Course Outline Template
Course Overview
Community health nursing is a specialized nursing discipline that requires a distinct set of skills and knowledge, differing significantly from those used in hospital-based acute care. This course aims to familiarize learners with the fundamental principles and practices of community health nursing. The focus extends beyond individual patient care within hospital settings to include population health management through prevention, education, and advocacy.
The curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including social determinants of health, health promotion strategies, management of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, environmental health issues, policy formulation, behavioral and mental health, emergency preparedness, and transcultural nursing. By the end of this course, students will have gained a robust understanding of community health nursing concepts and will be prepared to implement patient-centered and population-focused nursing care. The course emphasizes the development of competencies in assessing, planning, executing, and evaluating nursing interventions to meet the health needs of individuals and communities effectively.
Weekly Course Modules
Module Structure Overview
The course is delivered over an eight-week period, each week centering on a key topic relevant to community health nursing. Active, evidence-based learning methodologies are integrated into the modules to promote student engagement, enhance critical thinking, and facilitate the practical application of theoretical knowledge.
Weekly Modules, Key Concepts, and Learning Methods
| Week | Module Topic | Core Concept | Learning Strategy | Scholarly Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What Is Community Health Nursing? | Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) | Community simulation and assessment | Ardern (2021) |
| 2 | Disease Prevention | Community-Based Health Education | Group projects and presentations | Polyakova-Norwood et al. (2023) |
| 3 | Communicable vs. Noncommunicable Diseases | Barriers to Prevention and Education | Guided group discussion | Arani et al. (2019) |
| 4 | Environmental Health | Water Safety | Laboratory simulations and testing | Dunn (2018) |
| 5 | Health Policies | Nurse’s Role in Policy Advocacy | Policy letter writing | Harris et al. (2022) |
| 6 | Behavioral Health | Mental Health Education Gaps | Case studies and group dialogue | Padgett et al. (2020) |
| 7 | Public Emergencies | Mass Casualty Response | Disaster simulation role-play | Opsahl et al. (2019) |
| 8 | Ethics in Public Health Nursing | Transcultural Nursing | Gallery walk and cultural analysis | Sheeba Elizabeth et al. (2020) |
Detailed Weekly Module Descriptions
Week 1: What Is Community Health Nursing?
What is community health nursing, and why is it essential to population health?
Community health nursing focuses on protecting and improving the health of populations by prioritizing prevention, education, and advocacy. This introductory module explores social determinants of health (SDOH), including factors like socioeconomic status, education, housing security, and access to healthcare services. Through community-based simulations, students evaluate how these determinants influence health disparities and outcomes. This experiential learning approach helps students develop a deeper understanding of health inequities and encourages the design of targeted nursing interventions to mitigate these disparities (Ardern, 2021).
Week 2: Disease Prevention
How can nurses effectively educate communities to prevent disease?
This module addresses prevention strategies across the spectrum of primary, secondary, and tertiary care tailored to diverse populations. Learners collaborate on group projects to develop and deliver health education programs aimed at preventing specific diseases or addressing community health needs. These activities cultivate skills in teamwork, communication, and the application of evidence-based educational practices, reinforcing the pivotal role nurses play as educators in community health (Polyakova-Norwood et al., 2023).
Week 3: Communicable Versus Noncommunicable Diseases
What challenges do nurses face when dealing with different disease types in community health?
Students investigate the distinctions between communicable and noncommunicable diseases and examine obstacles to effective prevention and education such as cultural beliefs, limited resources, and low health literacy. Guided discussions encourage critical reflection on real-life cases, prompting students to develop innovative approaches to overcome barriers and enhance community involvement in health promotion (Arani et al., 2019).
Week 4: Environmental Health
In what ways does the environment influence community health?
This module covers environmental health topics such as water quality, sanitation, and pollution. Hands-on laboratory activities, including water safety testing, help students understand the tangible effects of environmental factors on public health. The experiences emphasize the nurse’s advocacy role in promoting environmental safeguards and preventive health measures (Dunn, 2018).
Week 5: Health Policies
What is the nurse’s role in health policy development and advocacy?
This module highlights the increasing involvement of nurses in health policy formulation and advocacy. Students identify pressing community health issues and practice writing policy advocacy letters addressed to decision-makers. These exercises foster civic participation and demonstrate how nurses can influence systemic change to improve public health outcomes (Harris et al., 2022).
Week 6: Behavioral Health
Why is it important to address mental health in community nursing?
Mental health education gaps and behavioral health challenges within communities and healthcare settings are the focus of this module. Using unfolding case studies and group discussions, students explore various mental health conditions, including substance use disorders. This interactive approach promotes empathy, clinical judgment, and the development of community-based behavioral health interventions (Padgett et al., 2020).
Week 7: Public Emergencies
How can nurses prepare for and respond to public health emergencies?
In this module, students acquire disaster preparedness competencies through simulated mass casualty events and emergency response scenarios. Role-playing various positions within emergency teams enhances leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills necessary for effective public health crisis management (Opsahl et al., 2019).
Week 8: Ethics in Public Health Nursing
How does transcultural nursing enhance ethical care in diverse communities?
The final module focuses on ethical considerations and cultural competence in public health nursing. Students participate in gallery walks to explore different cultural viewpoints and assess how cultural misunderstandings impact patient care. This exercise encourages cultural humility, ethical sensitivity, and respect for diverse values and traditions in nursing practice (Sheeba Elizabeth et al., 2020).
References
Arani, Z. A., Hoseini, M. H. M., Afra, L. G., & Mohammadzade, M. (2019). The effect of teaching on team-based learning and group discussion on learning and academic motivation of operating room students in the technology of gastrointestinal surgery lesson. Journal of Nursing & Midwifery Sciences, 6(2), 72–77. https://doi.org/10.4103/JNMS.JNMS_61_18
Ardern, R. (2021). Simulation: Engaging students with a different perspective. Nursing, 51(5), 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000743292.80756.06
Dunn, L. (2018). Work-integrated learning and professional accreditation policies: An environmental health higher education perspective. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 19(2), 111–122.
Harris, O. O., Bialous, S. A., Muench, U., Chapman, S., & Dawson-Rose, C. (2022). Climate change, public health, health policy, and nurses’ training. American Journal of Public Health, 112, S321–S327. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306826
Opsahl, A., Morris, T., Judge, D., Werskey, K., Edwards, B., & Robinson, D. (2019). Promoting a mock disaster simulation with leadership from a nurse residency program. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 14(3), 153–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2019.01.004
Padgett, T. M., deRose, B. S., Woolf, S. K., & Tielker, S. L. (2020). Implementing an unfolding case study throughout the nursing curriculum to increase opioid addiction education. Journal of Nursing Education, 59(4), 235–238. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20200323-12
Polyakova-Norwood, V., Creed, J., Patterson, B., & Heiney, S. (2023). Making group work gratifying: Implementing and evaluating a three-stage model of group processes in an online nursing course. Journal of Professional Nursing, 46, 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2023.02.004
Sheeba Elizabeth, J., Prasad, D., Francis, F., & Prabhakaran, H. (2020). Integrating a gallery walk in a nursing classroom: A nurse educator’s perspectives and student’s reflections. International Journal of Nursing Education, 12(4), 124–129.