whole.
d. activities targeted at improving the health status of clients served by community-based health service
agencies such as hospice and home health agencies.
ANS: A
Assessment is a core function of public health and refers to systematically collecting data concerning the
population, monitoring the population's health status, and making information available on the health
of the community. In a community-oriented approach, a nurse would apply both nursing and public
health theory. In this case, assessment would be the first step from the perspective of both theories.
Because the practice is population focused and community oriented, it would involve the assessment of
the community subpopulation of middle school children and the impact of obesity on their overall
health status. - Correct answer✅✅ 5. A community-oriented nurse has identified obesity as a problem
in the middle school. The next step in a population-focused practice is to make information available
about the health of the middle school students. This describes the core public health function of:
a. assessment.
b. assurance.
c. policy development.
d. research.
ANS: A
The public health core function of assurance focuses on the responsibility of public health agencies to be
sure that activities are appropriately carried out to meet public health goals and plans. This involves
making sure that essential community-oriented health services are available and accessible, especially to
vulnerable populations who would otherwise not receive necessary services. Assurance also includes
assisting communities to implement and evaluate plans and practices. - Correct answer✅✅ 6. The
state public health agency has received multiple complaints regarding the availability of elder
transportation services to a specific county senior center. The state agency assigns a public health nurse
to work with the community to evaluate its program for elder transportation services to publicly
sponsored eldercare programs. The public health core function applied is:
a. assurance.
b. policy development.
, c. primary prevention.
d. public transportation.
ANS: A
Community-oriented nurses emphasize health promotion, health maintenance, and disease prevention,
as well as self-reliance on the part of clients. Regardless of whether the client is a person, family, or
group, the goal is to promote health through education about prevailing health problems, proper
nutrition, beneficial forms of exercise, and environmental factors such as the safety of food, water, air,
and buildings. - Correct answer✅✅ 7. A nurse planning a smoking cessation clinic for adolescents in
the local middle schools and high schools is providing:
a. community-oriented care.
b. community-based care.
c. secondary care.
d. tertiary care.
ANS: A
Community-oriented nurses who provide direct care services to individuals, families, or groups are
engaging in a clinically oriented practice even when they apply concepts of population-focused,
community-oriented strategies along with their direct care clinical strategies. - Correct answer✅✅ 8. A
community-oriented nurse conducts home visits to new parents to assess the health status of the infant,
the parent-child relationship, the parents' knowledge regarding the care of the infant, and the need for
health department and social services referrals to support the needs of the new parents and the infant.
This can best be described as an example of:
a. clinical community health practice.
b. community-based practice.
c. population-focused practice.
d. public health nursing.
ANS: B
2026/2027 | Nursing Exam Prep
ANS: D
In 1988, the IOM's report stated that public health is "what we, as a society, do collectively to assure the
conditions in which people can be healthy." Consequently, the mission of public health is "to generate
organized community effort to address the public's interest in health by applying scientific and technical
knowledge to prevent disease and promote health." This clearly places the emphasis on the desire of
the population and community to ensure access to services that foster the health status of the overall
community through the equitable distribution of resources addressed to community problems that
affect health. - Correct answer✅✅ 1. In 1988, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report on
the future of public health and its mission that defined public health as:
a. what public-private partnerships do to treat vulnerable populations.
b. what the government does to ensure that vital programs are in place.
c. what the U.S. Public Health Service does to prevent disease, promote health, and deliver services.
d. what society does collectively to ensure the conditions in which people can be healthy.
ANS: C
The scope of practice of public health nurses is population focused and community oriented, with a
primary emphasis on population-level interventions that target strategies for health promotion and
disease prevention. In addition, public health nursing is concerned with the health of all members of a
population or community, particularly vulnerable populations, and uses political processes as a major
intervention strategy. - Correct answer✅✅ 2. A registered nurse is seeking a position as a public
health nurse. In reviewing the job description, the nurse would expect to find a description of a position
that focused on functions such as:
a. monitoring pregnant teenagers for symptoms of complications of pregnancy.
b. offering free hypertension screening and treatment referral at local health fairs to low-income,
uninsured, community members.
c. partnering with local seasonal farmworkers to design a program aimed at preventing illness and
injury, and advocating for this population with local political and community leaders.
,d. preventing injury among a population of elderly residents in an assisted living facility and treating
residents' chronic illnesses.
ANS: D
Barriers to implementing population-focused care include lack of understanding of the public health
nurse role and its relationship to other roles in nursing, such as direct care and services; workplace role
socialization that determines what roles are appropriate and inappropriate or accessible and
inaccessible for nurses; and lack of comprehensive training at the graduate level in the disciplines basic
to public health such as epidemiology, biostatistics, community development, service administration,
and policy formation. - Correct answer✅✅ 3. A public health nurse leader is encountering barriers
when trying to shift the public health agency's efforts to a population-focused practice. The reasons
peers are not supportive of the proposed shift to a population focus are most likely related to:
a. agency colleagues' push for nurses to focus on population initiatives.
b. costs associated with staff training and revision of documents.
c. lack of support from the agency's funding sources.
d. opinions that nursing should focus on the provision of direct client care and services.
ANS: C
Community health nursing practice is the synthesis of nursing theory and public health theory applied to
promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of populations through the delivery of personal
health care services to individuals, families, and groups. The focus of community health nursing practice
is the health of individuals, families, and groups and the effect of their health status on the health of the
community as a whole (individual to families to groups to community flow). This is different from public
health nursing, which is the synthesis of nursing theory and public health theory applied to promoting
and preserving the health of populations. The focus of public health nursing practice is the community
as a whole and the effect that the community's health status, including health care resources, has on the
health of individuals, families, and groups (community to groups to families to indivi - Correct
answer✅✅ 4. The role and goals of the community health nursing practice can best be described as:
a. community-based interventions aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of
populations residing in institutional facilities such as nursing homes.
b. education of nurses and other staff working in community-based and community-oriented settings to
improve the overall effectiveness of their programs to meet client needs.
,c. population-level strategies aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of populations
through the delivery of personal health care services to individuals, families, and groups in an effort to
improve the health of the community as a whole.
d. activities targeted at improving the health status of clients served by community-based health service
agencies such as hospice and home health agencies.
ANS: A
Assessment is a core function of public health and refers to systematically collecting data concerning the
population, monitoring the population's health status, and making information available on the health
of the community. In a community-oriented approach, a nurse would apply both nursing and public
health theory. In this case, assessment would be the first step from the perspective of both theories.
Because the practice is population focused and community oriented, it would involve the assessment of
the community subpopulation of middle school children and the impact of obesity on their overall
health status. - Correct answer✅✅ 5. A community-oriented nurse has identified obesity as a problem
in the middle school. The next step in a population-focused practice is to make information available
about the health of the middle school students. This describes the core public health function of:
a. assessment.
b. assurance.
c. policy development.
d. research.
ANS: A
The public health core function of assurance focuses on the responsibility of public health agencies to be
sure that activities are appropriately carried out to meet public health goals and plans. This involves
making sure that essential community-oriented health services are available and accessible, especially to
vulnerable populations who would otherwise not receive necessary services. Assurance also includes
assisting communities to implement and evaluate plans and practices. - Correct answer✅✅ 6. The
state public health agency has received multiple complaints regarding the availability of elder
transportation services to a specific county senior center. The state agency assigns a public health nurse
to work with the community to evaluate its program for elder transportation services to publicly
sponsored eldercare programs. The public health core function applied is:
a. assurance.
b. policy development.
, c. primary prevention.
d. public transportation.
ANS: A
Community-oriented nurses emphasize health promotion, health maintenance, and disease prevention,
as well as self-reliance on the part of clients. Regardless of whether the client is a person, family, or
group, the goal is to promote health through education about prevailing health problems, proper
nutrition, beneficial forms of exercise, and environmental factors such as the safety of food, water, air,
and buildings. - Correct answer✅✅ 7. A nurse planning a smoking cessation clinic for adolescents in
the local middle schools and high schools is providing:
a. community-oriented care.
b. community-based care.
c. secondary care.
d. tertiary care.
ANS: A
Community-oriented nurses who provide direct care services to individuals, families, or groups are
engaging in a clinically oriented practice even when they apply concepts of population-focused,
community-oriented strategies along with their direct care clinical strategies. - Correct answer✅✅ 8. A
community-oriented nurse conducts home visits to new parents to assess the health status of the infant,
the parent-child relationship, the parents' knowledge regarding the care of the infant, and the need for
health department and social services referrals to support the needs of the new parents and the infant.
This can best be described as an example of:
a. clinical community health practice.
b. community-based practice.
c. population-focused practice.
d. public health nursing.
ANS: B
