Communicable disease prevention and control program structure in Eastern Nova Scotia

Abstract

Public health nursing services and programs are intended to improve the health of the population. These services must be evaluated to achieve this goal. Healthcare system changes in 2004 lead to two separate reviews of the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC) program in eastern Nova Scotia. The recommendations from both reviews resulted in the development of a temporary CDPC program structure. The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of the key findings and recommendations from both reviews and the resulting CDPC structure in eastern Nova Scotia. The literature review will outline a brief history of public health nursing, the current role of public health nurses, the generalist and focused public health nursing service models, and implications for future public health nursing roles. This paper will lay the foundation for future and more in-depth evaluations of the current CDPC program in eastern Nova Scotia.