Precision nursing in public health: a transformative pathway for optimizing care and reducing health inequities

Abstract

Precision nursing—leveraging omics sciences, clinical, social, and technological data tailored to individual patient profiles—has the potential to strengthen public health performance by targeting care to those most in need. This perspective reframes Precision Nursing as an emerging strategy to optimize public health outcomes and potentially reduce inequities. With global threats amplified by socio-economic disparities and chronic disease burdens, advancing Precision Nursing within public health systems may enhance targeted interventions through improved screening, treatment adherence, and community engagement. Importantly, this perspective uniquely positions Precision Nursing within a public-health lens—distinct from Precision Medicine—highlighting nursing-led operationalization of personalized care approaches for population-level impact. This paper outlines the foundations of Precision Nursing, demonstrates its relevance through social determinants and emerging precision public health models, and proposes policy and practice recommendations to align nursing care with Sustainable Development Goal 3.