Luca Jayden 
Certified nurses (CNs) play a huge role in public health in the clinical setting, but did you know they also make a difference outside of them? Today’s nurses are public health advocates shaping the future of healthcare to best serve communities of all sizes and origins. From grassroots initiatives to community outreach and even collaborations with nonprofits, CNs work hard to extend their expertise beyond traditional hospital settings. This article will explore the ways in which CNs are agents of change, both within their local communities and beyond.
What is a certified nurse?
You’re likely already familiar with the idea of “registered nurses” (RNs). While CNs and RNs are similar, they are not two terms for the same thing. RNs are nurses who provide direct patient care on advanced levels. They typically work directly under the supervision of physicians. They are responsible for things like preparing patients for treatments and exams, administering medication, monitoring, and operating medical equipment, and educating patients, among other duties.
On the other hand, CNs work under nurses’ supervision and provide more general care designed to keep patients healthy and happy regardless of their medical issues. This includes primary nurse functions like bathing patients, checking vital signs, and assisting patients when they are eating, should the need arise. They have similar levels of knowledge as RNs but specialize in different things.
It is possible for CNs to continue their education and become RNs. They can even become Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) after completing their undergraduate requirements and working on a post-master’s certificate nurse practitioner online. Some reputable universities, including Wilkes University, offer programs specially designed to provide aspiring nurses with the knowledge they need to become APRNs. These programs help CNs transition from their general duties to more advanced practice environments and ensure that they have the skills required to keep patients healthy and happy in a variety of different ways.
CNs are invaluable tools for change both in their local communities and beyond. Their expertise in straightforward nursing solutions makes them the perfect fit for things like grassroots initiatives, nonprofit collaboration, and community outreach programs.
Grassroots initiatives
CNs see the potential issues in the medical industry firsthand. While these concerns might feel overwhelming at first, many professionals find comfort in working with grassroots initiatives to secure care for more people. In this way, CNs can effectively leverage their expertise and allow their voices to be heard.
With that in mind, let’s look at the CN’s role in this kind of initiative and how it makes a lasting impact in the community.
What is a grassroots initiative?
Grassroots initiatives are initiatives that use the people in a specific community, region, or district to effect change. This kind of movement uses collective action from local communities to effect change at the international, national, regional, or local levels. As they pertain to CNs, grassroots initiatives collect nurses with varying levels and degrees of expertise who all work together to promote change. This change must come from the “bottom” up. That means that CNs work to begin helping their communities with the ultimate goal of changing hospital or federal policy on some level.
A grassroots initiative focused around providing people with basic first aid information to help facilitate preventative care and avoid potentially serious side effects from easily managed issues, for example, might begin with CNs working in local communities to provide the necessary knowledge. Over time, this effort might expand to the broader community and beyond, ensuring that many people understand the basics of first aid and can care for themselves and others should the need arise.
Nurses can take advantage of grassroots initiatives on a few different levels.
Large scale movements
It might seem obvious, but large-scale movements are one important way that nurses can become involved in grassroots initiatives. An example of this kind of effort is “Show Me Your Stethoscope” (SMYS), a nurse-run and founded organization designed to give nurses a voice about the issues they see in their profession and the way they impact patients. Nurses, including CNs, are invited to create change in their local communities of nurses and, by extension, the patients they serve.
Grassroots initiatives revolve around a rich variety of healthcare needs and concerns. Some are focused explicitly on patient care in a clinical setting while others encourage CNs to branch out and become healthcare advocates for their local communities beyond the walls of a hospital or doctor’s office.
Nursing unions
Nursing unions can be imperative in effecting permanent change, particularly in nursing. Smaller unions are often powerful allies with grassroots campaigns. This kind of organization is familiar with the structure needed to promote and sustain change on a variety of levels. CNs with a nursing union behind them often have an easier time identifying and perpetuating the change they want to see.
In clinical settings, these unions can positively impact nurse-patient ratios. Some unions have been able to advocate for better staffing to ensure a higher quality of life for nurses as well as for their patients. Outside of clinical settings, smaller unions can provide funding to grassroots campaigns focused on the broader local and regional communities.
Patient advocacy groups
CNs are invaluable to patient advocacy groups. These are groups that are typically started by patients who have encountered life-changing issues in the healthcare industry. Groups might focus on patients’ rights and spread information in the community about patients’ ability to impact the care they receive. Others might revolve around more effective maternal care immediately after giving birth or securing comprehensive resources for people newly diagnosed with autism.
The most effective patient advocacy groups are those that have support from the “inside.” CNs can often help patients make more informed choices about their health. With the aid of trained experts in patient care and an insight into the challenges patients face, grassroots patient advocacy groups can find purchase and make permanent changes in the industry.
Nonprofit collaboration
Another area where CNs can change the field of healthcare is via nonprofit collaboration. Like grassroots initiatives, nonprofit organizations seek to find support for a specific cause. Some of them work to secure housing for parents whose children are in a children’s hospital far away from home, for example, while others focus on ensuring that small communities have access to basic medical supplies and knowledge.
No matter the specific cause in question, CNs play a big role in creating effective and respected nonprofits. This is especially true when they move into nonprofit management.
Nonprofit management
While CNs can certainly collaborate with nonprofit organizations on more “front-line” levels, management is one of the most common ways they get involved. Nonprofit management refers to implementing and developing fundraising strategies, applying for grants, planning events, and communicating with potential donors. CNs are an especially good fit for all of the above, thanks to their expertise in the medical industry. The most compelling grant requests come from professionals with an inside perspective into the problem they are trying to address, for example, and CNs have that knowledge in spades.
Some of the nursing skills CNs master that translate well to nonprofit management are collaboration, leadership, communication, problem-solving, and organization.
Other nonprofit collaboration roles
If management isn’t quite your style, there are other roles available for CNs. Some of the most common of these include:
- Advocacy director
- Education coordinator
- Fundraiser
- Program director
CNs can also adopt positions such as grant writer, briefly described in an earlier section, without stepping into management roles. And, of course, they are excellent choices to venture out into the community to provide direct support to the nonprofit’s efforts and goals.
It should be noted here that while some nonprofit organizations do offer the opportunity for clinical roles, most CNs working with them pick non-clinical positions. This allows them to fully leverage their expertise from administration, ensuring that everyone on the board and in the office understands the issue in question and the importance of their work.
Community outreach
This is the last topic we’re discussing, but it certainly isn’t the least important. Community healthcare settings are crucial for strong, healthy communities that afford their inhabitants the opportunity to succeed. In this setting, CNs are crucial. They provide everything from health education and promotion to disease management and prevention and even emergency response. With their passionate support, outreach organizations have a better chance of securing health equity for their members as well as the broader community.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the roles CNs play in community outreach.
Health education and promotion
One of the first areas where CNs play an important role in community outreach is health education and promotion. Nurses develop educational materials, conduct health assessments, promote preventative care, and offer counseling to develop healthy behaviors. With these tools at their disposal, communities are able to provide healthier, happier lives to the people living within them.
Disease management and prevention
Illnesses can sometimes spread through communities like wildfire. Everything might seem normal, and then over the course of a few days, everyone might be sick. CNs are an important part of preventing outbreaks as well as managing existing concerns and controlling diseases. They sometimes participate in vaccination campaigns, for example, including educating people about the importance of the vaccine and making it easier for them to access it. They also monitor disease outbreaks, conduct disease surveillance, and teach the broader community about infection prevention.
Emergency response and preparedness
Unexpected emergencies happen. That’s part of life – everyone experiences this at one point or another. When emergencies threaten the health of their communities, CNs are uniquely positioned to help respond via emergency preparedness and response. They work with community members to plan contingency plans in case of the unthinkable and dive into action when those events occur.
Cultural competence
One of the most important elements of community outreach that CNs promote is cultural competence. By understanding their local communities and the cultural values, practices, and beliefs inherent within them, nurses are better able to provide care that remains sensitive to cultural needs. This, in turn, improves health equity and ensures that people are not afraid to seek help even if their cultural needs are important to them because they are confident that those needs will be respected.
Case management and care coordination
CNs do more than help broader communities. They also work with specific families and individuals in their communities. This includes managing chronic conditions and coordinating healthcare providers and referrals for more specialized care when necessary. As more families and individuals in need receive the support they deserve, the overall community becomes stronger, and the attitude around health promotion increases.
CNs vital to community health
From working to help those in their communities directly via community outreach to helping broader populations via nonprofit collaboration and grassroots initiatives, CNs play a crucial role in public health. In both clinical settings and nonclinical settings, they work hard to ensure that their patients receive the care and support they need as well as education about disease prevention and management. If you’re interested in working beyond the walls of a hospital or doctor’s office, CN might be the perfect role for you.
