Instrumentos de Gestión

Chicago Peoria Quad-Cities

Rockford Urbana

Advancing public health nursing -53-

Where and How Synergy Was Created

Having the APHNE grant has fostered and enabled a wide range of activities intended to enhance the competency of the Illinois PHN workforce. To provide formal structure for the practice-education collaborative, a State Advisory Board (SAB) and five Regional Consortia were developed. Collaboration among PHNs from academe and practice, who come from throughout Illinois, is made possible through regularly scheduled meetings that are held as part of the APHNE grant. These meetings of the State Advisory Board and the five Regional Consortia enable face-to-face interactions among individuals who would otherwise not have an opportunity to work on the common problems of PHN workforce development (Figure 1). The in-person meetings make it possible for individuals to identify additional areas of common interest and passion, to interact with Dr. Kristine Gebbie, a national expert in public health nursing and to create synergies in addressing PHN issues. The cross-pollination of ideas that occurs in these groups not only creates solutions to common problems, but also creates an enthusiasm and pride in public health nursing that is a gift we give to each other.

Figure 1. APHNE collaborative structure.

-54- Public Health Practice in Illinois The Legacy of Synergy

The synergy generated by strong active state and local partnerships developed between education and practice has resulted in several major accomplishments in a short timeframe. These

accomplishments include the development of a flexible accessible graduate curriculum, an increase in enrollment in graduate PHN education, workforce enhancement programs and outreach to future PHNs in elementary and secondary schools throughout the state. The new graduate curriculum includes both an Advanced Community Health Nurse (ACHN) option and a joint ACHN/MPH option. This curriculum resulted from the work of the UIC faculty in

conjunction with the State Advisory Board, the five consortia and two national consultants.

Public health nursing content in both curricular options is based on the Quad Council’s public health nursing competencies (2002), ACHNE’s Graduate Education for Advanced Practice in Community/Public Health Nursing (2000) and the 2002 Institute of Medicine Report on the education of public health professionals in the 21^st Century (2002). Curricular delivery methods are being designed to address access issues raised by the SAB and consortia. These issues include flexibility of scheduling and clinical placements, distance learning strategies and use of preceptors. A statewide task force of select SAB and consortia members is currently in the process of developing standardized guidelines for clinical placements and precepting experiences.

Student enrollment in the UIC graduate public health nursing options has increased 567% since the inception of the grant. Much of this increase is directly attributable to synergies created through the SAB and consortia. Not only did these structures help develop the new ACHNE and ACHNE/MPH curricula, but they also helped to “get the word out” about the new graduate programs and to provide a supportive atmosphere for staff who wish to formally further their education.

Workforce enhancement has been an integral part of APHNE. APHNE staff surveyed both faculty and practicing PHNs regarding their competence in the essential public health nursing services. The results of those surveys have been instrumental in planning both formal graduate curricula and workforce enhancement programs. Whether working with the Chicago Area PHN Roundtable group to develop and showcase the PHN Toolbox, co-sponsoring and hosting a workshop on incorporating core curriculum in environmental health into PHN curricula,

showcasing the workforce enhancement modules available through the Illinois Center for Public Health Preparedness, or sponsoring a day with a national speaker on health literacy and PHN, APHNE has sought to push workforce enhancement to the forefront of PHN consciousness.

Outreach to future PHNs has been integral to this project. As a part of HRSA’s Kids into Health Careers program, consortia members and APHNE staff in Year One conducted 51 programs that touched 621 elementary and secondary students and 69 teachers, counselors and administrators with programs about careers in nursing. Students reached were primarily ethnic minorities or those from economically or educationally disadvantaged families. APHNE was also able to make the Johnson and Johnson video “Dare to Care” and the Mid America Regional Public Health Leadership Institute video “Public Health Nursing: Making a Difference” available to consortia members for these sessions.

Advancing public health nursing -55- A final, somewhat serendipitous, result of the APHNE grant and the synergies it has created is perhaps the most important. Although not a written outcome objective of the grant, the

communication network generated in the process of meeting our objectives has been a source of support and joy. The legacy of enhanced moderate volume, high relevance, low noise

communication between PHNs has become possible through the use of a variety of media. The APHNE grant’s website functions as a resource on PHN issues in the state and as a gateway to relevant PHN links. Based on interest and encouragement from the SAB and consortia members, the newsletter of the Illinois Public Health Nursing Association has been revived. The Region V HRSA office developed a listserv highlighting the latest grants and reports of interest to PHNs.

APHNE members have also become aware of and active in the PHN listserv maintained by the University of Washington School of Public Health. In addition, information about the APHNE grant and the importance of public health nursing appeared in Nursing Spectrum, a regional monthly free publication sent to all RNs in Illinois. Interfacing with colleagues across the nation, APHNE faculty, staff and our partners in education and service have made numerous presentations at the national, state and local levels on the new proactive PHN workforce in Illinois. But most importantly, the interpersonal professional network developed as a result of the SAB and the five Regional Consortia has played a key role in fostering communication about and support of PHN in Illinois.

Increased knowledge and feelings of “connectedness” are obvious consequences of this enhanced communication. Not quite so obvious is a rekindling of pride in our profession. As educators, those of us on the APHNE faculty have experienced a renewed commitment to public health and a sense of pride in our profession as we dialogue and work with our colleagues in practice and education. We trust that others involved in the project have experienced this effect also.

Synergies of the Future

Soon the renewal grant application will be due. In the APHNE II grant application, attention will be centered on continuing our collaborative efforts. Much collaborative work is yet to be done.

The next APHNE grant will concentrate on: (a) making baccalaureate degrees focusing on public health nursing readily accessible to associate degreed nurses throughout the state; and (b) garnering evidence-based solutions to practice problems.

As a direct outgrowth of the APHNE grant, a spin-off grant proposal was recently submitted to the Division of Nursing in HRSA. Termed the “Career Trajectory” project, this grant proposal seeks to bring non-traditional students into nursing, specifically into public health nursing. In addition, the Careers Trajectory grant includes plans to develop a practice doctorate that is specific to public health nursing. If funded, this grant will begin in late 2003, but will not replace the ongoing APHNE grant activities or future efforts. The words of Henry Ford capture the beliefs and values that underlie our grant proposals.

"Coming together is a beginning;

keeping together is progress;

working together is success." Henry Ford

-56- Public Health Practice in Illinois References

Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE). ( 2000). Graduate education for advanced practice in community/public health nursing. Pensacola, FL: ACHNE-First Printing.

Baldwin, K. A. & Metcalfe, S. A. (2001). The Illinois registered nurse workforce at the millennium. Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.

Gebbie, K. Rosenstock, L., & Hernandez, L. M. (Eds.). (2003). Who will keep the public healthy? Educating public health professionals for the 21^st century. Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) & Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations. (2003). Quad Council PHN competencies. Unpublished Draft.

Young, W. B., Marcantonio, R., & Howard, M. J. (1996). 1996 Biennial Survey of Illinois Registered Nurses. Springfield, IL: State of Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.