Engaging Entry Level Undergraduate Nursing Students in Population Health

Background: This presentation will describe the development of two courses Promoting Healthy Populations and Health Care Delivery Systems for entry-level baccalaureate nursing students as part of a major curriculum revision at a large public university. A goal of the curricular change was to infuse population focused health concepts throughout the curriculum to prepare students for future nursing workforce roles which relate to the social determinants of health.

Description: In the initial course, students are engaged in population-focused learning activities including an inter-professional poverty simulation exercise, a campus initiative to promote bystander intervention to reduce health risk, and health coaching training.  In the subsequent course, students focus on healthcare delivery systems and their impact on population-level outcomes. Innovative learning strategies include the use of book clubs, development of a health insurance plan and poster-presentations comparing the US healthcare system with other nations.

Lessons Learned: Preliminary review of the new courses revealed that students saw more structural barriers to poverty and fewer stigmas following the poverty simulation, and felt empowered to intervene with peers to reduce health risks.  Students proceeding to the Health Care Delivery Systems course have demonstrated the ability to weave population health concepts and the social determinants of health model into discussions of health policy and economics.

Implications/recommendations: Initial assessment of introducing population-focused care early in BSN education is that students are able to articulate social determinants of care as nursing-sensitive.