What's your favorite PH program?

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My Health Department is currently in a period of transition, and we are going to start pushing towards more population based services. My nurse manager thinks this would be a good time for me to try to pursue my specific interests within public health. I personally am really interested in maternal child health, breastfeeding, and nutrition. No matter which programs we expand or implement, we need to show that they are programs best carried out by PHNs, not MPHs, nutritionists, etc. I'm not coming up with much in the literature. I was just curious what kind of community based programs you all are involved with through your job? It doesn't have to be in the areas I mentioned above. What kinds of outcomes have you seen? How do you think you as an RN add value to the program compared to a professional in another specialty? I would love to get a conversation going!

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Specializes in public health.

There are actually tons of literature out there that show nurses produce better outcome than non nursing staff. Here is one for you. You probably should also consider getting an MPH to complement your nursing skills.

http://fordschool.umich.edu/research/poverty/pdf/Olds_paper_2.pdf

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Thank you for your reply @sourapril and for sharing that study. That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.

I've definitely been considering the MPH track once I pay off my undergrad student loans... thanks for the insight!

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Hi- I work in Maternal Child Field Nursing and absolutely love it. I do home visits and case management. I am very passionate about building relationships and supporting families. Feel free to message me if you have questions! This is the best job I have ever had. However, because I work with high risk families it can also be emotionally draining. I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's just important to have balance and take care of yourself when you do this work. I am dealing with poverty, DV, CPS, drug addiction, complex medical needs with these families. This is also very gratifying work!

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