public health nursing

[mmwnomad]

I have been researching and thinking about going back to school for a career related to public health (specifically Epidemiology or International Health), possibly nursing. It seems like almost all of the master's programs out there require some sort of health care degree prior to enrollment.

-Has anyone out there enrolled in a program that has an overlap between nursing and public health?

- I don't have an interest in being a long term staff/floor nurse. Can anyone share what job/career path they have followed outside of this?

-I could never work 40-50 hrs/week (or more!) as I need to have more personal time to stay balanced and be healthy. Does anyone have a success story of working @30hrs/week and still getting benefits etc?

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

[healtheducator]

I have been researching and thinking about going back to school for a career related to public health (specifically Epidemiology or International Health), possibly nursing. It seems like almost all of the master's programs out there require some sort of health care degree prior to enrollment.

-Has anyone out there enrolled in a program that has an overlap between nursing and public health?

- I don't have an interest in being a long term staff/floor nurse. Can anyone share what job/career path they have followed outside of this?

-I could never work 40-50 hrs/week (or more!) as I need to have more personal time to stay balanced and be healthy. Does anyone have a success story of working @30hrs/week and still getting benefits etc?

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

Hmmm... interesting. An MPH requires NO health experince and neither does a Community Health MS degree as far as I have experienced. I know of no programs that overlap nursing and PH though many PH graduates may have a degree in Nursing first which is common. Since you have no desire to work long hours I don't suggest epidemiology only due to the fact that you would most likely need to be on call 24/7 in case an epidemic broke out or an emergency such as a bioterrist attack. You are talking about going back to school - that's A LOT of free time taken away no matter how you slice it especially if you are working a job too. I may have more insight on this as I am a MS Community/Public Health graduate and LPN... let me know if you wish to chat some more.