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.

Experiential Community Health Assessment Through PechaKucha.

BACKGROUND: Nursing education is a robust vehicle for change for community health nursing (CHN) in undergraduate programs. Nurses with a broad range of CHN competencies will be needed to meet the demands of community-based care in the coming years. METHOD: To meet the changing curricular demands around CHN, an experiential learning opportunity presented itself with the use of PechaKucha to support students. This experiential approach to learning the Canadian Community Health Nursing Professional Practice Model & Standards of Practice using a windshield and walkabout survey resulted in the students presenting the findings through the PechaKucha method. RESULTS: Kolb's experiential learning theory served as the theoretical foundation. The experiential application of the Canadian Community Health Nursing Professional Practice Model & Standards of Practice helps to create interest in CHN and develop future competent and confident community nurses. CONCLUSION: By discovering CHN applications through experiential learning, students are in a better position to understand the scope and role of CHN practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(9):566-569.].