COLLEGE LAUNCHES PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING PROGRAM

Doctor of Nursing Practice program answers a widespread call for health professionals with advanced education and training to improve community-wide access to high-quality care and healthy environments.

Embedded within communities and ranging in focus from individuals and families to populations and systems, DNP-prepared public health nurses are a vital piece of the interprofessional teams needed to ensure that all people have equitable access to high-quality care and healthy environments. Their assessment skills, primary prevention focus and system-level perspectives ensure that local and state needs are met, services and programs are coordinated and communities are engaged.

“We designed this program to not just prepare an advanced-practice nurse in public health, but to prepare a public health nurse leader who will identify and drive transformational systemic changes to significantly impact the health of their community,” says Tasha Turner-Bicknell, DNP, assistant professor and interim director for the Public Health Nursing DNP program. “This program meets the growing need for senior leader public health nurses who can lead efforts that align emerging systems of care for population health improvement, health promotion, risk reduction and disease prevention efforts.”

Public health nurses work in different types of agencies and organizations, including all levels of government, communitybased and other nongovernmental service organizations, foundations, policy think tanks, academic institutions and other research settings. An increasing number of public health nurses also work in global health to promote global responsibility and connectivity. In addition to working with communities, these nurses work behind the scenes planning interventions, managing budgets and evaluating the effectiveness of public health programs.

A Growing Global Need

Research shows a person’s health is not only a product of good medical care and genes. In many cases, these are only pieces of a larger picture, as Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) — or the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, play and worship — affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes.

While eliminating population health disparities by addressing multiple determinants that lead to poor health has been a national goal, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought social and racial injustice and inequity to the forefront of public health. It has highlighted that health equity is still not a reality, as COVID has unequally affected many racial and ethnic minority groups, putting them more at risk of getting sick and dying from the virus. And, while the current levels of health inequity cannot be relieved by one health care profession alone, nursing holds the greatest capacity to address this major challenge of the 21st century.

According to the recently published “The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity” report, the next 10 years will demand a larger, more diversified nursing workforce prepared to provide care in different settings and to address the lasting effects of COVID, break down structural racism and the root causes of poor health and respond to future public health emergencies. The report also emphasizes the need to prepare nurses to practice in community settings, such as schools, workplaces, home health care and public health clinics. While the pandemic has changed nearly every aspect of health care, its impacts on nursing may be the most profound, as demand for nurses’ skills are more needed than ever.

Turner-Bicknell says, “UC College of Nursing has a long-standing, demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The launch of our DNP in Public Health Nursing program is our next step in realizing nursing’s potential to address health disparities and create a more equitable health care system.”

By: Evelyn Fleider