PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING IN THE WORLD

Public health nursing is a special field of nursing and generally focuses on physical, biological, and socio-cultural settings, which discerns it from other hospital and healthcare practices. public health nurses offer community-oriented services not only at healthcare institutions but also at schools, offices, correctional centers, clinics where healthy individuals are monitored, shortly wherever people exist. their practices include but are not limited to protection and improvement of individuals', families' and communities' health throughout their lives, prevention of diseases and disabilities, and working individually or in teams as the first touch point of healthcare. across the world, there are remarkable differences in nomenclature concerning nurses working in the field of public health, determining their job descriptions and educational backgrounds. to improve public health nursing, it is necessary to create a common tongue and vision and collaborate with higher education institutions, ministry of health, non-governmental organizations, professional agencies and national organizations that will pioneer public healthcare practices. within the scope of primary healthcare services, this study discusses the definition and practice areas of public health nursing and its status in different countries and also makes some predictions about its future.