171827 National Survey Results: Comparing Quad Council Competencies to Preparation of Nurses in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 10:30 AM

Anne Watson Bongiorno, PhD, APRN, CNE , Department of Nursing, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY
Elizabeth A. Riegle, RN, MS , School of Nursing, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Donna (Danuta) Clemmens, PhD RN , College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY
Maria A. Fletcher, RN, PhD , Department of Nursing, St. Joseph's College, Brooklyn, NY
Margaret Mullarkey, MS, RN , Division of Nursing, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY
Noreen Nelson, PhD (c), RN , New York University, New York, NY
Background: The New York Public Health Nursing Summit is a group of educators and public health leaders arising from The New York New Jersey Public Health Training Center. The goal of the group is to create a strong partnership that supports a skilled public health nursing workforce.

Needs Assessment: There is a national shortage of nurses, including a lack of public health nurse generalists (PHN's), educated in competency-based, population based practice. The Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations (Quad Council) have designed a set of core competencies specific to PHN generalists but little is known about how the competencies are used in public health nursing curriculum in the United States. (Quad Council, 2003; New York Public Health Nursing Summit, June 2005). A pilot survey across New York State identified a lack of awareness of the Quad Council Competencies and inconsistent frameworks for delivery of public health nursing education among baccalaureate granting schools of nursing (n= 29). It was determined that the results were of great concern but a larger and more encompassing sample size was needed to fully examine educative practices across the nation.

Study Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify the practices of baccalaureate granting programs (BSN) in the United States in using the Quad Council recommendations regarding Public Health Nursing competencies.

Study Methods: The descriptive study utilized a survey examining the educative practices and curriculum of BSN programs in delivering population focused concepts and skills in a national sample.

Results: A pilot study in New York State indicated that there was no consistent framework to deliver PHN education and significant numbers of nurse educators who indicated no awareness of Quad Council competencies. The results of the national survey will be presented with implications for practice.

Learning Objectives:
Compare the results of a national survey of baccalaureate public health nursing (PHN) curriculum and practices with Quad Council PHN competencies. Discuss the delivery of population focused concepts and skills in PHN education. Examine the inclusion of ethical decision making processes in PHN education and contextually applied ethics as inherent to the core functions of the PHN. Evaluate awareness of the significance of Quad Council PHN competence to best practices in PHN curriculum design. Compare regional and national implications of the PHN survey results to frameworks for PHN education at the baccalaureate level.

Keywords: Nursing Education, Competency

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conducted the survey.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Quad Council Competencies: A Conundrum?
See more of: Public Health Nursing