Recorded presentation

Brenda Talley, RN PhD CNAA, School of Nursing, Georgia Southern University, P. O. Box 8158, Statesboro, GA 30460, 912-681-5794, btalley@georgiasouthern.edu and Carole Jakeway, RN, MPH, Division of Public Health, Georgia Department of Human Resources, 2 Peachtree St. NW, Suite 15.470, Atlanta, GA 30303-2700.

Creating and Sustaining Academic-Practice Partnerships for Public Health Nursing: The Georgia Model

In Georgia, a consortium of nurses in public health practice and those in nursing education has produced several positive changes since it was formed in 1996. The Georgia Public Health Practice and Education Workgroup (GaPEW) was created to identify issues of mutual concern relative to the current and future practice and preparation of public health nurses in Georgia. The consortium represents the 19 baccalaureate nursing programs in Georgia and public health leadership at the local and state levels.

Among the outcomes of the GaPEW is an on-line Population Focused Nursing course for academic credit especially designed for public health nurses. Once need for the course was established, the objectives and content outline was developed cooperatively. The course has been taught by five universities since the fall of 2000.

Additionally, effort is underway to develop similar working relationships on the local levels, using the state model. For example, one local group is conducting collaborative research. The research problem was derived by two of the public health nurses enrolled in the Population Focused on-line course. Currently, graduate nursing students are beginning data collection within the public health departments, thus increasing their exposure to public health nursing.

The purpose of this presentation is to share the history of the GaPEW, describe the outcomes to date, and outline the collaborative projects that are in process. Preliminary work will be shared on the development of a conceptual model using exemplars from the experiences.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to

• Discuss the history of the Georgia Practice and Education Workgroup (GaPEW)
• Describe the model and attributes of a successful work group.
• List positive outcomes of collaborative experiences between academic nursing programs and public health nurses.
• Identify examples of collaborative projects.
• Adapt the GaPEW model to academic and practice settings in other areas of the country.

Keywords: Nursing Education, Partnerships

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.

Recorded presentation