Effectiveness of Community Health Worker/Nursing Student Teams as a Strategy for Public Health Nursing Education

ABSTRACT A unique program that partners community health workers with nursing students was developed in response to community‐based participatory research data and integrated into a public health practicum at a baccalaureate nursing program in West Michigan. The goal of the program is to promote the health of 3 underserved urban neighborhoods while educating nursing students in population health and public health nursing. The purpose of this paper is to describe program conception and implementation and discuss evaluation of educational outcomes as a public health learning experience.     

Research Priorities for Public Health Nursing

ABSTRACT The Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE) Research Committee initiated a revision of the ACHNE Research Priorities for public health nursing practice in 2006, following those developed in 1992 and in 2000. The committee (a) reviewed public health nursing research abstracts (n=485) from 7 selected nursing journals to evaluate progress in addressing the 2000 Priorities; (b) identified research methods used, health issues and health behaviors addressed, and demographics of study populations in the abstracts; and (c) reviewed research priorities from key federal funding agencies and journal editors. Overall, progress toward meeting previous priorities was modest, with a limited range of methods, topics, and samples described. The 2009 ACHNE Research Priorities for public health nursing include: (1) Population‐Focused Outcomes, and (2) Public Health Nursing Workforce. Multisite studies, clinical trials, community‐based participatory research, development and/or analysis of existing large data sets, and development of valid and reliable methods are needed to address these priorities. Collaboration among educators, researchers, and practitioners is crucial to develop the scientific evidence base for population‐based nursing practice.     

Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Entry‐Level Community/Public Health Nursing

ABSTRACT 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.     

Academic Faculty Qualifications for Community/Public Health Nursing: An Association of Community Health Nursing Educators Position Paper

ABSTRACT The Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE) has developed a number of documents designed to delineate the scope and function of community/public health nursing (C/PHN) educators, researchers, and practitioners. Consistent with the mission of ACHNE, this position paper entitled Academic Faculty Qualifications for Community/Public Health Nursing has been developed by the Faculty Qualifications Task Force. The shortage of qualified nursing faculty has been well documented. In particular, this shortage has increased the difficulty in having sufficient numbers of faculty who are educationally and experientially qualified to teach in the C/PHN specialty. ACHNE is addressing this concern by setting forth preferred qualifications for faculty to teach C/PHN at both the graduate and undergraduate level. While we recognize that the current faculty shortage may require schools to use faculty to teach in areas in which they do not have appropriate formal preparation, the paper outlines best practices for teaching C/PHN, a goal we urge all schools of nursing to work toward. Task Force members developed an earlier draft of the document in fall 2008, and input was solicited and received from ACHNE members and considered in the final document, which was approved by the ACHNE Executive Board in July 2009.     

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.     

Using an Academic‐Community Partnership Model and Blended Learning to Advance Community Health Nursing Pedagogy

This article describes a model of teaching community health nursing that evolved from a long‐term partnership with a community with limited existing health programs. The partnership supported RN–BSN students' integration in the community and resulted in reciprocal gains for faculty, students and community members. Community clients accessed public health services as a result of the partnership. A blended learning approach that combines face‐to‐face interactions, service learning and online activities was utilized to enhance students' learning. Following classroom sessions, students actively participated in community‐based educational process through comprehensive health needs assessments, planning and implementation of disease prevention and health promotion activities for community clients. Such active involvement in an underserved community deepened students' awareness of the fundamentals of community health practice. Students were challenged to view public health from a broader perspective while analyzing the impacts of social determinants of health on underserved populations. Through asynchronous online interactions, students synthesized classroom and community activities through critical thinking. This paper describes a model for teaching community health nursing that informs students' learning through blended learning, and meets the demands for community health nursing services delivery.     

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.     

Community/Public Health Nursing Practice Leaders' Views of the Doctorate of Nursing Practice

ABSTRACT Objectives: This paper presents thoughts of practice leaders in the community/public health nursing (C/PHN) specialty on advanced nursing practice (ANP) and the necessary educational preparation for such practice.
Design and Sample: Practice leaders were engaged in conversations specifically focused on the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) as preparation for ANP in their specialties, and asked to consider the benefits of, and challenges to, this educational program.
Measures and Results: The resulting remarks were then assessed for themes by the interviewers and these are presented along with thoughts on the future of education for ANP.
Conclusion: Overall, there was much agreement among the practice leaders interviewed about the importance of a broad skill set for ANP in the specialty. However, the practice leaders interviewed here also identified the practical challenges involved in educating nurses at the DNP level in the C/PHN specialty, as well as some concerns about the definitions of ANP for the future.     

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.”     

Teaching/Learning Strategies for the Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Entry‐Level Community/Public Health Nursing

The purpose of this article is to describe teaching/learning strategies for each of the 15 Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Entry‐Level Community/Public Health Nursing (ACHNE, 2009). Carper's ways of knowing serve as foundations for creating classroom and clinical experiences that focus on clinical action with community as client. Each community/public health essential is defined with relevance to community/public health nursing practice. Five teaching/learning strategies have been delineated for each essential with suggestions of teaching resources and/or target population application. Teaching/learning strategies that focus on community as client, population health, and the essential knowledge and competencies of C/PH nursing will help ensure preparation of baccalaureate prepared nurses with knowledge and skills to improve the health of populations.     

Association of Community Health Nursing Educators', 2020 evidence-based project priorities: A national blueprint for unifying research and evidence-based practice priorities

The Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE) Research Committee Subcommittee on Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) presents a paper on the state of translation of science into public health nursing education practice. The paper builds from the integrative research review completed by the ACHNE Research Priorities Subcommittee (McElroy et al., Public Health Nursing, 2020) offering updated research priorities and a Research in Action model. Four EBP Project Priorities were established using the Johns Hopkins EBP Model guided by Dang and Dearholt's (Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice: Model and guidelines, 2018) 19-step process. The EBP Project Priorities emphasize the need for EBP projects to align ACHNE strategic plans and research priorities. The authors recommend that the Research in Action model guide deliberate unification of both the Research and EBP Project Priorities. Standards and criteria for essential effort unifying collaborative effort between PhD and Doctorate in Nursing Practice scholars, coordination of research efforts, and innovative practice partnerships is provided.     

开展社区护理研究 推动社区护理发展

我国社区护理工作落后,为推动社区护理发展,我们与卫生局合作,建立社区护理实践基地,组织教师参与社区护理实践,积极开展社区护理研究,以研究带动社区护理发展。目前已获得多项省厅级及局级、院级社区护理研究课题,形成了良好的社区护理研究氛围。在社区护理研究中提高了社区护士及护理教师的工作、研究能力,拓展社区护理的范围,促进社区护理的发展及社区护理教育体系的发展。     

Use of Community Health Workers in Research With Ethnic Minority Women

PURPOSE: To explore roles and effectiveness of community health workers in research with ethnic minority women in the United States (US). METHODS: Medline (1966-2002) and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature; 1982-2002) databases were used to locate published research studies on the use of community health workers with ethnic minority women in the US. Key words for searches were community health workers, community health aides, health promoters, and community workers. RESULTS: An integrative analysis of 24 studies showed that, despite varying roles and functions, evidence indicates that community health workers are effective in increasing access to health services, increasing knowledge, and promoting behavior change among ethnic minority women. Other advantages of using community health workers are to provide social support and culturally competent, cost-effective care. Recommendations for future directions of research with community health workers and ethnic minority women include improved conceptualization of the community health worker role, theoretical frameworks for research designs, enhanced methods for evaluating effectiveness, and increased community involvement.     

清-港合作社区护理个案研究介绍

介绍了由香港非营利机构与广东省清新县卫生界、教育界共同进行跨地区跨部门合作 ,共同建立“健康社区”和“健康校园”的做法和成效。论述了该个案背景与期望 ,对“健康”与“卫生”两名词的理解 ,个案研究的选地与选院 ,先导计划的贡献和非营利服务机构的中介角色。     

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.