public health nursing, a field of nursing that is concerned with the health needs of the community as a whole. Public health nurses may work with families in the home, in schools, at the workplace, in government agencies, and at major health facilities. A home care nursing service is provided by nurses who have special education in public health and are employed by such voluntary agencies as the Visiting Nurses Association or Visiting Nurse Service, or Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada. Public health nurses enter practice through a baccalaureate program accredited in the United States by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, which prepares them to work as generalists. Additional recognition is offered through a certification program administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
