Community Health Nursing is a specialty focused on providing healthcare to individuals, families, and groups within the context of their communities. The primary goal of this specialty is to improve the overall health level and reduce the spread of diseases through:
1. Primary Prevention: Focusing on measures that prevent the health or behavioral problem from emerging in the first place.
2. Health Promotion: Empowering individuals and communities to increase control over the determinants of their health and improve it.
The Role of Community Nursing in Reducing Health Problems
Community nursing acts as the first line of defense against the spread of health problems, demonstrating its profound impact through the following roles:
1. Health Education and Awareness
This is the most prominent and influential role in changing behaviors. It includes:
Disseminating awareness about chronic diseases (like diabetes and hypertension), communicable diseases, and their risks.
Educating individuals on the importance of proper nutrition, physical activity, and personal hygiene.
Increasing individual and family awareness toward achieving self-care to manage their health conditions.
2. Early Detection and Immunizations
The community nurse directly contributes to curbing the spread of diseases by:
Organizing regular screening programs and early detection of diseases in their initial stages to ensure effective treatment.
Implementing immunization and vaccination campaigns against common and infectious diseases, which significantly reduces infection rates.
3. Essential Health Services and Home Care
Delivering health services to the farthest areas within the defined region, ensuring equitable access to care.
Providing home healthcare services for the elderly or patients who cannot reach health centers, and following up on their health and treatment plans.
The Impact on Combating Behavioral Problems
The role of community nursing extends beyond physical care to encompass psychological and social aspects, which leads to a positive effect on unhealthy behaviors:
1. Addressing Negative Behaviors
Through direct communication channels and the trust the community nurse builds with individuals and families, they can:
 Assess risky behaviors among university youth or other community segments (such as smoking, substance misuse, and poor dietary habits).
 Provide counseling and psychological support in community settings, preventing behavioral deviations and fostering social adjustment.
 Emphasize the importance of mental health in coping with life stresses.
2. Comprehensive Interaction with the Family
Community nursing focuses on family-centered care, where the social, emotional, and environmental factors affecting an individual's well-being are understood. This approach helps in:
 Building strong relationships with patients and their families, and understanding their unique needs.
 Intervening in issues such as child neglect and abuse or problems of the elderly from a comprehensive and multidimensional perspective.
Summary :
Community nursing is an investment in public health; it works to reduce the burden of disease and the cost of treatment by focusing on prevention and changing behaviors for the better. Activating and developing the competencies of nurses in this field directly contributes to achieving a healthier and more prosperous society, and reduces the need for expensive therapeutic and emergency care through the adoption of sound healthy habits.
University of Al-Mustaqbal — the first university in Iraq.

Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Good Health and Well-being