What is public health nursing? Public health nursing is the practice of promoting and protecting the health of populations using knowledge from nursing, social and public health sciences. The practice is population focused with the goals of promoting health and preventing disease and disability of all people through creating conditions in which people can be healthy (American Public Health Association, 1996). Public health nurses work to improve health at the individual level, family, community and population levels. Public health nurses are proactive with respect to social and healthcare trends, changing concerns and policy and legislative activities.