Advanced Public Health Nursing
Advanced Public Health Nursing (APHN) is a specialty within the nursing practice concerned with the health of populations and the community as a whole. This specialty emphasizes health promotion, disease prevention, and program management. Interventions within the APHN practice are focused on improving the health of the communities by assessing the health of the people, program planning and Assessment, policy formulation and development, implementation, and leadership strategies.
APHN programs equip nurses with skills in evaluating, planning, and assessing interventions with the aim of promoting and improving the health of individuals, families, groups, and communities at large. Nurses must understand how different factors of social determinants of health influence people’s health and take the necessary steps to improve the health outcomes of the poor, underprivileged, and underserved people in the community.
Advanced Public Health Nurse
Advanced public health nurses differ from private nurse practitioners in that their care is focused on communities and large populations. Instead of being placed in hospitals and clinics, APH nurses reach out to people in the communities. By doing so, they are able to assess their environments, including living conditions, resources available, and other gaps in health care that need to be addressed.
Public health nurse practitioners address the health needs of their populations through home visits, wellness clinics, and interacting with them to establish problems affecting them and develop proper initiatives to resolve the issues and possibly improve the health of the patients and communities.
APH nurses can practice in various settings with groups and populations such as schools, universities, community centers, hospital departments, religious institutions, homes, correctional facilities, rural health, and health departments in private and government organizations.
How to become an Advanced Public Health Nurse
The field of Public health nursing is ideal for individuals who have an interest in the health of populations and communities, and one is able to see and approach the health care needs of the community from the bigger picture. Anyone interested in becoming an advanced public health nurse must first become a registered nurse by earning BSN or AND. However, a BSN degree is often recommended for anyone seeking to become an advanced public health nurse. The next step is to pursue state licensure by taking and passing the NCLEX-RN exam.
After gaining licensure to begin practice as an RN, one may opt to practice for a few years as a registered nurse or proceed to take additional coursework and training to become a certified public health nurse. However, to become an advanced public health nurse, one must complete a masters of science degree (MSN) with a specialization in public health.
References
Stanhope, Marcia, and Jeanette Lancaster. Public health nursing e-book: Population-centered health care in the community. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2019.
Ervin, Naomi E., and Pamela Kulbok. Advanced Public and Community Health Nursing Practice 2e: Population Assessment, Program Planning and Assessment. Springer Publishing Company, 2018.
Rector, Cherie, and Mary Jo Stanley. Community and Public Health Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2020.

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