Making connections: Linking generalist and specialist essentials in baccalaureate community/public health nursing education and practice (original) (raw)
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Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Entry Level Community/Public Health Nursing
2009
Community/public health nursing (C/PHN) educators and practitioners need a framework from which to plan, implement, and evaluate curriculum and community-based practice. The Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE) periodically updates the Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Entry Level Community/Public Health Nursing to reflect changes in core knowledge, basic competencies, and practice. This update reflects relevance to 21st-century health care and to national trends influencing nursing education. The 2009 revision is based on critical analysis of key C/PHN literature and input from public health nursing educators and practitioners. A key assumption is that a baccalaureate nursing degree is the minimum requirement for professional C/PHN. Fifteen essential concepts for baccalaureate nursing education are delineated along with related competencies. Newly defined essentials include communication, social justice, and emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. Issues related to didactic and clinical experiences are addressed. The ACHNE Essentials is an important guide for baccalaureate education curriculum planning and evaluation. The Essentials may be useful as a baseline from which to develop competencies of graduate nursing programs. The document is also useful for guiding practice setting orientation and professional development.
Public Health Nursing, 2019
Objectives: This study assessed a revised instrument based on the tier one Core Competencies for Public Health Nurses. Following instrument revision, the self-reported competence of prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students was examined. Design and Sample: In this descriptive study, 102 senior, prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students completed a revised Core Competencies instrument prior to and immediately following completion of public health nursing courses. Parametric statistics were used to determine if there were significant differences in pre-and postcourse domain scores and the impact of selected demographic variables on postcourse domain scores. Results: Pilot testing confirmed the reliability and validity of the revised instrument. A paired t test determined postcourse domain scores were significantly higher than precourse domain scores. Overall, students rated themselves as competent in all domains, with the lowest ratings of competence in policy development/program planning. Likelihood of choosing a future career in public health was significantly higher for students in traditional public health clinical settings. Conclusion: The revised tier one Core Competency instrument provided information related to students' self-reported competence in public health nursing competencies. These findings provide valuable insight for development and revision of public health nursing courses ensuring a nursing workforce competent in the provision of population health.
Stakeholders globally and nationally, including the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, have recently stressed the importance of population-based care and public health as drivers for health system reform where all providers practice in an integrated and comprehensive way. Heeding these recommendations, graduate nurse educators recognized the need to review curricula and strengthen the content in the area of public health which is population-based. Framing practice through the lens of primary health care is one way to achieve the goal of a more collaborative approach to improving population health. The purpose of this paper is to share the journey of a school of nursing as it re-committed itself to the vision of primary health care and to strengthen content in public health and population-based care. This manuscript presents one aspect of this work as illustrated in the development of one graduate core course entitled Advanced Nursing in Primary Health Care.
Public health champions in the making: An innovative undergraduate nursing pedagogy
Public Health Nursing
Nurse educators must ensure that baccalaureate education is responsive to the ever-evolving public health challenges and the transforming health care delivery environment. The evolving context of health care emphasizes population health and social determinants. The new health care delivery environment is addressed most effectively through forward-thinking, practice-ready baccalaureate nursing education. The new model of health care delivery is creating expanded roles for nurses in community-based care settings (Fraher, Spetz, & Naylor, 2015) to promote a culture of health aimed at supporting health equity by setting an agenda of health and well-being (RJWF, 2018). Nursing graduates require robust reasoning skills essential in addressing care complexity beyond the acute care setting. Further, it is imperative that graduates have exposure to today's most relevant public health concerns and societal health needs. 2 | BACKG ROU N D Community health needs are vast and dynamic, most often derived from current public health concerns. Presently, mental illness, the
Public Health Nursing, 2011
The Henry Street Consortium, a collaboration of nurse educators from universities and colleges and public health nurses (PHNs) from government, school, and community agencies, developed 11 population-based competencies for educating nursing students and the novice PHN. Although many organizations have developed competency lists for experts, the Consortium developed a set of competencies that clearly define expectations for the beginning PHN. The competencies are utilized by both education and practice. They guide nurse educators and PHNs in the creation of learning experiences that develop population-based knowledge and skills for baccalaureate nursing students. Public health nursing leaders use the competencies to frame their expectations and orientations for nurses who are new to public health nursing. This paper explains the meaning of each of the 11 population-based competencies and provides examples of student projects that demonstrate competency development. Strategies are suggested for nurse educators and PHNs to promote effective population-based student projects in public health agencies.
Public Health Nursing, 2006
An evidence-based approach to Public/Community Health Nursing (P/CHN) requires that P/CHN educators prepare practitioners with the relevant skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Such education should be competency-based and have measurable outcomes to demonstrate student preparation. In 2003, the Quad Council competencies were developed to be applied at two levels of public health nursing practice: the staff nurse/generalist role and the manager/specialist/consultant role. This paper describes a process for evaluation and revision of a graduate curriculum to prepare Advanced Practice Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) in P/CHN, to ensure that the educational program addresses and develops knowledge and proficiency in all relevant competencies. This paper documents the process of integrating the competencies throughout the P/CHN graduate curriculum at varying levels, guiding students to achieve proficiency in each competency by the end of the program. Measurement of achievement in these competencies will be discussed, and examples provided. Advanced Practice Public Health Nurses educated via this competency-based approach will be prepared to sit for national certification as a CNS in Public/Community Health, and to assume leadership roles in public health nursing.
Positioning a 5-State Nursing Workforce to Flourish by Advancing Baccalaureate Nursing Education
Nursing Administration Quarterly, 2017
This article summarizes experience and outcomes for a large, faith-based health system on a journey to ensure that its nearly 29 000-person nurse workforce has the foundational academic preparation to deliver superior, compassionate, and future-focused nursing care. The health system's bachelor of science in nursing completion strategy is summarized, including (a) programmatic structure, (b) curriculum themes, (c) participant experience, and (d) outcomes. Executive leadership's commitment and engagement are highlighted.
Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 2023
Background and aim: Primary Health Care is a foundational element within the realm of healthcare reforms, serving as a linchpin for achieving Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals. Globally, there is a growing emphasis on building a robust primary health care nursing workforce to meet the challenges arising from chronic and complex diseases. Nursing schools are expected to align their educational programmes to the population's health and the country's health context, thus integrating relevant primary health care related competencies into their curricula. The study aimed to analyse the process of developing and implementing a primary health care oriented undergraduate nursing curriculum in South Africa. Methods: A qualitative grounded theory approach by Strauss and Corbin's framework guided this study. Forty participants-purposively selected-participated in the study. The data were collected using focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, observations, document analysis and memos. The data were analysed using the grounded theory method of constant comparative data analysis through a systematic coding, categorisation and theory-building process. Results: The development of a primary health care oriented undergraduate nursing curriculum included: creating a curriculum team, establishing the context, obtaining the consensus on graduate primary health care competencies, determining curriculum foundation, selecting and organising the content and learning experiences, selecting experiential learning sites, selecting teaching, learning and assessment strategies. Furthermore, the study revealed competencies in primary health care expected from the students: care provision, professionalism, communication, collaboration, health advocacy, leadership and management and research. The implementation of a competency-based and PHC-oriented curriculum required the capacity building of facilitators, students, clinical mentors and preceptors and effectively adopting transformative teaching, learning and assessment. Conclusions: A competency-based and primary health care oriented undergraduate nursing curriculum is a tool to assist in producing competent graduates who are relevant and responsive to the population's needs in a primary health care oriented healthcare system.