Finding common ground in public health nursing education and practice.

Preparation of the public health nursing (PHN) workforce requires public health nurses from academia and practice to collaborate. However, a shortage of PHN clinical sites may lead to competition between schools of nursing for student placements. The Henry Street Consortium, a group of 5 baccalaureate schools of nursing and 13 local health departments in the state of Minnesota, developed a model for collaboration between PHN education and practice. This paper describes the development process--the forming, storming, norming, and performing stages--experienced by the Henry Street Consortium members. The consortium developed a set of entry-level core PHN competencies that are utilized by both education and practice. It developed menus of learning opportunities that were used to design population-based PHN clinical experiences. In addition, the consortium created a model for training and sustaining a preceptor network. The members of the Henry Street Consortium collaborated rather than competed, used consensus for decision making, and respected and accepted different points of view. This collaboration significantly impacted how schools of nursing and local health departments work together. The consortium's ability to retain its relevance, energy, and momentum for both academic and agency partners sustains the collaboration.

The Henry street consortium population-based competencies for educating public health nursing students.

The Henry Street Consortium, a collaboration of nurse educators from universities and colleges and public health nurses (PHNs) from government, school, and community agencies, developed 11 population-based competencies for educating nursing students and the novice PHN. Although many organizations have developed competency lists for experts, the Consortium developed a set of competencies that clearly define expectations for the beginning PHN. The competencies are utilized by both education and practice. They guide nurse educators and PHNs in the creation of learning experiences that develop population-based knowledge and skills for baccalaureate nursing students. Public health nursing leaders use the competencies to frame their expectations and orientations for nurses who are new to public health nursing. This paper explains the meaning of each of the 11 population-based competencies and provides examples of student projects that demonstrate competency development. Strategies are suggested for nurse educators and PHNs to promote effective population-based student projects in public health agencies.