ESSENTIAL VII

e-Portfolio Essential VII: Clinical prevention and population health

Laura Ellis
Frostburg State University

ESSENTIAL VII

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing provides specific qualifications for

nurses seeking a bachelors level competency in nursing practice. The AACN has nine essential
requirements of a professional nurse including number seven; Clinical Prevention and Population
Health. The focus of Essential VII is that baccalaureate nurses are able to recognize community
health needs and develop action plans to facilitate disease prevention and improvements in
community health. The baccalaureate prepared nurse is able to conduct a health history,
including environmental exposure and family history that recognizes genetic risks to identify
current and future health problems in a given community (2008, p. 24).
Exemplar
The selected exemplar demonstrates the ability to perform a community health
assessment, analyze community needs, evaluate community action plans, and develop
recommendations for improving community health. The community health assessment requires
the student to choose a community in which they do not live so as to provide an unbiased
evaluation of a specific community. The community health assessment on the Canton
neighborhood of Baltimore City provided the opportunity to full demonstrate that which the
AACN has determined are requirements of a baccalaureate prepared nurse.
Reflection
The selected community health assignment assesses the current community health needs
of the Canton neighborhood in Baltimore city, analyses current data related to the topic and
neighborhood, and makes recommendations regarding how community health needs can be met.
It takes great professional prowess to be able to assess community health needs and evaluate how
a community can best approach making improvements and steps toward and health society and
this is best performed by a baccalaureate prepared nurse. The AACN seeks to be represented

ESSENTIAL VII

nurses who can collaborate with other healthcare professionals in order to best serve the
community (2008, p. 24). The primary goal of the AACN for baccalaureate prepared nurses is to
participate in clinical prevention and population-focused interventions with attention to
effectiveness, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and equity (2008, p 24). The community health
assessment of Canton appropriately facilitates the community health nurses role in the
collaborative effort of health care professionals to improve a communitys health by analyzing,
evaluating, and making calculated recommendations. The baccalaureate prepared nurse is well
rounded in community health and a team member in the quest for better health.

ESSENTIAL VII

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Reference

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate

education for professional nursing practice. Retrieved (date) from
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/BaccEssentials08.pdf