Foreword

Early in my nursing career, I was fortunate to be introduced to public health through my first position as a public health nurse in a rural agency in southern Minnesota. It did not take long for me to appreciate the importance of the role and the vast knowledge and skills required to do it well. Readers of this book who are transitioning into public health or who are nurse educators are extremely fortunate to have such a great resource available to help guide them in the how, what, and why of population-based public health nursing.

Across the country, public health nurse educators and practitioners have long looked to practice and faculty colleagues in Minnesota for innovation, inspiration, leadership, and best practices for public health nursing. About two decades after I started my first public health nurse position, I led a project in neighboring Wisconsin that set out to “link” nurse educators and practitioners to improve public health nursing practice and education in our state. Throughout the six years of the HRSA-funded “Linking Education and Practice for Excellence in Public Health Nursing” (LEAP Project), we purposefully looked to public health nursing leaders in Minnesota for inspiration and guidance because they clearly understood the processes and challenges of academic-practice collaboration and of contemporary, population-based public health nursing practice and education. It was during that time that I met Patricia Schoon and ­Carolyn Porter and was introduced to the Henry Street Consortium, an enduring academic-practice collaboration in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area.

The Henry Street Consortium epitomizes the best of the best practices for academic-practice partnership and sustainable efforts toward improving public health nurse education and practice. The publication of the first edition of the ­Population-Based Public Health Clinical Manual (2011) demonstrated that the magic happens when public health nurses in academic and practice settings work collaboratively. The first edition offered clear, practical, evidence-driven content and activities for teaching and learning the knowledge, skills, and values required for becoming a contemporary public health nurse. As a former public health nurse and a current public health professor, I know that this book was a gift to public health nursing faculty, students, and preceptors across the United States and beyond because of its accessible format, applicability to contemporary practice, and clarity of language. It fulfilled an urgent need for a practical guidebook to population-based public health nursing practice for students and new-to-practice public health nurses.

The second, third, and now fourth editions of the manual have continued traditions of excellence, relevance, and practical usability and have kept up with the ever-­evolving field of population-based public health practice. I was especially pleased to see the addition of an expert anti-racism consultant to the contributors to this edition given the importance of race and other social determinants of health and the primary grounding of public health nursing in the ethic of social justice. The new emphasis in this edition on content relevant to planetary health and environmental justice is also vital given the increasing, cross-cutting, and global importance of those topics in how we must approach disease prevention, health promotion, health equity, and well-being now and in the future.

I remain impressed with the quality of the pedagogical structure of this book. The authors are wise to lead students in using the core nursing process in comparing and contrasting new information and experiences about public health with what they have already encountered as students in acute care. The many case scenarios and evidence examples offer practical information and learning opportunities for students and ideas for educators to build on in their own teaching. I am enthused by the many opportunities for readers to apply and develop critical thinking skills, the essence of all knowledge professions. The highly regarded Public Health Intervention Wheel is a core component of the population-based approach and remains a great tool for conceptualizing population-based public health nursing across individual, community, and systems levels.

Although it is clearly aimed at student nurses and nurses who are new to public health practice, I think this book should also be used in guiding curricular design for advanced practice public health nurses. It is also important to note that public health nurses are members of interprofessional teams practicing in public health settings. Many examples provided here can also be used in interprofessional health education activities and in teaching collaborative practice and leadership. The use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals throughout for examples and context also makes this text applicable to public health nurses and educators globally.

Population-based public health practice is complex, challenging, and important. Population-Based Public Health Clinical Manual, Fourth Edition, is undoubtedly one of the best public health nursing reference guides available because of its grounding in the contributions and perspectives of both public health academics and professional practice. Although many community/public health textbooks are good, none is as clear, organized, practical, and relevant to population-based public health nursing clinical experiences as this one. Students, teachers, and preceptors will find it the best guidebook available for the rewarding journey that is population-based public health nursing practice.

More than ever before, the public needs public health nurses. Thank you for choosing public health nursing and enjoy your journey!

– Susan J. Zahner, DrPH, MPH, RN, FNAP, FAAN

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs

Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor

University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing