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Kristine M. Gebbie and Bernard J. Turnock The Public Health Workforce, 2006: New Challenges Health Affairs, July/August 2006; 25(4): 923-933. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

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726,000 More Public Health Nurses

Edward J. Halloran   ( 29 August 2006 )

726,000 More Public Health Nurses 29 August 2006
Edward J. Halloran, Associate Professor School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Send letter to journal: Re: 726,000 More Public Health Nurses ehallora{at}email.unc.edu Edward J. Halloran	The 40 new graduate nurses in the 2006 accelerated BSN program for college graduates at the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, included six who held Master of Public Health degrees. On interviewing them, it became clear that they could not find suitable positions in the field and came to nursing because they saw the value of the nurses they'd worked with. Nurses in primary, community, and public health care, using the framework of the International Council of Nurses, Basic Principles of Nursing Care, help people, sick or well, in the performance of activities they would do themselves to become independent if they had the strength, will, or knowledge (Henderson, 1997). Support, encouragement, and teaching are indeed the services many need to prevent and manage chronic illnesses. Thorpe (2005) promotes such disease prevention and health promotion as keys to the reform of the U.S. health care system. Deviating a critical mass of nurses away from the expensive, episodic, somewhat ineffective, hospital-based U.S. health system into community-based care may be the preferred way to increase quality and effeciency in health services. Nearly a third of the RNs in the U.S. have had community-based educational experience in their curriculum. Can incentives be found to coax them into community health? Olds et al. (1997; 2002) found them to be quite effective in providing effective services. Henderson, V (1997) ICN’s Basic Principles of Nursing Care. Geneva: International Council of Nurses. Olds, D., Robinson, J., O’Brian, R., Luckey, D., Pettitt, L., Henderson, C., Ng, R., Sheff, K., Korfmacher, J., Hiatt, S., Talmi, A. (2002) Home visiting by paraprofessionals and by nurses: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics, 110 (3), 486-96. Olds, D., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C., Kitzman, H., Powers, J., Cole, R., Sidora, K., Morris, P., Pettitt, L., Luckey, D. (1997) Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect: fifteen year follow up of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 278(8), 637-43. Thorpe, KE (2005) The rise in health care spending and what to do about it. Health Affairs, 24(6):1436-1445.