Class 5 Unit 6 Principles of epidemiology

There are six core functions in epidemiology: public health surveillance, field investigation, analytic studies, evaluation, linkages, and policy development. All six of these relate to each other and are necessary in the study of epidemiology. I am going to focus on the evaluation step. This is an important step in the process of determining the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of activities with respect to established goals. Evaluation of an immunization program, for example, might assess the efficiency of the operations, the proportion of the target population immunized, and the apparent impact of the program on the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases (CDC, 2012). Evaluation of outcomes based on evidence in an essential step in the process (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015).

An example of how an advanced practice nurse (APN) might involve the evaluation step in the epidemiology process is through weighing benefits against harms of prevention. When educating patients about the importance of annual mammograms, an APN would review the guidelines with the patient, evaluate the patient’s current circumstances, and offer recommendations. Such an approach would help clinicians and patients understand what is involved in the evaluation process when making the decision to screen. (Fletcher, Fletcher, Fletcher, 2014).

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2012). Principles of epidemiology in public

health practice. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ophss/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section4.html

Fletcher, R. H., Fletcher, S. W., & Fletcher, G. S. (2014). Clinical epidemiology: The essentials

(5th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2015). Evidence-based practice n nursing and

healthcare: A guide to best practice (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

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