ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a key dimension of community nursing - public health, asking a central question: can the public health agenda really be part of community nursing? The chapter begins with an analysis of the term 'public health' and its associated policy agenda. The initial setting will be the global and European context for public health. This is followed by a sharper focus on public health in the UK within the political framework of devolution and evolving primary care delivery systems. Perhaps most importantly, the chapter then takes a critical look at the connections between community nursing and public health, bearing in mind the tension that often exists between primary care and public health and the constraints on community nurses who wish to work to a more explicit public health remit. Models for delivering and enhancing the public health role in community nursing are offered, and the chapter concludes with an assessment of the potential for the public health agenda to integrate in a meaningful way with community nursing practice.
