 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Linda Olson Keller, MS, BSN, CS, Office of Public Health Practice - Center for Public Health Nursing, Minnesota Department of Health, Metro Square Building, P.O. Box 64975, St. Paul, MN 55164, 651-296-9176, linda.keller@health.state.mn.us, Sharon Cross, RN, MSPH, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 6-101 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308 Harvard St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0342, Patricia M. Schoon, MPH, RN, Department of Nursing, College of St. Catherine, 2004 Randolph, St. Paul, MN 55105, and Emily Litt, BSN, Government Center, Carver Community Health Services, 600 East 4th Street, Chaska, MN 55318.
The Henry Street Consortium is a collaboration between five baccalaureate schools of nursing, the thirteen local health departments that provide clinical sites for those schools, and the Minnesota Department of Health. The Consortium’s ultimate goal is to prepare baccalaureate level nurses with the population-based nursing practice competencies necessary for entry into practice. To achieve this goal, the Consortium developed a set of core competencies for public health nursing that encompasses the needs of health departments and schools of nursing curriculum. The competencies include skills, knowledge, values and attitudes. The Henry Street competencies differ from other competencies in that these competencies are specifically for new graduates or entry-level nurses. The Consortium also developed a “menu” of clinical learning experiences that reflects the diversity of the communities (rural and urban), the health departments that serve those communities, the differences in the schools of nursing curriculums and the learning needs of student nurses. While the clinical opportunities vary, they all offer creative suggestions for population-based experiences, incorporate an assessment of a population, and reflect experiences with individuals, families, communities, and the systems that impact health. This session will present the entry-level public health nursing competencies and the clinical menu. It will also describe the unique systems- level changes that have occurred as a result of the Consortium, such as expansion of clinical placement spaces, development of staff preceptors for PHN students, and the active role local health departments are taking to assure that graduates possess the competencies they need to begin public health nursing practice.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Public Health Nursing,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.