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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Rita E. Arras, PhD, RN¹, Kevin D. Hutchinson, RN, MS, MPH², and Mark Peters, MS². (1) School of Nursing, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Box 1066, Edwardsville, IL 62026-1066, 618-650-3922, rarras@siue.edu, (2) Health Department, St. Clair County, 19 Public Square, Belleville, IL 62220

The baccalaureate degree in nursing prepares generalists to practice population-focused nursing care. While the principles of population-focused care are easily addressed in theory courses, clinical practice opportunities are harder to come by. Cultivating quality population-focused experiences demands careful planning and close cooperation between clinical agencies and nursing faculty. This presentation will describe one school's approach to developing population-focused clinical experiences for undergraduate nursing students. Prior to the start of the semester, public health nursing faculty and agency administrators discuss the agency's current needs or upcoming initiatives. The faculty member and agency administrator define student projects that will meet the course objectives for the clinical practicum and benefit the agency. The project may entail assessment, planning, implementation or evaluation activities for an aggregate or the entire population. The scope of the project and experience of the student (some students are experienced RNs returning to complete Bachelors degrees) determine whether projects are best completed by an individual or more appropriate for a group of students. Students must develop a work-plan with contingencies and deal with uncertainties. In completing the project, students have the opportunity to work cooperatively with peers, instructors, and an interdisciplinary team of public health professionals. The end-product of this experience for the student is a professional, written report and a presentation to agency personnel. The agency and clients served ultimately benefit from the student's contributions. A student project that involved a county-wide assessment of Community Strengths and Assets will be featured as an example.

Learning Objectives:

• 1.Discuss the challenge of developing population-focused clinical activities for undergraduate nursing students
• 2.Describe the advantages of academic-public health agency partnerships.
• 3.Give examples of population-focused clinical activities that are appropriate for undergraduate nursing students.

Keywords: Collaboration, Nursing Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation