Final answer:
The public health nurse must consider that risk factors for health problems can be individual-based, such as lifestyle choices, or population-based, such as environmental issues or epidemics, to develop effective nursing interventions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The public health nurse (PHN) must recognize risk factors for health problems, which are essential in developing effective interventions. Risk factors can be of different types, but within the context of public health, they are most commonly categorized as either individual-based or population-based. Individual-based risk factors are personal behaviors and choices that can increase the likelihood of disease, such as smoking or sedentary lifestyle, which leads to lung cancer or heart disease respectively. Population-based risk factors relate to elements that can affect a group of people, such as environmental pollutants or the outbreak of an epidemic.
With a proper understanding of these risk factors, a PHN can design interventions that are tailored to address the specific needs of a community or an individual. For instance, interventions can target lifestyle modifications to mitigate personal risk factors, or address sanitation and education on a larger scale to manage risks at a population level. Successful interventions not only alleviate current public health crises but also prevent future occurrences, contributing to the overall health and well-being of the community.