Taking action for the future of public health nursing

Background: The Quad Council endorsed a national PHN invitational conference in November 2013 supported by HRSA and the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program. This conference built on reports and strategy briefs on the future of PHN from RWJF, Quad Council, AACN-CDC Cooperative Agreement, and American Academy of Nursing. The overall goal was to develop a plan to maximize the influence of public health nurses to improve the health of the public.

Description: Twenty-five participants with varied disciplinary expertise, assigned to groups, i.e., education, practice, or research, proposed five-year goals and objectives. Each group responded to a specific question related to their topic. What are the three most important actions to help PHNs (in practice, education, or research) enhance their capacity to improve the public’s health?

Lessons learned: From an array of goals and actions items, there was agreement across the three groups. 1) Identifying and supporting current and emerging PHN roles; 2) Creating and securing innovative models for sustainable funding for PHN practice; 3) Developing and supporting leadership skills at all levels and areas of PHN practice. The list of priorities also identified action steps for PHN organizations and leaders. The conference report will guide the Quad Council in selecting priorities for future action.

Implications: The major issues influencing PHN will shift with future healthcare policy and environmental changes. Although this agenda is ambitious, the prioritized plan outlines significant steps to meet the overall goal of maximizing the impact of public health nurses on improving the health of the public.