Final answer:
The public health nurse can determine the prevalence of heart disease in the community, which represents the total number of existing cases in the population at a specific point in time.
Step-by-step explanation:
The information given by the student allows the public health nurse to determine the prevalence of heart disease in the community. Prevalence is the total number of cases, both new and existing, present in a given population at a specific point in time. In this case, with 2,096 existing cases of heart disease within a population of 24,096, the prevalence can be calculated as the number of cases per the population size.
Calculation of Prevalence
To calculate the prevalence rate, we use the formula:
Prevalence Rate = (Number of Existing Cases / Population Size) x 100,000
Applying the numbers:
Prevalence Rate = (2,096 / 24,096) x 100,000
This will give the prevalence rate per 100,000 individuals in the community.