Public health is a field that encompasses the activities and policies of governments and private organizations to protect the population from disease through vaccination, hygiene, safe water, clean air, and other measures. It also includes surveillance of infectious diseases and other public health hazards, community-based education and outreach, and more.
While the field is rooted in ancient times, modern public health practices emerged with the advent of industrialization in the 19th century when the first governmental public health agencies were created in Great Britain to combat epidemics caused by poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water (e.g., cholera). The 19th century also saw the development of various sciences that support public health efforts, such as epidemiology, statistics, microbiology, and the sciences of engineering. These advances helped to identify and contain disease outbreaks, as well as provide the basis for improved sanitation, hygiene, vaccine development, and other public health initiatives.
In the United States, public health powers and responsibilities are shared between the federal government and individual states and communities. This decentralized system can be both a strength and a weakness, as state-based decisionmaking can allow for local tailoring of public health efforts and more sensitivity to community needs. However, this system can also make it challenging for national efforts to be coordinated and for new laws or regulations to be implemented quickly, especially in times of emergencies such as pandemics.
Whether they are practicing as nurses, doctors, or other health care professionals, all healthcare practitioners need to view their work in the context of public health to understand and implement larger societal healthcare delivery changes and to optimize patient outcomes. This “big picture” approach can help illuminate individual roles in a team setting, reduce burnout, and enhance professional satisfaction.