APositionPaper"" " Association!of!Public!Health!Nurses! Visiting nurse entering a row home surrounded by children and adults, Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia, c. 1890 Lillian Wald, founder of the Henry Street Settlement (1893) in New York City, invented the term public health nursing to put emphasis on the community value of the nurse whose work was built upon an understanding of all the problems that invariably accompanied the ills of the … Historically, the role of public health nurses focused on the management of sanitation and infectious disease. The Role of the Public Health Nurse In Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery! The Role of Public Health Nursing. Community public health nursing is not entirely different in nursing practice with that of clinical nursing confined in the four corners of the hospital. PublicHealth!Preparedness!Committee! A public health nurse’s role is to promote wellness and prevent illness. Public health nurses help the public stay healthy by assisting with the development, promotion and management of public health initiatives. Nurses play a significant role in public health and frequently serve in positions of responsibility at public health agencies, nonprofit groups and educational organizations. Public health nursing addresses social determinants of health and focuses  on the importance of nurses in treating and educating individuals or groups about potential health risks. Over the 20th century, as the dangers of infectious disease diminished, the role shifted to address new challenges including the effects of deprivation, and non-communicable disease (Royal College of Nursing, 2020).