Resources for Public Health RNs

[sugarmagnoliaRN]

Can any of y'all point me in the direction of resources that would help in making a transition from acute care (CV-ICU) to Public Health? I'm applying for a job in a clinic that serves low-income families and I'm wondering where I could get some refresher kind of info on stuff that I don't see every day. I've only worked in cardiac/telemetry, cardiac stepdown, and CV-ICU so my experience is pretty specific to heart stuff and while we see lots of other systems involved in the ICU, I'm not super familiar with a lot of other etiologies. Any help is appreciated! :)

[SiwanRN]

Hmm.. I can point you in the direction of some general public health nursing competencies, but I'm not sure if you are asking more about those or for help in refreshing on health issues that the clinic you are applying to specializes in (TB, STDs, OB, immunizations, peds, etc). Anyway, I'll start with the general PHN competencies and other pointers and if you need something more specific, say so. :)

The Quad Council laid out the competencies for public health nurses in 8 domains and along a continuum from novice to expert public health nurse. My place of employment uses these to help orient new public health nurses, whether they are working in a staff nurse position, middle management, or senior management/CNO.

http://www.achne.org/files/quad%20council/quadcouncilcompetenciesforpublichealthnurses.pdf

Colorado, where I live, also worked to put together some additional competency sets for public health nurses:

Immunizations-

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/OPP_Colorado-Immunization-Competencies_.pdf

Communicable diseases-

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/OPP_Colorado-Communicable-Disease-Competencies_0.pdf

Emergency preparedness -

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/OPP_Colorado-Emergency-Preparedness-and-Response-Competencies_0.pdf

Colorado is working on one for environmental health competencies too, but I don't think it's done yet.

Public health nursing is really very broad, and it can be quite a challenge to transition from acute care to public health. The state of Alaska has a really good orientation tool that they use for new public health nurses to help them make the transition from acute care (or new grad) into public health, but I don't know if it's publicly available. Public Health Nursing: Training We're working on developing a tool like that for use in Colorado, but it is still very much in the pre-planning phase and that doesn't help you very much right now.

Another resource that you might look for is the public health nurse association of the state that you live in. Mine, and I am sure other states as well, provides a mentor program for members that matches novice public health nurses with more experienced public health nurses to guide them through that first year of transition. Even if your local public health nurse association doesn't have a mentor program, it is at least a great networking opportunity to learn who is who in the public health microcosm in your area.

Good luck!

[sugarmagnoliaRN]

Thanks so much!! These all look like a great place to start! I'll look into the mentor program for sure as well. Thanks again!

[phn529]

When I started at my job I had to do the New York PHN ready class. It's pretty long, but it's totally free and you can get a certificate at the end. I don't even live anywhere NY, but it's a great course that all of our new nurses need to do. I'd recommend it because it will give you an idea of all of the different hats a public health nurse wears, and will tell you a lot about communicable disease, vulnerable populations, etc. I would imagine your potential employer would be pretty impressed if you took the initiative to complete the whole thing.

http://www.empirestatephtc.org/media/pdf/phn_ready_student_guidebook.pdf

Good luck!