Planting seeds of community-engaged pedagogy: Community health nursing practice in an intergenerational campus-community gardening program.

As part of a participatory action research (PAR) study, nursing student participants collaborated with faculty, along with older adults, people with mixed abilities, and preschool aged children in order to 'sow the seeds of social change' and grow a campus community gardening project. The focus of this article is on the community-engaged pedagogy within a community health nursing practice course that supported student learning. Insights were gleaned over the course of four academic semesters (and four student cohort groups) with students as co-developers of the campus-community garden and participants in the PAR. Key themes emerged from student participants in the PAR process including: (1) planning in community to "think global, act local"; (2) discovering 'the people in your neighbourhood' as socially just partnerships; (3) revisiting landscapes of social inclusion; and (4) reflecting on "humble togetherness" across generational gaps. The findings showcased here attest to how community-engaged pedagogy, in conjunction with PAR, can facilitate student learning outside of traditional settings and grow social inclusion, intergenerational connection, and social justice.

To what extent do health visitors and school nurses have a voice in the policy process?

The purpose of the study was to explore the reciprocal impact of health policy on public health nursing and public health nursing on policy in England. The theoretical framework was critical social theory and the methodology was constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006). In the first phase of the research, initial scoping questionnaires and follow-up telephone interviews were conducted. Phase two consisted of detailed policy analyses and in phase three, extant documents were reviewed. The study identified potential barriers to public health nurses' full participation in the policy process and possible responses, including organizational changes in health care settings and curricula developments in the nursing education domain. The data collection for this study was carried out between 2008 and 2011.