Hints for the Aspiring Public Health Nurse

ABSTRACT The original article from which these excerpts were taken, “Some Hints to the Nurse Who Seeks to Become a Successful Partner in the Community Health Program,” by Mary Margaret Muckley, was published the 1923 volume of the original Public Health Nursing journal. The paper listed practical pointers to nurses wanting to work in the area of public or community health nursing. The author's advice involved personal attributes, professional engagement, skills, effective organization, and community relations. Much of the original article contained sound advice for aspirants to nursing work in community settings, but some advice may be considered too idealistic even for this optimistic time period. While the particular references to organizations and agencies existing in Helena, Montana have been omitted, the nurse reading the paper in 1923 had a general guide to her key stakeholders. The excerpts from this paper may give contemporary readers an appreciation of the endurance of what Muckley terms the public health nurse's “Valuable Assets.”     

Promotion of the Good Life by Public Health Nurses

The question of what is the good life has been discussed by philosophers since antiquity. The good of an individual and of a community is complicated. Communities influence an individual's experiences and world views, which are always individual. Public health nurses promoting the good life need multidisciplinary knowledge, as well as other skills such as personal competence and qualifications. The focus of the theoretical framework of promotion of the good life is based on models of health promotion and sustainable development. Working with different clients requires nursing theories, other theories, and multidisciplinary models in practice. Continual quality improvement is needed in order to increase customer satisfaction. This article discusses a doctoral thesis that consists of three empirical studies. The theoretical framework for promotion of the good life as the work of public health nurses is outlined, and the outcomes of the first study, the qualifications concerning health, and the environment are described. In the other parts of the study, curriculum building using future methodology and evaluation with concept maps is reported.     

Special Features: Health Policy: Organizational Attributes That Assure Optimal Utilization of Public Health Nurses

ABSTRACT Optimal utilization of public health nurses (PHNs) is important for strengthening public health capacity and sustaining interest in public health nursing in the face of a global nursing shortage. To gain an insight into the organizational attributes that support PHNs to work effectively, 23 focus groups were held with PHNs, managers, and policymakers in diverse regions and urban and rural/remote settings across Canada. Participants identified attributes at all levels of the public health system: government and system‐level action, local organizational culture of their employers, and supportive management practices. Effective leadership emerged as a strong message throughout all levels. Other organizational attributes included valuing and promoting public health nursing; having a shared vision, goals, and planning; building partnerships and collaboration; demonstrating flexibility and creativity; and supporting ongoing learning and knowledge sharing. The results of this study highlight opportunities for fostering organizational development and leadership in public health, influencing policies and programs to optimize public health nursing services and resources, and supporting PHNs to realize the full scope of their competencies.     

Edna Dell Weinel, Champion of Public Health Nursing— Excerpts from an Oral History

ABSTRACT Edna Dell Weinel is a former executive director (1980–1991) of the Family Care Center, a federally funded neighborhood health center in St. Louis, Missouri; this position capped her career as a county public health nurse, state maternal-child nursing consultant, and educator. In all her positions, Weinel lived her values: working at one's highest level of skill, social justice, and teamwork, and used political skills to build alliances for the improvement of community health. Her many contributions to public health and public health nursing were recognized by the Public Health Nursing Section of the American Public Health Association in 1993 with the Ruth B. Freeman Distinguished Career award. In interviews conducted early in 2007, Weinel spoke of her pride in being a public health nurse, her unchanging belief that health care can best be delivered by teams, and that public health nurses are an essential part of any effective team.     

The Process of Structuring Community Health Needs by Public Health Nurses Through Daily Practice: A Modified Grounded Theory Study

PurposeIt is extremely difficult to apply the model learned in basic education for public health nurses (PHNs) to conduct community health assessments. The purpose of this study was to clarify the process by which community health needs can be structured through PHNs’ daily practice.MethodsSemistructured interviews were conducted in 29 PHNs, and continuous comparative analysis using a qualitative study was performed with a modified grounded theory approach.ResultsThe participants “used their five senses to understand the relationship between the health and life of people” and “considered those who do not attend” by “learning from stakeholders.” To verify such subjective feelings sourced from vague phenomena within the communities, subjective phenomena were converted into qualitative data.ConclusionThe application of the findings to organizational continuous education systems may not only help appropriately improve community health assessment methods but can also help improve the evaluation of daily practice and contribute to professional human-resource development.     

The San Francisco Collaborative: An Evaluation of a Partnership Between Three Schools of Nursing and a Public Health Department

ABSTRACT Many factors are contributing to a decline in the number of nurses who opt to choose public health nursing as a career option. One factor is the lack of preceptors in public health, which has led to the placement of nursing students in nontraditional clinical settings. Thus, many nursing students are not exposed to public health nursing while still in school. Graduating students may not have a clear idea of what a public health nurse is or does. The purpose of the study was to describe a collaborative project between three schools of nursing aimed at increasing interest in public health nursing among undergraduate nursing students. The study method involved analysis of student, faculty, and staff feedback received after an orientation to public health nursing. Nursing students found the experience valuable. Participation in the collaborative project has increased clinical experiences for nursing students in public health, increased exposure of nursing students to public health nursing, and has led to opportunities for both students and faculty within an urban public health department.     

The Quad Council Practice Competencies for Public Health Nursing

This article describes the most recent efforts by the Quad Council of Public Health Nursing organizations to review and revise the competencies for PHN practice, and highlights the implications of these competencies for practice, education, and research. The Quad Council is a coalition of four nursing organizations with a focus on public health nursing and includes the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators; the Association of Public Health Nursing (known prior to July 1, 2012 as the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing); the Public Health Nursing section of the American Public Health Association; and the Council on Economics and Practice of the American Nurses' Association. The Quad Council competencies are based on the Council on Linkages competencies for public health professionals and were designed to ensure that public health nursing fits in the domain of public health science and practice.     

Population Health Surveillance Practice of Public Health Nurses

ABSTRACT Objective: To report the population health surveillance functions of public health nurses and to describe factors that impede these functions.
Design and Sample: An interpretive qualitative study was conducted in Public Health Service areas in Eastern Canada. Participants were public health nurses ( n =55) with an average of 14.5 years of pertinent work experience.
Measures: Semistructured face-to-face, telephone interviews, and focus groups were conducted, transcribed, coded, and analyzed.
Results: The nurses in this study used ecosocial population health surveillance functions that included multilevel societal influences on health. Extensive interprofessional and intersectoral networks were foundational to their surveillance work, allowing them to monitor what was occurring in the community and transfer this knowledge into various systems to contribute toward improved health outcomes. However, the nurses did not acknowledge the significance of their population health surveillance work, and documentation structures did not support these surveillance functions.
Conclusion: New surveillance methods and documentation structures that reflect an ecosocial surveillance approach are needed that are more consistent with public health nurses' population-focused practice.     

Rural Public Health Policy Models to Address an Evolving Environmental Asbestos Disaster

ABSTRACT The health-related dangers of asbestos exposure were recognized early in the 20th century when occupational exposure was found to be associated with excess pneumoconiosis among asbestos industry workers. Today, the epicenter for examining the public health effects and the human toll that this toxin has had on a population is located in the rural community of Libby, MT. Rurality and multideterminants of health frame both the history of asbestos-related disease and the service/policy challenges within a community dealing with chronic illness and designation as a Superfund clean-up site. Despite efforts by public health advocates to address the lingering aftermath of an environmental disaster in this community, policy gaps exist that continue to impact the population's health. The purpose of this paper is to describe the history and outcomes of asbestos exposure in a rural community and discuss 3 models that provide public health policy insights related to rural health and health care for a community affected by both a sentinel and ongoing environmental event.     

Barriers and Facilitators to the Incorporation of Environmental Health into Public Health Nursing Practice

ABSTRACT Objectives: To describe the environmental health (EH) demands placed on public health nurses (PHNs) as well as the barriers and facilitators to incorporating EH into PHN practice. Design and Sample: A cross‐sectional multimode (Web and pencil/paper) survey was used to collect data from PHNs in 1 rural western state. Research participants included 141 PHNs from a total of 228 survey invitations (61% response). Measures: A 39‐item questionnaire was developed to measure the frequency of EH demands experienced by PHNs as well as the barriers and facilitators to the incorporation of EH into PHN practice and standard demographics. Results: Significant numbers of PHNs reported less than baccalaureate preparation (29%), suggesting that EH competencies cannot be assumed. PHNs are often asked for basic EH information and cite lack of time and lack of interest on the part of the populations being cared for as barriers to incorporating EH into their practice. Facilitators included free or inexpensive continuing education programs offered via the Internet and additional Internet resources or staff resource people. Conclusion: PHNs represent a significant portion of the public health workforce and have implied and explicit mandates to address EH issues in their practice. Resources should be directed toward helping PHNs become better prepared to address the current and future EH needs of populations.     

The Retirement of a Public Health Nurse Leader

ABSTRACT Elizabeth Gordon Fox was a distinguished member of the profession and an influential advocate for visiting nurse services at the time of her retirement. The dinner guests who came to honor her 20 years as director of the New Haven, Connecticut Visiting Nurse Association included luminaries in public health including Thomas Parran, Ira V. Hiscock, Ruth Hubbard, and Anna Fillmore. Dr. C.-E. A. Winslow, an eminent leader in public health, and Annie Warburton Goodrich, the retired dean of the Yale School of Nursing were also present. The occasion was marked by an address by Thomas Parran, former U. S. Surgeon General, who focused attention on nursing leadership in public health. Speeches by both Parran and Fox addressed the challenges faced at mid-century—challenges of public accountability, of a widespread nursing shortage, and of the need to distribute knowledge and services with both efficiency and compassion. Dr. Parran's talk and an excerpt from Fox's comments that evening were published in Public Health Nursing in December 1949. Selected passages from each of their speeches recall for contemporary readers the concerns of the era and the hopes of those who had dedicated their professional careers to improvement of the health of the public.