NURS 6720 Population-based Public Health Nursing Interventions Week 1

NURS 6720 Population-based Public Health Nursing Interventions Week 1 Essay Assignment

NURS 6720: Population-based Public Health Nursing Interventions | Week 1

Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and detecting, preventing, and responding to infectious diseases. Overall, public health is concerned with protecting the health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big as an entire country or region of the world.

Public health professionals try to prevent problems from happening or recurring through implementing educational programs, recommending policies, administering services, and conducting research. In contrast, clinical professionals like doctors and nurses, focus primarily on treating individuals after they become sick or injured. Public health also works to limit health disparities. A large part of public health is promoting healthcare equity, quality, and accessibility (Centers for Disease Control Foundation, 2017).

Public health nurses (PHNs) are an integral part of the public health system. They work to promote the health and well-being of populations in diverse settings through the delivery of population-based care. They might work in public health departments, schools, homes, clinics, jails, shelters, and out of mobile vans. In this advanced practice nursing role, PHNs work with communities, the individuals, families, and aggregates that reside in those communities, and within the systems that impact the communities’ health.

Regardless of where PHNs work or whom they work with, all public health nurses use a core set of interventions to accomplish their goals. Interventions are actions that PHNs take on behalf of individuals, families, systems, and communities to improve or protect health status. This week you will review the Intervention Model framework first introduced in NURS 6710 that defines the scope of public health nursing practice by type of intervention and level of practice. In addition, you will review the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of intervention toward which PHNs direct their efforts. Over the course of the next eleven weeks, you will have the opportunity to translate the public health nursing knowledge that you are acquiring in a public health setting in which you are completing your practicum.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Analyze public health programs/interventions
Create measurable professional development objectives
Create detailed time logs*
Analyze practicum experiences in the context of public health nursing

Discussion: Implementing Interventions at the Population Level: The Role of the Public Health Nurse

Are you prepared to deliver evidence-based public health nursing? This is an ever-present question in the minds of effective public health nurses. The advanced public health nurse is aware that simply inventing a program they want to implement is not appropriate or in the best interest of the population(s) they seek to serve.

For this Discussion, you will review public health programs described in peer-reviewed journal articles. The information you review might spark potential ideas you can use for your own practicum project.

To prepare:

Recall the public health issue you selected for NURS 6710.
Review the Public Health Journals document provided in the Learning Resources. Explore the journals.
Identify an article that focuses on a program/intervention addressing the public health issue that you identified in NURS 6710.
Review the Evaluation Criteria for Public Health Program Article Review document prior to reading the article to assist in focusing your review of the article. Record responses to the included sections for your records and to gain practice in analyzing programs.

By Day 3

Based on the reflection section of the Evaluation Criteria for Public Health Program Article Reviewdocument, share one strength, one weakness, and a suggestion for improvement for the program of focus in the journal article you selected. Provide the APA citation of the article for your colleagues.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses

By Day 6

Respond on or before Day 6 to at least two of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

Ask a question you would direct toward the authors of the program/intervention article to deepen your understanding of the health issue or program/intervention.
Offer a suggestion of how you would address the public health issue differently based on your experience and/or review of a different program intervention.

Assignment: Practicum Professional Experience Plan (PPEP)

As reflected in this week’s Discussion, the skills involved in planning public health interventions provide an invaluable opportunity for professional development.

For this Assignment, you will develop a Practicum Professional Experience Plan (PPEP) to outline how your involvement in the practicum will contribute to your growth as a public health nursing professional and allow you to hone your PHN knowledge and skills. The PPEP consists of two or three objectives related to professional development that you will address during your Practicum Experience.

Note: In the practicum manual these are referred to as your individualized learning objectives.

To Prepare:

Consider areas for which you would like to gain application-level experience and/or continued professional growth. How can your experiences in the practicum help you achieve these aims?
Discuss your professional aims and your proposed practicum professional development objectives with your Preceptor to ascertain if the necessary resources are available at your practicum site.
Download and save the Practicum Professional Experience Plan Form provided in this week’s Learning Resources.

To complete your Practicum Professional Experience Plan:

Record the required information in each area of the Professional Practicum Experience Plan, including two or three objectives you will use to facilitate your professional development during the practicum.

By Day 7

Submit the Practicum Professional Experience Plan Form for Faculty review and approval.

When your Instructor has approved your plan, forward the signed PPEP to your Preceptor and retain a copy for your records.

Get a Custom Nursing Essay : NURS 6720 Population-based Public Health Nursing Interventions Week 1 Paper Assignment