259940 Population-Based Training Needs among Public Health Nursing Leaders and Public Health Nursing Staff in Washington State

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Christine Espina, RN, MN, DNP , 1101 Andover Park W, Washington Center for Nursing, Tukwila, WA
Public health nurses (PHNs) need effective strategies to reduce health disparities, requiring a competent PHN workforce that can address growing complex global challenges. Population-level nursing practice is applicable across the continuum of care, and promotes an ecological approach to practice. A state-wide association of county-level PHN officials has committed and worked to advance their practice competency. In 2011, these PHN leaders partnered with a graduate nursing student to interview their members to assess their and their staff's population-based training needs. A PHN leader and university faculty adviser provided guidance in questionnaire development. Seventeen telephone interviews were conducted. Electronic notes were taken with each respondent's consent. Interview themes were coded around the Quad Council's PHN Competencies. Findings indicate that PHN leaders and staff need training in policy development & program planning, community dimensions of practice skills, and communication skills. PHN leaders voiced their own need for training in financial planning & management, and leadership skills in transitioning toward population-based care. Recommended strategies to increase staff readiness for population-based training are to 1. Provide interactive and practical trainings that demonstrate that staff's work with individuals can be strategically embedded in population-level practice. 2. Increase PHN leaders' access to practice and academic experts to devise creative solutions for training, despite current practice challenges such as decreasing training budgets and increasing staff workloads. PHN leaders working in governmental public health can build, strengthen, and continue their partnership with their academic counterparts to develop and/or adapt evidence-based strategies to advance their level of practice competency.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe current practice barriers to population-based training and practice. 2. Describe strategies to increase staff readiness for population-based training and practice.

Keywords: Public Health Nursing, Workforce

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: One of my interests is strengthening the public health nursing (PHN) workforce through bridging the practice and PHN competency gap. Throughout my student career in the DNP program, I have partnered with this group of PHN leaders in helping them assess their practice competencies and making recommendations for training. My final student project was to interview PHN leaders about their and their staff's training needs, and make recommendations for population-based training and practice.
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.