The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43238

Dawn Doutrich, RN, CNS, PhD, College of Nursing, Washington State University, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98604, 360 546 9464, doutrich@vancouver.wsu.edu and Marni Marvin, RN, ARPN, MS, Southwest Washington Health District, 2000 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 98663.

In response to a call for proposals from the Bureau of Health Professions for projects geared to improve public health nursing practice experiences for baccalaureate students, Washington State University Vancouver College of Nursing (WSUV) linked with Southwest Washington Health District (SWHD). Elements of that project are described in this paper. Two of the four project objectives will be addressed: 1) develop a closer partnership between SWHD and WSUV; 2) identify strategies to improve students’ understanding and role performance in culturally competent population-focused nursing. Academic health department practice linkages included a joint orientation where SWHD mentors introduced students to their practices, a shared consultation on cultural competence, jointly attended a workshop on working with vulnerable populations, and jointly attended satellite down-linked programs on public health nursing. Dr. Christine Tanner presented her model for clinical judgment, in a facilitated supervision workshop for mentors and faculty. Analysis of narrative data collected during orientation, the supervision workshop, and post clinical conferences uncovered several strategies that aid in students’ development of culturally competent population-focused nursing. Examples of these strategies are: open discussion of differences between acute and community practice; identification of students’ motivation(s) in the practicum; support of students valuing and becoming adept at eliciting the client’s story; and modeling behavior to influence policy through personalizing and politicizing issues. Programmatic changes based on these findings include creating a professional development module for new mentors, group supervision for mentors, and the formalization of student orientation that includes findings from the narratives.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the learner in this session will be able to

• Identify four examples of academic and health department practice linkages.
• Describe three strategies that were found to guide the development of students’ understanding and performance of culturally competent population-focused nursing.

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Public Health Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement: