Epidemiology Nursing

Introduction
Epidemiology is a scientific research discipline concerned with observing, measuring and analysing health-related
occurrences in human populations.
The scope of epidemiology, its range of designs and impact on healthcare formation and reformation have been
immense. Many healthcare - related strategies and policies that have influenced the practice of nurses over the past
century or so have been established as a consequence of epidemiological study and investigation
Role of nurse in epidemiology:
A model for quantitative nursing research
■ A strategy for evaluating the clinical nursing research literature
■ A framework for thinking for clinical decisions
■ A mechanism for the effective and efficient planning and delivery of nursing services to those who most need
them
■ An opportunity to enrich current nursing concepts, or to create new and mutually enhancing shared theory.
A nurse epidemiologist is a nursing professional who focuses on making sure that patients receive optimal care, but
who also reduce overall infection risks and focus on prevention measures as well as on infection control and direct
patient nursing. Specific job duties may include the following:
● Examine patients and determine potential presence of infection
● Assess risk factors within a patient, a facility, or even a population
● Identify areas that need to be modified for better infection control
● Monitor patient care to ensure infection isn’t transmitted throughout the population
● Work to develop policies and procedures that can help reduce infections and control disease
● Consult with other medical professionals and policy makers to help reduce infection risk and promote
better overall health
Training is vital to success in the role of a nurse epidemiologist, but there are plenty of personal traits that can help
as well. If you’re thinking of becoming a nurse epidemiologist, having strength in the following areas can help
tremendously.
● Multitasking – A nurse epidemiologist generally handles numerous roles and tasks at any given time.
You’ll need to be able to multitask effectively.
● Good Communication Skills – Since explaining and promoting effective infection prevention measures is a
key part of the job, it’s vital that you have strong communication skills.
● Detail Oriented – In this role, the smallest things can unlock major clues. As such, being very detailed
oriented will help you identify potential risk areas and also learn more about health issues that may not be
obvious.
● Works Well Under Stress – The job can be fast paced and stressful, and if you want to thrive in it you will
need to be able to perform well under stress.
It could be argued that this reflects the approach that nursing is moving towards and which the medical profession
continues to reject, in relation to its research strategies. The fact that epidemiology is seen to be more holistic, less
structured, focusing not just on individuals, but on communities, and looks towards preventive strategies, instead of
curative ones, makes it an ideal strategy for nursing to incorporate into its professional practice. Nurses might be
better placed than their medical colleagues to undertake epidemiological research. This may be particularly so when
one considers that, according to Barrett and Victor (1997), some studies have shown that doctors are often unaware
of the effects of a health intervention on clients’ assessment of their health: a premise that is fundamental to the
process of epidemiology.
Contribution of nursing to epidemiology:
If, as Bridel (1993) suggests, nursing’s contribution to epidemiology is increasing as a result of our practice
management, it is essential that we look towards ensuring that its contribution directly benefits our professional
practice and client-care regimens. Only when nurses begin to read the current literature critically, acknowledge
nursing’s existing contribution to the field of epidemiology and publish their findings, can nursing be seen to be
moving forward in this debate. Perhaps when nursing begins in earnest to regularly adopt and use strategies which
use epidemiological approaches, it can lay claim to its place in the field of epidemiological research. Unwin et al
(1997) state that this area of practice has never really had a medical monopoly, possibly because of its focus on the
health of the whole community. Similarly, Katz (1997) considers that, although it does influence many areas of
medical science, epidemiology is not a purely medical discipline. These notions, in turn, leave scope for other
health-related professions, such as nursing, to exert their influence in such an area. Nursing can also help itself by
beginning to counter other traditionally held beliefs, like those that the practices of epidemiology are seen to
distance practitioners from their subjects (Lupton 1995), by subsequently demonstrating that clients can be actively
involved in its processes . Elsewhere, nurses could further improve their position by becoming fully conversant and
literate with the epidemiological terminology often used in policy reports and favoured by many decision makers
who implement associated healthcare reform (DoH 1998). Such changes in practice can only serve to place nursing
in a better position and enhance its professional standing. Perhaps nurse researchers could develop an
epidemiological position that allows them to deliver more encompassing practices and that, consequently, allows
them to move further away from its biomedical origins. If, on the other hand, nursing wishes to develop along more
established lines, it could promote its role by taking a more active part in medically led re s e a rch. This seems
especially relevant when one considers the position that nursing is often seen to adopt in relation to its medically
based research strategies. Clifford and Gough (1993) observed that when nurses are involved in medical research , it
is as assistants and not as initiators. Nurse researchers could be seen to be reversing such trends by initiating the
questions to be asked in collaborative epidemiological studies. In supporting such a change in practice, several
authors have commented on the collaborative ethos that exists within epidemiological studies and highlight its multi-
interdisciplinary nature (Katz 1997, Williams and Popay 1997). In addition, Valanis (1992) feels that
multidisciplinary approaches to health-related problems have led to a wider spectrum of health professionals
participating in epidemiological research. U n f o unfortunately, this does not readily include nurses at this point, but
it is hoped that this situation will change in the near future..
Uses of epidemiology in nursing:
Epidemiological research is of immense value in determining the health of populations
■ Much epidemiological research informs the planning and implementation of health-related policy. Much of this
policy has a fundamental impact on the way that the nursing profession delivers its care
■ Many nurses are unaware of the impact that epidemiology has on their working practice. Nursing research in this
area is limited and inconsistent
■ Epidemiology is traditionally seen as a discipline associated with medicine and public health. Many other health-
related disciplines are now seen to be using and adapting it for their own purposes and reaping its benefits. Nursing
has yet to adopt epidemiology’s knowledge base in its own educational and practice arenas
Conclusion: Epidemiological studies can potentially offer considerable benefits to the way nurses incorporate
health-related practices into their professional role. Research also offers a valuable opportunity for the nursing
profession to become more active in helping to determine health policy issues. This article explores the nature of the
dilemmas surrounding nursing and epidemiology and argues that nursing might be better served by a more proactive
role in this valuable research discipline
It is suggested that nurses seize the initiative and become more active players in collaborative epidemiological
research and, possibly, by taking the lead, initiate more of the epidemiological studies that occur in health service
settings. M u l hall (1996) puts forward a commanding argument as evidence for the need to move this process
forward in stating that: ‘...nursing may hold the conceptual keys to enriching and widening the epidemiological
tradition in health care . . .. Rather than sweeping epidemiology into the untouchable box that is biomedicine,
nursing needs to avail itself of epidemiological perspectives and methodologies lest a valuable opportunity to move
in new and essential directions is lost’. It is hoped that this article, along with the few nursing - related articles that
currently exist on this important subject area, will prove to be a catalyst to move this debate on to where it deserves
to be: routinely integrated within the collective framework of nursing research and practice .

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