Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109967

Kathleen Gilchrist, Phd, FNP and Cherie Rector, PhD, RN-C. Department of Nursing, California State University, Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311-1099, 661-664-3229, kgilchrist@csub.edu

Currently there is a shortage of Public Health Nurses (PHNs), in addition to the nationwide RN shortage. Public health departments are forced to compete for nurses with acute care hospitals (and their signing bonuses). Hospitals and other agencies often recruit recent graduates of associate degree and diploma programs. Health departments need BSN-prepared nurses, but new BSN graduates are often missing sufficient acute care experience and life skills to be able to cope with pressures of modern PHN practice. With the help of a HRSA grant and curriculum modifications, RN-BSN students at California State University Bakersfield have been given financial assistance and provided with PHN mentors. Now, RN-BSN students work one-on-one with experienced PHNs who mentor them during their community health nursing clinical experience and provide a targeted orientation to this exciting area of nursing. CSUB partnered with three public health departments to change students' clinical experience from a fixed, clinical rotation to a more flexible preceptor model. A website links RN-BSN students to area health department web pages listing current jobs. These students are also encouraged to select PHN preceptors for their Senior Practicum experience to further promote this much-needed specialty in our rural, underserved area. Distance education technology is heavily utilized and provides better access for working RNs. These students are frequently more experienced and are often ready for a change of focus in their nursing careers. Tapping into this often-overlooked resource may provide an innovative solution to the PHN nursing shortage.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the presentation, the learner will be able to describe an innovative solution for decreasing the PHN shortage.
• At the end of the presentation, the learner will be able to articulate RN-BSN curricular changes that may be useful in their institution. changes

Keywords: Public Health Nursing, Public Health Education

Related Web page: www.csub.edu/INN/rn_to_bsn.shtml

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.