Partnerships among academic and public health institutions provide a means of integrating varied strengths to improve the knowledge and skills of future health professionals. At present, public health nursing students have limited exposure to environmental health content in the curriculum, and few environmental health field experiences. The need for knowledge and skill in this area has been identified by the Institute of Medicine, and championed by leaders in the professions. As the largest group of health providers, nurses must be knowledgeable about environmental hazards and their impact on health, the means of exposure, and prevention and control strategies (IOM, 1995).
George Washington University School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, and the Arlington county Department of Human Services worked together on the HRSA?ASPH project to design, implement and evaluate an environmental health focus within the clinical component of a required public health nursing course. Prior collaboration in the Arlington Community Environmental Health Assessment provided the foundation for the partnership, as well as the identification of community priorities in environmental health. Students participated in specialized educational sessions and field experiences, collaborated with community groups, environmental health specialists, and educators from both universities, conducted a targeted community assessment, provided committee leadership for county-wide Public Health Week outreach celebrations, and implemented a variety of health promotion and disease prevention activities during the course of this project. Evaluation measures illustrated the strengths and weaknesses of the project methods.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe an environmental health experience for undergraduate nursing students that exposes them to the health department responsibilities for food safety, to identify causation in a food poisoning outbreak. 2. Describe the responsibilities of the Public Health Practice Coordinator in the School of Public Health. 3. Identify 2 specific concerns of a refugee population related to environmental health. 4. Identify two incentives that are helpful in strengthening collaboration between practice settings and the schools to enhance field experiences in environmental health nursing practice.
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.