Incorporating a built environment module into an accelerated second-degree community health nursing course

ABSTRACT Environmental quality is a leading indicator of population health. Environmental health content has been integrated into the curriculum of an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for second-degree students through development of an environmental health nursing module for the final-semester community health nursing course. The module was developed through collaboration between two professional schools at Duke University (the School of Nursing and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences). It focused on the role of the built environment in community health and featured a mix of teaching strategies, including five components: (1) classroom lecture with associated readings, (2) two rounds of online small-group student discussions, (3) assessment of the built environment in local neighborhoods by student teams, (4) team presentation of the neighborhood assessments, and (5) individual student papers synthesizing the conclusions from all team presentations. The goal of the module was to provide nursing students with an organizing framework for integrating environmental health into clinical practice and an innovative tool for understanding community-level components of public health.     

Integrating environmental health into nursing and midwifery practice

AIM: With the recognition that environmental health has relevance to all nursing and midwifery activities, the aim of this paper is to discuss nurses' and midwives' past and present involvement in environmental health in the UK, where the international situation demonstrates good practice, and the challenges and possibilities for greater and more effective UK-based activity in the future. BACKGROUND: The association between environmental hazards and adverse health effects has received increasing attention over recent years. In the United States of America (USA), the importance of developing an environmental health role for nurses outside of the "traditional" occupational and environmental health nursing specialty has been recognized and acted upon through education, information programmes and policy developments. In the United Kingdom (UK), the same degree of interest, commitment and activity is somewhat lacking. DISCUSSION: Little nursing and midwifery activity on environmental health issues has taken place in the UK over recent years. The lack of development in this field may relate to the problems of an already overstretched disease treatment service and the lack of an upstream approach to public health. Theoretical and philosophical influences, as well as individual and organizational obstacles or constraints, exist and may hinder nurses and midwives in their efforts to address the subject. Yet nurses and midwives are the largest group in the National Health Service workforce and this gives enormous potential for effective interventions in environmental health. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst barriers and obstacles to nursing and midwifery involvement in environmental health in the UK exist, they are all surmountable and appropriate interventions could prove cost-effective in the middle and long-term. Additionally, they may be viewed as a necessary activity for nurses and midwives in response to real health threats and the expressed worries and concerns of patients and communities.     

Challenges and successes of infusing environmental health content in a nursing program

Environmental health has received minimal attention in nursing curricula over the past decade, despite efforts by the Institute of Medicine (1995) and others to advance the environmental health agenda in nursing education, practice, and research. This paper describes an initiative that was first funded as a part of the Environmental Health Scholars Program in 2000 to incorporate environmental health into master's and undergraduate nursing programs at one university. Evaluation of this initiative highlights the challenges and successes experienced in this academic setting. A number of recommendations based on this experience and the literature are offered. There is a perceived need to define the critical body of knowledge and skills in environmental health and to develop tools to enable educators and practitioners to apply this knowledge in public health nursing and other specialty practices. In tandem, opportunities and incentives are needed to encourage faculty development and the infusion of environmental health into existing curricula. Changes are also needed across practice settings to proactively address environmental health issues so that environmental health becomes and remains an integral part of nursing.     

A scoping review of environmental health nursing research

Objective

The purpose of this scoping review was to determine the extent and focus of published environmental health nursing research.

Design and Sample

The search was limited to peer reviewed, English‐language environmental health nursing research with at least one nursing author, published between 1995 and 2015 in a nursing journal, and catalogued in CINAHL.

Results

Publication of the 548 identified articles occurred in 118 different nursing journals. Annual number of publications increased from nine articles in 1995 to 50 in 2013 and 2014. Most (63%) of the studies occurred in the Unnited States; the remaining studies took place in 33 other countries. Three primary focus areas were identified: disasters/disaster preparedness, occupational health, and the home environment. Other focus areas included environmental exposures, environmental risk perception, secondhand smoke, and environmental health education. The primary populations studied were nurses/nursing students (40%) and adults (26%). Most common research designs employed were cross‐sectional (42%) and qualitative methods (20%).

Conclusions

Findings from this scoping review support a global expansion of published environmental health nursing research addressing a variety of environmental health topics. Additional studies are needed that use more complex research methods and address timely topics such as climate change and sustainability.     

Repeating history? Public and community health nursing in Australia

Despite the long history in Australia of public and community health nursing, it has never been regarded as important as hospital‐based nursing. Notwithstanding the establishment of nursing organisations in the very early years of the 20th century and subsequent efforts to develop the nursing workforce, public and community health nursing has been neglected in terms of policy, research into public health nursing practice and workforce development. Even in the present day, public and community health nurses are marginalised from mainstream nursing interests and there is a lack of conceptualisation about the value of nursing’s contribution to the primary health sector. This sector is experiencing a new wave of reforms driven by a combination of managerialism and systems change for improved responses to address health inequalities. Because there is not a strong institutionalised professional policy and support base for public and community health nurses, they are vulnerable in these reforms to increased domination and appropriation of their practice by stronger professional interests. There is an urgent need for professionally organised support from mainstream nursing to ensure that public and community health nurses are positioned as a unified force in efforts to advance the health of the community.     

Strategies for embedding population health concepts into nursing education

Advances in community and public health are needed to address contemporary health needs, particularly poor health outcomes related to the social determinants of health and inequity. Nurses are ideally placed to promote meaningful advances in community and public health, collectively referred to as population health. Nurse educators can promote a deeper understanding of core population health concepts by threading these concepts throughout the academic nursing curricula in addition to standalone population or public health courses. Strategies for incorporating population health concepts in a variety of courses can be conceptualized through the themes emphasizing context, honoring community voices, cultivating community connection, and fostering leadership in social responsibility. Nurse educators with expertise in population health can serve as a resource for faculty as these strategies are implemented. Teaching population health provides exciting opportunities for innovative approaches to facilitate students to link their practice to wider social contexts. Further steps to strengthen the public and community health workforce will still be needed to meet population health needs.     

A crosswalk between the Omaha System and guiding undergraduate public health nursing education documents

The Omaha System is the hallmark evidence‐based clinical information management system used in nursing education, research, and practice. Multiple education documents guide public health workforce preparation. This qualitative study identified similarities and gaps between the Omaha System and seven guiding documents commonly used by nurse educators. A crosswalk design was employed. The setting was virtually based using online technology. Recommendations are for public health nurse educators to update their teaching practices using evidence‐based approaches.     

社区护理现状调查与分析

目的:了解我国社区护理的现状,为制定《中国护理事业发展规划纲要(2005-2010年)》提供依据。方法:采用问卷调查与实地调研相结合的方法,对120个社区卫生服务中心(站)的负责人进行问卷调查,对7个社区卫生服务中心(站)进行实地调研。结果:仅30.0%的被调查单位的社区护理管理工作由护士长负责;社区卫生服务中心护士平均占卫生技术人员的31.2%,医护比例为1.6∶1;社区卫生服务站护士平均占卫生技术人员的33.3%,医护比例为1.5∶1。结论:社区护理管理体制不健全、社区护士人力配置严重不足、社区护士素质亟待提高等是目前我国社区护理存在的主要问题。     

A case study of a distance-based public health nursing/community health nursing practicum

Facilitating a distance-based public health/community health nursing practicum for RN to BSN students posed challenges and opportunities. Challenges included time involved in arranging the practicum, relationship building with agencies and staff, communicating with students, and the need for flexible practicum scheduling. Exposure to practice models from across the nation allowed students to compare and contrast these public health nursing models. Programs planning to offer this type of course should consider faculty workload particularly during the semester prior to teaching the practicum.     

Using a site visit to a contaminated location as a focus for environmental health education for academic and public health nurses

We describe a conference initiative that is distinguished by the use of a "community case study" to increase the knowledge and skills of nursing faculty and public health nurses in environmental health and to provide networking support to facilitate infusion of environmental health into nursing curricula and public health nursing practice. The Institute of Medicine's (1995) general environmental health competencies for nurses provided the conference framework. Woburn, Massachusetts, a Superfund site, served as the community case study to illustrate a complex environmental health problem. Over an extended period of time, Woburn was contaminated with multiple chemicals that eventually contaminated the drinking water supply; a cluster of childhood leukemia cases was linked subsequently to the Superfund site contaminants. A 6-hr interpreted walking and bus tour of the Superfund site enabled us to visit the premises of responsible parties, the vapor extraction fields, the capped Well H in the wooded wetlands, and to tour the affected neighborhood. This intensive, hands-on approach to learning environmental health content and skills that incorporated multiple learning strategies serves as a model for developing future conferences for public health nurses and nursing faculty.     

Development and testing of a practicum matching program for baccalaureate nursing education,a local public health unit

This article describes a novel approach to nursing education, designed to improve the experience of both students in public health nursing, and the local public health unit where they affiliate. Students, faculty, and public health department staff developed a method for matching programs and needs of the local public health unit to the skills and learning needs of nursing students. We describe our experience articulating student competencies, program-specific functions, and an approach to matching student interests and learning opportunities to agency needs. Students, faculty, and staff rated the program moderately to very high in feasibility, satisfaction, and acceptability. Data suggest the novel program served to improve the quality of the practicum affiliation, to the satisfaction of both the school and agency, while contributing to a robust public health learning experience for emerging professional nurses.     

Mapping the future of environmental health and nursing: strategies for integrating national competencies into nursing practice

Nurses are increasingly the primary contact for clients concerned about health problems related to their environment. In response to the need for nursing expertise in the field of environmental health, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) have designed core competencies for the nursing profession. The IOM competencies focus on four areas: (1) knowledge and concepts; (2) assessment and referral; advocacy, ethics, and risk communication; and (4) legislation and regulation. The competencies establish a baseline of knowledge and awareness in order for nurses to prevent and minimize health problems associated with exposure to environmental agents. To address the known difficulties of incorporating new priorities into established practice, nurses attending an environmental health short course participated in a nominal group process focusing on the question, “What specific actions can we take to bring environmental health into the mainstream of nursing practice?” This exercise was designed to bring the concepts of the national initiatives (IOM, NINR, ATSDR) to the awareness of individual nurses involved in the direct delivery of care. Results include 38 action items nurses identified as improving awareness and utilization of environmental health principles. The top five ideas were: (1) get environmental health listed as a requirement or competency in undergraduate nursing education; (2) improve working relationships with interdepartmental persons—a team approach; (3) strategically place students in essential organizations such as NIOSH, ATSDR, or CDC; (4) educate nurse educators; and (5) create environmental health awards in nursing. The 38 original ideas were also reorganized into a five‐tiered conceptual model. The concepts of this model include: (1) developing partnerships; (2) strengthening publications; (3) enhancing continuing education; (4) updating nursing practice; and (5) strengthening schools of nursing. The model serves as a road map for action in building environmental health capacity within mainstream nursing.     

Partnerships for learning population-based public health nursing: Web-delivered continuing education for public health nurse preceptors

Public health and other community health nurses frequently serve as preceptors to undergraduate student nurses learning population-based nursing in community/public health practicum courses. The extent of preparation and support for the preceptor role provided by schools of nursing is often limited. One strategy to address this problem is to provide targeted, Web-delivered continuing education (CE) to preceptors. A Web-delivered CE course entitled, "Partnerships for Learning Community Health Nursing," was created and pilot tested. Course content includes preceptor roles; assisting students in learning population-based public health nursing, critical thinking, and cultural competence; learning styles and teaching strategies; what to do in challenging situations; evaluation and feedback; and specific information about school policies, procedures, and course assignments. Precourse knowledge was assessed using a mailed survey. Postcourse knowledge and satisfaction were assessed using questions embedded in the course. Postsemester knowledge and satisfaction were evaluated through a postsemester survey. Knowledge gain was tested using repeated measures ANOVA and paired t tests. Thirteen preceptors participated in the pilot test. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated that knowledge gain occurred (multivariate F=55.603, df=2, error df=11, p<.0001). Participants increased knowledge from pretest to posttest (t=-10.25, p<.00001) and from pretest to end of the semester (t=-4.95, p<.0003). Knowledge decline from end of course to end of semester was not significant (t=1.94, p=.08). Participants reported satisfaction with the course. Web-delivered CE for community/public health nurse preceptors can support preceptor learning and is an acceptable method for receiving this type of education. Further research is needed on the impact of preceptor education on student learning.     

高血压病病人社区护理模式探讨

[目的]探讨社区高血压病防治护理工作模式,提高居民高血压的知晓率、治疗率及控制率。[方法]通过高血压俱乐部进行健康教育。[结果]高血压俱乐部的健康教育效果好,高血压病病人服药依从性提高。[结论]高血压俱乐部的社区护理工作模式能够在积极治疗高血压病病人的同时大力开展一级预防,因地制宜地进行宣教,提高居民的自我保健能力,使病人的医疗费用降低。