A geopolitical community is a spatial designation that is defined by either man-made or natural boundaries. It is a geographic of the geopolitical designation of an area. It is geopolitical because it is defined by the political and geographical phenomena. The boundaries include rivers, mountains, valleys and roads. On the other hand, a phenomenological community is a relational designation. It is defined by feelings of belonging. A phenomenological community is said to be a group of people who are defined by sharing values, customs, interests, religion or academic interests. It is a phenomenological community because members share common beliefs and interests.
While providing services for different communities, community health nurse faces the challenge of adaptability (). Since the nurses have to identify themselves with the community they are serving, they may have difficulties adapting to the practices, beliefs and expectations of the different communities within a short span of time. They also experience the challenge of language barrier and acceptability. However, it is beneficial for them since they attain the experience of dealing with the different communities. For similar communities, community health nurses may be faced with the challenge of familiarity. For the same community, a community health nurse may face the challenge of being used to the people. In some instances, the members of the same community may view the community health nurse as inexperienced, and may not take what the nurse says seriously. Some benefits for similar and the same community are that the community health nurse is familiar with the language and the beliefs of the people one is serving. Such benefit eases the work of the community health nurse.
Some solutions for the challenges would include matching a solution for a specific challenge. For example, community health nurses may be assisted by interpreters where there is a language barrier, or take some time to study the language of the people. In addition, the nurses should not be transferred anyhow to communities that are very different from their backgrounds. For similar and same communities, the community health nurses should carry themselves with dignity in order to command respect from the community members, who will in turn consider them serious.
References
Basavantappa. (2008). Community health nursing. Philadelphia, PA: Jaypee Brothers Publishers.
Holzemer, P. A., & Kleinberg, B. M. (2014). Community health nursing: an alliance for health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Meadows, P. (2009). Community health nursing. American Journal of Nursing, 109(1), 19-20.
