Training and Duties of a Public Health Nurse
Public Health Nurse Training
To become a Public Health Nurse, one must be certified by the APHA (American Public Health Association) and must also become a licensed Registered Nurse. This requirement is standard in all fifty states as well as Washington D.C. Before becoming a Public Health Nurse, you must first graduate from an accredited nursing program and successfully complete the qualifying national licensing exam.
There are three variant paths for becoming a Registered Nurse: The BSN path (bachelor of science in nursing), the ASN (associate of science in nursing), and a hospital certification program. A BSN is typically obtained at a 4-year university or college while an ASN can be obtained through various community and junior colleges. The hospital certification is a 3-year diploma program. Each of these programs will allow graduates to gain employment as an RN; however, most agree that a bachelor’s degree in nursing will afford the greatest opportunity for placement and additional advancement in the nursing field. Many graduates of ASN and diploma certification programs go forward to complete their bachelor’s degree at a later date.
Public Health Nurse Duties
The duties of a Public Health Nurse focus primarily on a populous of people as opposed to singular individual care. However, most often a Public Health Nurse does afford the opportunity to work with singular patients. Public Health nurses often work for government agencies or private firms, to include health departments, schools, ambulatory clinics, and state retirement homes.
Public Health nurses strive to maintain focus on and to improve the health of the citizens of the community in which they practice. Public Health nurses often operate educational programs that seek to teach varying groups and individuals about preventative health care, vital nutrition, and even childcare. Public Health nurses are responsible for the arrangement and organization of immunization clinics, community blood pressure and cholesterol level tests, as well as a mass of other health screenings. Public Health nurses often maintain close working relationships with teachers and parents, doctors, and other community leaders. Generally, the primary goal of a Public Health Nurse is to work in conjunction with state and local governments in an effort to address wellness issues facing a specific community.
A Public Health Nurse is required to have exemplary communication skills and must also have the ability to make accurate observations to support dynamic decision-making, Public Health nurses must maintain a level of patience when working with individuals who harbor a reluctance to cooperate. They are required to honor their patients’ desires and must be willing to work as part of a team. Public Health nurses must also possess supervisory skills and should possess a high level of emotional stability. The work of a Public Health Nurse is often intense and therefore nurses must maintain a level of sympathy but also objectivity.
Nursing is one of the largest occupations within the health care field, offering around 2.3 million jobs to qualified applicants and through the year 2012, careers in the field of nursing are expected to rise steadily.
Related posts:
Comments are closed.