Integration of Quad Council PHN Competencies in Baccalaureate Programs: Survey Results and Recommendations for Practice Association of Community Health Nursing Educators June 2008 Margaret Mullarkey, MS, RN, Anne Bongiorno, PhD, APRN, BC, Donna Clemmens, PhD, RN, Betteanne Riegle, MS, RN Noreen Nelson, MS, RN, Maria Fletcher, PhD, RN Thank you to the NYNJ Public Health Training Center for support of this study.

New York Public Health Nursing Summit Goal: To create a strong partnership between public health leadership and academia to support the provision of a skilled public health nursing workforce.

Background of the Study Critical need for public health nurse generalists (PHN's) who are educated in competency-based, population based practice.

Purpose of the Study To identify and compare the awareness and practices of baccalaureate granting programs (BS) in integrating the Quad Council recommendations regarding Public Health Nursing competencies in curriculum.

Quad Council PHN Competencies Analytic Assessment Skills Policy Development /Program Planning Skills Communication Skills Cultural Competency Skills Community Dimensions of Practice Skills Basic Public Health Sciences Skills Financial Planning and Management Skills Leadership and Systems Thinking Skills

Method Descriptive study Survey Examined the curriculum of BS programs in delivering population focused concepts and skills

Findings Variety of methods of Community/Public Health Course delivery Curricular placement Theory vs. clinical courses Credit allotment of courses

Inclusion of Quad Council PHN Competencies in Curriculum 72% of respondents were familiar with competencies, but only 14% use them as a specific framework in course design Less than 50% of the respondents include public policy Limited inclusion of financial/economic competencies

Importance of Quad Council PHN Competencies in Respondent’s Curriculum

Strengths Sample from broad area of New York State Good response rate Survey was comprehensive Types of schools included both public and private

Limitations Self-report with its implicit weaknesses Small sample Limited to New York State

Discussion What do we need to do to raise awareness of Quad Council PHN competencies? Are public policy and financial competencies covered in other courses? What are the barriers to conscious use of Quad Council PHN competencies?

Lessons Learned Additional research needs to determine use of competencies and correlation of competencies to outcomes There is a similarity between these findings and work force experiences in light of Quad Council expectations

Next Steps A national survey will be sent to baccalaureate programs within the next month

PH Summit Workgroup #3 **Margaret Mullarkey, MS, RN, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY- Anne Bongiorno, PhD, APRN, BC, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY Donna Clemmens, PhD, RN, New York University, New York, NY **Noreen Nelson, MSN, RN, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY - **Betteanne Riegle, MS, RN, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY - Maria Fletcher, PhD, RN, St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn, NY