Family members can be tested to help determine a possible source of the infection. Active pulmonary tuberculosis is transmissible to others and is therefore a serious public health concern. Public Health Nurses will assist in assuring that the client receives the recommended medications at no cost and follow up testing to assure improvement and conversion to non-infectious status, so that others are not exposed to the airborne bacterium. PHNs will test family members and other close contacts, including in some cases, co-workers. Public Health Nurses are responsible for talking with persons with STDs to be sure that they understand the disease and to notify all sexual partners of the need to be tested and, if necessary, treated.
Many organisms can contaminate food and water, and cause illness in humans.
When outbreaks occur, especially in public sources of food and water, immediate action by public health nurses and environmental health sanitarians is essential in order to prevent further spread to many more people. Sanitarians investigate commercial food operations and may obtain food or water samples for laboratory testing , while the Public Health Nurses interview clients and may obtain blood, urine or stool specimens in order to identify the organism involved. When the Dane County Division of Public Health learns of a potential case of a vaccine-preventable disease, such as measles, it immediately becomes the top priority in the division, especially in the work of the Public Health Nurses who do communicable disease epidemiology. Interviews with the case, family members and other contacts are conducted, biological samples are obtained and sent to the State Laboratory of Hygiene for analysis.