Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109639

Norah E. Savard, RN, BSN and Judith G. Riemer, RN, MS, CNS. Public Health Nursing Branch, Department of Public Health, County of Riverside Community Health Agency, P.O. Box 7600, Riverside, CA 92513-7600, 951.358.5158, jriemer@co.riverside.ca.us

In January 2005, a revised version of the Omaha System terminology was released with key changes that greatly benefit public health nursing practice. Revisions to the Problem Classification Scheme and Intervention Scheme have resulted in improved and more descriptive documentation of public health nursing services, permitting better opportunities for population-based practice and data analysis. Public health nurses interested in documenting client improvement in the ten Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators will also find these changes particularly useful. Revisions include the addition of a Communicable/infectious condition problem and the division of the former Antepartum/postpartum problem into two separate problems, Pregnancy and Postpartum. Many modifications were made to the Intervention Scheme, including the addition of a number of intervention targets commonly used in public health nursing practice, such as anger management, interpreter/translator services, infection precautions, and substance use cessation. This presentation will review several of the changes in the revised Omaha System and will discuss how the Omaha System relates to the Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators. Illustration of the benefits of these changes will be made through the use of case examples of typical public health nursing clients, including a client with an enteric communicable disease.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify three key changes in the Problem Classification Scheme that benefit public health nursing practice.
• Describe two key changes in the Intervention Scheme that benefit public health nursing practice.
• Identify which problems in the Problem Classification Scheme can be used to address the Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators.

Keywords: Healthy People 2000/2010, Public Health Nursing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation