Public Health Nursing.

Public health nursing is the practice of professional nursing designed to promote holistic health, prevent illness, and provide care to all population groups. It ranges from specific nursing intervention for individuals to a focus on the population as a whole. Public health nurses provide a wide variety of services to residents of Iowa of all economic levels. Attachment A lists services provided by public health nurses. During the 1977 Legislative Session, the General Assembly first appropriated funds ($1.6 million) for public health nursing. The public health nursing appropriation is used to maintain and expand the existing services with the objective of preventing or reducing inappropriate institutionalization of elderly and low income persons. During FY 1997, the appropriation was used to reduce institutionalization for 3,108 clients and prevent institutionalization for an additional 3,732 persons. The State appropriation is allocated by the Department of Public Health to local Boards of Health in all 99 counties. Provider agencies are selected by local Boards of Health and the programs and services are delivered under a variety of auspices. I S S U E