269658 New evidence-based case study materials to support workforce development to meet the ANA environmental health nursing practice standard

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 3:10 PM - 3:30 PM

Jeanne B. Hewitt, PhD RN , NIEHS-funded Children's Environmental Health Sciences Core Center P30 ES004184, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
Ann Backus, MS , Harvard School of Public Health, Room 1-1402, Harvard-NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, Boston, MA
To meet the environmental health standard in the ANA Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing Practice (2010), faculty and practitioners will need additional environmental health materials that support independent learning and classroom teaching. The Community Outreach and Engagement Cores (COEC) and Center Scientists at the NIEHS-funded Centers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Harvard School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Superfund Research Translation Core at Boston University and the COEC at the University of North Carolina have developed case studies. The planned series of case studies reflect the strength of our Centers' environmental health science and the need to understand vector-borne infectious diseases, as well as health effects of chemical contaminants in the environment, whether natural or human-made. The case studies emphasize the public health practice environment, how to understand and communicate environmental exposures and disease risks to individuals and the population, and how to prevent (or mitigate) environmental public health problems. Following the successful beta testing of the Lyme disease case study, we implemented it as part of a module on infectious and communicable diseases in a large (~100 students) public health nursing class. For the arsenic in drinking water case study, we collaborated with arsenic experts to develop the case study and submitted it for rigorous peer review before beta testing it. We report the findings for both case studies and discuss the lessons learned related to selecting relevant topics, articulation with the ANA standard, and the application of this pedagogical format.

Learning Areas:
Environmental health sciences
Public health or related education
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe key elements of the American Nurses Association (2010) environmental health standard Explain the importance of evidence-based case-studies as a learning strategy in public health nursing education and practice Discuss results of beta-testing and implementation of environmental health case studies in th classroom

Keywords: Environmental Health, Public Health Nursing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an author of the case studies (principle author for the arsenic case study) and have beta tested both and implemented the Lyme disease case study in the classroom.
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.