The use of Community/Public Health Nursing Competencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: (1) Ascertain the use of the Quad Council Competencies for Community/Public Health Nursing (QCC-C/PHN) Competencies by community/public health nurses (C/PHNs) during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Inform from a systems-level the need to sustain the C/PHN workforce; (3) Assess the C/PHN infrastructure for response capacity. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. Statewide email distribution lists were used for dissemination. SAMPLE: Convenience sample (n = 169) obtained using emailed Qualtrics link with the eligibility criteria of self-identification as a C/PHN who works in the state of Missouri. MEASUREMENTS: Demographic questions included employment sector, nursing education level, years of nursing, and C/PHN experience. Two Likert-type questions and one optional open-text question were created for the eight domains. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-nine participants' data were analyzed. One hundred fifty-four were employed in a local public health agency. Total 63.2% held a bachelor's degree in nursing or higher. The average number of years of nurse experience was 20.84, and C/PHN experience was 9.84. The domain of Communication Skills scored highest and Cultural Competency was the lowest. Three themes emerged from the open-ended questions including vulnerabilities of the public health system. CONCLUSION: Understanding the experiences of C/PHNs in Missouri related to the utilization of QCC-C/PHN competencies informs efforts to strengthen public health infrastructure and target resources to equip Missouri's C/PHNs.

A crosswalk of foundational BSN population health documents and the AACN essentials.

To guide the development of entry-level nursing education, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) published the Essentials document in 2021 with a broadened scope of competencies. Community, population, and public health (CPPH) nurse educators use a number of foundational documents to crosswalk for gaps in the AACN principles, highlighting the need of including these contemporary documents within the baccalaureate CPPH nursing curriculum. In this crosswalk, the authors highlight important capabilities and knowledge exclusive to these fundamental documents and tools, as well as the relevance of these competencies and knowledge to CPPH baccalaureate nursing education.

Career Intention of Baccalaureate Student Nurses: Understanding the Barriers, Enablers, and Predictors Toward Public/Community Health Nursing.

AIM: This study had two aims: to determine initial career intention of nursing students and to assess whether nursing education variables predict career intentions toward public health/community health nursing. BACKGROUND: Nursing graduates are expected to be prepared to work in community settings. However, there is uncertainty in whether students are attracted to these settings and whether nursing education is impactful in shaping career intention. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey targeted baccalaureate and accelerated students across Oregon. Analyses utilized descriptive statistics and multiple regression. RESULTS: Students reported most interest in acute care. Didactic and clinical learning were not related to intention to pursue a public health/community health career. The strongest predictor was career intention when starting nursing school. CONCLUSION: Students enter nursing school with largely fixed intentions. Educators need to develop greater prenursing outreach and understanding of the drivers toward public and community health to build curricula and passion for this area of nursing.

Evaluating Knowledge of Public Health Nursing Competencies in Baccalaureate Nursing Students.

ABSTRACT: Community health workers are projected to grow in number by 17 percent by 2030. A baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) provides a foundation for public health nursing practice. The Competencies for Public Health Nursing Practice instrument was distributed to BSN students at a Midwestern university before and after an educational intervention. Students completed a pretest ( n = 269) and posttest ( n = 154). All four subscales and total score indicated a significant increase in competence ( p < .001). There is a need to develop interactive public health nursing simulations with an interprofessional venue to help students improve teamwork and communication competencies.

Developing simulation games to advance public health nursing competence in baccalaureate education.

We describe the development of an innovative baccalaureate nursing education strategy for public health nursing. Virtual simulation pedagogy is known to be effective for acute care nursing practice while less known for public health nursing. Three Canadian nursing schools, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN), and the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim) partnered to develop three public health nursing virtual simulation games. Learners work through unfolding population health scenarios, simulating public health nursing practice focused on entry level public health nursing competencies. Each game fosters clinical reasoning and collaborative, community decision-making to respond to population health issues during community assessment, evidence-informed health promotion planning, and evaluation processes. A companion guide was developed to support best practices in implementing virtual simulation and promote optimum student learning using the public health nursing games.

Public health nursing workforce and learning needs: A national sample survey analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Generate national estimates of the public health nursing workforce's (1) demographic and work characteristics and (2) continuing education learning needs in the United States. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. SAMPLE: Total 7352 of the 50,273 survey respondents were categorized as public health nurses (PHNs), representing an estimated 467,271 national workforce. MEASUREMENTS: Survey items for demographics, practice setting, training topics, and language(s) spoken fluently were analyzed. RESULTS: Workforce demographic characteristics are included. Mental health training was the most frequently endorsed topic by PHNs, followed by patient-centered care and evidence-based care. Training topic needs vary by practice setting. CONCLUSIONS: Results here can be used as a needs assessment for national public health nursing professional development and education initiatives. Further research is needed to refine and survey a nationally representative sample in a manner meaningful to public health nursing practice.

Overcoming barriers and improving public health nursing practice.

Public health nurses (PHN) are critical to ensuring the health of communities. Absent the most basic information on the PHN workforce in our state, we conducted interviews with 21 PHN and school health nurse (SHN) leaders and an online survey of PHNs and SHNs practicing in Maryland (N = 491). Our study identified an older, very experienced, and well-educated workforce. Both the interviews and survey identified similar barriers: low salaries, recruitment and hiring challenges, limited funding for public health programs, and no opportunities for education or career advancement. Survey participants also identified barriers of inadequate leadership, recognition, and communication including PHNs not being represented at decision-making tables or at the state leadership level. Strategies to promote public health nursing from leaders and survey participants were similar: increasing awareness about what public health and PHNs do and their value; improving advocacy and stakeholder engagement; improving access and availability of services; improving PHN leadership representation at the state level; a improving PHN salaries and benefits including tuition reimbursement. Although results were similar to national studies, comprehensive, granular workforce data is critical to ensure the public health workforce can meet current and emerging public health needs and that public health infrastructure and services are appropriately funded.

Measuring Bachelor of Science in Nursing competencies in public/population health.

Nurses have a long history of practice in public health. More recently basic population health knowledge and skills are being required across all nursing practice settings. To prepare nurses for this practice nursing education has long included public or community health nursing (PHN) content and skills as part of prelicensure education at the baccalaureate level and above. However, little work has been done to document student competency in these areas. Competency-based education is a process whereby students are held accountable for the mastery of knowledge and skills deemed critical for an area of study. The AACN Public/Population Health Workgroup addressed the challenge of measuring baccalaureate student nursing competencies in population health by developing an unfolding case study, with embedded questions assessing selected competencies. Lacking established population health competencies in nursing curriculum at the time of this work but wanting to assess students' basic competencies across the care continuum, the Workgroup selected relevant competencies from the Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations (formerly called the Quad Council) Competencies for Public Health Nurses. Utilizing these selected competencies, the Workgroup devised the unfolding case study and piloted it with 275 baccalaureate nursing education programs across the country. The findings from the Pilot demonstrated nursing student competency achievement and how this achievement changed as students progressed through the curriculum. The authors report implications and recommendations for competency measurement in population health based on the results of the pilot.

Public health in undergraduate nursing education and workforce readiness.

Student engagement with the community is a cornerstone of undergraduate nursing education in Canada. Working with community from perspectives of social justice, health equity, advocacy, and political action are essential for workforce readiness. We suggest that the erosion of public health theory and clinical courses in baccalaureate nursing programs undermines the potential capability of nurses to address the intersectionality of the social determinants of health. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations further demonstrates inequities, particularly among marginalized populations. Public health nursing education supports students' understanding about the health impacts of social injustice, how systemic racism is embedded in colonial and Eurocentric structures, and practices of superiority and privileges.We, as a national group of public health nursing educators, set out to investigate how existing guidelines and competencies support public health in undergraduate education across Canada. Results from a national questionnaire of educators, and of PHN leaders on new graduate practice readiness are presented. Questionnaire responses confirm an erosion of PHN theory and practice in baccalaureate nursing education (BNE) curricula. The results of the questionnaires combined with evidence of PHN since the global pandemic provide educators and practitioners more insight to inform future directions to respond to workforce readiness.

Difficulties in providing genetic consultations by public health nurses in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to identify the topics that Japanese public health nurses (PHNs) find difficult during genetic consultations and to identify the relationships between these difficulties and PHNs' genetic education. METHODS: We conducted a mail survey delivered to PHNs employed by local Japanese governmental agencies in the Tokyo metropolitan area, between July and October 2015. The self-administered questionnaire queried the (1) experience with genetic consultation, (2) perceived difficulties in genetic consultation, (3) genetics education background, and (4) demographics. The association between the perceived difficulties in genetic consultations and the genetics education opportunities was examined using logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 907 mailed surveys, 536 PHNs responded (59.1% response rate). Most of the respondents (89.7%) had previously conducted genetic consultations. The majority of respondents (72.7%) had partaken in consultations regarding a possible hereditary disorder in the client or their families, and of those, 76.6% perceived difficulties during the genetic consultation. Respondents who had previously studied decision-making support for genetic testing were significantly less likely to perceive difficulties in genetic consultations on prenatal diagnosis (OR = 0.04, 95% CI [0.00-0.73]). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that PHNs receive training in genetic consultation, which can be integrated into everyday practice.

A Sisyphean task: Developing and revising public health nursing competencies.

BACKGROUND: Competencies are intended to enhance the public health workforce's skills. Competencies used to evaluate public health nursing (PHN) practice and education have been promoted by several nursing organizations. Having multiple sets of competencies raises questions about redundancies and their usefulness in evaluating PHN, as well as the central question about the value of the competencies themselves. METHODS: A literature review of psychometric evaluation research of the competencies was performed. Qualitative content analyses were conducted of seven documents: Association of Community Health Nursing Educators', 2000 and 2010 essentials; Quad Council Coalition's 2004, 2011, and 2018 competencies; and the American Nurses Association's, 2013 and the 2021 draft of PHN scope and standards of practice with respect to competency definition, conceptual basis, and use of an established taxonomy. RESULTS: No psychometric evaluations of the competency sets were found. Textual content analysis revealed inconsistent and or missing competency definitions and theoretical frameworks with competencies proliferating over time. Taxonomy analysis identified minimal competencies at higher complexity levels according to Bloom's revised taxonomy. CONCLUSIONS: Analyzed competencies lack reliability and validity testing, making assessment difficult for PHN educators and practitioners. Multiple and competing competencies further erode PHN's visibility, even among public health nurses. With unending revisions of PHN competencies and lack of supporting evidence regarding their effect and their integration into education or practice, recommendations for future efforts are offered.

A holistic health determinants model for public health nursing education and practice.

Baccalaureate nursing graduates (BSNs) in the 21st century need to be prepared to manage the population health needs of diverse populations across the lifespan and take actions to improve health equity. A need for a Holistic Health Determinants Model that included the Social Determinants of Health was identified. A model incorporating the Healthy People 2020 Health Determinants Model and the Healthy People 2030 Social Determinants of Health Model was developed. Two theoretical approaches provided a foundation for the model. Social ecological theory stresses the lived experience in an ever-changing environment from the micro to the macro biological, behavioral, social and physical environmental levels. Public health intersectionality added the construct of constant interactions among the health determinants that resulted in different levels of health status among individuals and groups. This Holistic Health Determinants Model is a tool to use in teaching nursing students how to address the needs of individuals/families, diverse populations, and communities. It also facilitates integration of the new AACN Population Health Competencies across the curriculum. The model facilitates the preparation of BSN graduates to address the factors that shape health status and to take actions to improve health equity.

Exploring the utility of nursing student-led health fairs: Educating the college population.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine public health nursing (PHN) students' experiences delivering peer-to-peer health education to college students during a health fair. DESIGN: A qualitative, descriptive research design was used. SAMPLE: Senior-level nursing students (n = 13) completing the clinical portion of a PHN course. MEASUREMENTS: A semi-structured focus group guide consisting of 10 questions and follow-up probes was used to elicit PHN student experiences. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic analysis technique. RESULTS: Five main themes were identified: (1) benefits of health fairs in general, (2) benefits of nursing-student-led health fairs, (3) negatives of nursing-student-let health fairs, (4) importance of interaction, and (5) suggestions for maximizing the potential of nursing student-led health fairs. CONCLUSIONS: Although challenges exist, PHN students experienced several benefits from the provision of peer-to-peer health education. College campuses represent a unique clinical site that allows nursing students to utilize their insider status to better assess, understand, and provide tailored health education to the college community. This clinical site has shown to provide positive experiences for nursing students and is critical in developing essential nursing skills and building confidence for future clinical rotations.

Implementing public health nursing training for Ireland's National Healthy Childhood Programme.

Public health nurses (PHNs) in Ireland provide preventative child health. An evidence-based National Healthy Childhood Program (NHCP) has been in development since 2016. The final program implementation, including training all PHNs coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To describe implementation and evaluation of a blended training program for PHNs DESIGN: The evaluation used quantitative and qualitative methods underpinned by an implementation science framework to assess the training program. The three-phase blended training was led by a Training and Resources implementation team. Data from a national cohort of PHNs (n = 1671) who completed training were descriptively analysed. RESULTS: The majority of PHNs completed a suite of four online units (phase 1), as well as self-directed and asynchronous content in phase 2. Results of phase 2 indicated it met participant needs in terms of knowledge but outstanding needs in terms of skills remained. Phase 3 (a modified Face to Face Clinical Skills Review) was completed by 1671 PHNs over a 5-month period in 2020. Evaluation was very positive in terms of organisation and usefulness for practice. CONCLUSIONS: Despite challenges the NHCP training implementation goals were met. A well-designed blended learning training program met service delivery imperatives and PHN needs.

Factors associated with the utilization of community assessment models among Japanese nurses.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify factors related to the practical utilization of community health needs assessment (CHNA) models that public health nurses (PHNs) learned in their fundamental education. DESIGN: A nationwide questionnaire survey was conducted via postal mail. SAMPLE: We randomly selected 630 public health institutes in Japan. The participants were 3397 full-time novice and mid-level PHNs. MEASUREMENTS: The questionnaire included the participants' basic personal information, six items regarding the perception of CHNA with a 4-point Likert scale, learned models in their undergraduate education, their utilization in practical settings, and the reasons for their answer in narrative form. RESULTS: There were 951 valid responses. The results of logistic regression showed that the significant positively factors with model utilization were perception of CHNA as "not troublesome" or "not impossible as they learned," continuing education with 5 years of experience, and identification of the learned model in continuing education. Furthermore, the results of text mining showed the reasons for non-utilization of the model included being "busy" and having a lack of "opportunity." CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the associated factors with rare utilization of a learned model for PHNs. These findings may suggest improvement of continuing education and development of an appropriate assessment model.

Public health nurse education in the Nordic countries.

BACKGROUND: Higher education should promote critical reflection and guide students towards international activities. In the Nordic countries public health nurse educational programmes are mostly based on guidelines issued by national educational authorities, which describe students' learning outcomes. AIM: The aim of this paper is twofold: to give an overview of public health nurse education and service in the Nordic countries and thereby discuss opportunities for collaboration within the programmes. DATA SOURCES AND COMPILATION OF DATA: National legislations for public health nurse education and services are used as data. Since all sources are written in the language of each country, all the authors wrote the parts that describe each countries conditions in English and contributed to the compilation of data. RESULTS: We found both similarities and differences in public health nurse education and services. Opportunities for collaboration between the programmes are discussed. CONCLUSION: Critical reflection by the public health nurse students can be enhanced by arranging collaboration projects, an exchange of clinical placement, and joint master projects. Collaboration among academic staff within the educational programmes, in education and research, have the potential to enhance quality both within public health nurse education and in developing the profession of public health nursing.

Public health nursing education in Ireland and Norway: A comparative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Public health, primary health care, and nursing are founding principles of public health nursing. Thus, the underpinning curriculum needs to reflect these core principles. Public health nursing educators sought to delve deeper into curricula and training of public health nurse (PHNs) in Ireland and Norway OBJECTIVE: To compare PHNs' educational training in Ireland and Norway through a collaborative process DESIGN: This study used a descriptive comparative design SAMPLE: A panel of expert educators (the authors) compared national Public health nursing education strategies, guidelines, and curricula used to train PHN students RESULTS: Four core categories emerged from the analysis: general characteristics, theoretical and empirical knowledge base for PHNs practice, applying theory to clinical practice, and professional/ethical dimensions for practice. Results revealed more similarities than differences in both countries' educational models. The central difference related to the specialist role in Norway versus the generalist role in Ireland CONCLUSIONS: Workforce requirements drive the delivery of Public Health Nursing programs and educational curricula. However, it is imperative that educators evaluate their curricula in terms of fitness and practice, not just purpose.

The first line of prevention: A public health nursing advocacy video.

Public health nurses (PHNs) serve as the first line of prevention in public health and safety threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Although PHNs provide vital services to protect communities and populations' health, a pervasive lack of knowledge exists regarding the PHN role among policymakers and the general public. Advocacy for investment in the public health nursing workforce remains a priority as staffing and financial constraints have created sizeable barriers for PHNs during the COVID-19 response. Creating an advocacy video with personal stories from PHNs emerges as a powerful and cost-effective strategy to increase the visibility of PHNs. For this project, interviews with PHNs from COVID-19 hot spots were used to create a 3-min advocacy video. PHNs featured in this video discussed the implications of rerouting resources to combat COVID-19 for the populations they serve. The authors disseminated the video through popular social media venues, public health and nursing organizations and nurse influencers to reach nursing students, faculty, and the public. Over an 8-week period, the video received 2732 views on social media with an average view duration of 2 min. This article includes strategies to maximize the impact of an advocacy video when shared with relevant stakeholders.

Faculty perspectives on transitioning public health nursing clinical to virtual in response to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for public health nursing as an integral part of a strong public health workforce. However, it has also created challenges in preparing future nurses as much of nursing instruction, including clinical experiences, needed to urgently transition learning to a virtual environment. This paper describes the process faculty experienced during spring 2020 to quickly transition public health nursing clinicals from in-person to virtual learning in response to COVID-19. Further, faculty lessons learned are shared and include the importance of creating a supportive team dynamic, embracing innovation, continuing to engage with community partners, and adapting to meet emerging student needs during the evolving pandemic. The process and lessons learned may act as a guide for other nursing programs as we continue to navigate nursing education during this and future pandemics.

A scholarly concentration program to promote public health nursing for generalist Clinical Nurse Leader students.

BACKGROUND: The number of public health nurses has decreased consistently and significantly since the 1920's. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the need for more public health nurses in the workforce. The number of novice nurses entering into public health roles is declining, demonstrating a clear need to mentor pre-licensure nursing students into the public health nursing workforce. Scholarly concentration (SC) programs are a method to explore specialty roles through in-depth scholarly activities, outside of core curriculum. However, SC programs have not been described in the nursing literature. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a SC program to engage pre-licensure Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students in scholarly activities related to public health nursing. PROGRAM OVERVIEW: This Public Health Nurse Scholars program was developed in 2014 with the goal of developing a cadre of generalist CNL students with experiences in public health nursing scholarly activities. The program aimed to increase awareness of career and scholarship opportunities through mentorship with public health nursing faculty. Students were encouraged to attend and present at professional conferences, participate in active scholarly projects and conduct quality improvement projects from a public health nursing perspective. The program was designed to foster students' public health nursing leadership and presentation skills and enhance their self-directed learning. RESULTS: To date, 46 pre-licensure nursing students were selected as Public Health Nurse Scholars. Sixty-seven percent (n = 31) have graduated as Public Health Nurse Scholars; 33% (n = 15) are current Public Health Nurse Scholars. Twelve public health nursing faculty have served as mentors. As a result of the program 15 scholars attended and 3 scholars presented respectively at community/public health nursing conferences, and several scholars had related professional development opportunities. A majority of Public Health Nurse Scholars have designed and implemented a capstone quality improvement project with a public health nursing perspective, 15 of which were completed at community-based sites. CONCLUSIONS: In the face of our current global, public health crisis, there is a clear need to develop a cadre of novice nurses prepared to enter the public health nursing workforce. The Public Health Nurse Scholars program shows promise towards encouraging an interest in public health nursing scholarship. Schools of nursing may consider the implementation of similar SC programs as an approach to mentor pre-licensure nurses in other specialty areas such as gerontological and neonatal nursing.