Public and Global Health in Nursing: Innovative Educational Strategies for an Online RN-BSN Course

According to the IOM report, by 2020, 80% of the nurses should hold a BSN degree. Already, more and more nurses are returning to college to achieve a BSN. To support these students, many of whom live in rural areas and/or work in environments not supportive of a traditional face-to-face education, an online program with a strong focus on public health nursing has been implemented at a large State University.

The program includes three 4-credit courses on Health Promotion Across the Lifespan, Community/Public Health Nursing in the US, and Public and Global Health in Nursing. Students enrolled in these courses come from all States as well as US-territories and military bases. These courses especially Public and Global Health in Nursing use cutting-edge web technologies to generate an optimal learning environment and to facilitate innovative educational strategies. The whole spectrum of communication and teaching tools available to an online course is integrated and support each other: Online writing center, embedded librarian, social networking, voice thread, virtual classroom, and multiple web resources and assignments. An instructional designer for web interface and course design supports the course.

Quality MattersTM (QM) standards were used to build and to evaluate the course. QM is a faculty-centered peer review process based on national standards for best practices, research literature, and instructional design principles.

Student feedback is very positive. Beginning this fall, this synergistic online teaching concept will be replicated for a congruent program, where students are enrolled simultaneously at the University and Community Colleges.